Sex, blackmail, theft, treachery, murder and… scholarship?

In the lively tradition of Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities and David Lodge’s Small World and Changing Places, Higher Learning sends-up sex, blackmail, theft, treachery political correctness, murder mysteries and scholarship.

Set at Ivy League “Redfern University, the story turns on the murder of a student, Selena Fenn, whose grandfather is a prominent member of the Redfern Board of Trustees. Chief suspects are assorted lunatic Redfern faculty members; Keith Chambers, the special assistant to Redfern’s president , Grigol “Chuck” Chavadze; and Selena’s lesbian roommate, Hilary Slocombe.

As two harried police detectives struggle to cut through University red tape and duplicity to solve the murder, the chaos is amplified by purloined letters, incriminating papers dating back to World War II, a flourishing on-campus prostitution ring, faculty intrigue, the establishment of a politically correct curriculum and a list of Forbidden Words. At stake are millions of dollars, control of a new campus Center, and the reputations of high-powered campus movers-and-shakers.

Will scandal destroy the University? Will revelations of past indiscretions ruin careers and lives? Will the police unmask the murderer? We won’t spoil the fun by telling you!

But you can find out by ordering Higher Learning, A Novel, from the Amazon link at right.

What readers are saying about Higher Learning, A Novel:

“Marianne Shapiro’s Higher Learning is a delight: it’s smart, intriguing and at times uproariously funny. Nothing in higher education is safe from satire in this book. And in addition to all the clever and erudite humor, it’s also a darned good mystery.” —Norris Frederick, Queens University of Charlotte

“…a highly original view of academic life, more brilliantly satirical than, say, the novels of David Lodge. Every line is barbed with wit – it’s simply bloody funny!” — G. J. Barker-Benfield, State University of New York at Albany

“…mystery, intrigue, and satire, served with wit and charm.” — Raimo Anttila, UCLA

“A delightful, scathing, and oh-so-true roman à clef. I have been telling everyone I know about this novel. It warmed my heart with its cheerfully unsentimental skewering of some that is best and all that is worst about academe. The author doesn’t miss a trick…” — Michael Gleason, Millsaps College