The Lecturer's Tale

Nelson Humboldt is a visiting adjunct lecturer at prestigious Midwestern University, until he is unceremoniously fired one crisp autumn morning. Minutes after the axe falls, Nelson's right index finger is severed in a freak accident. Doctors manage to reattach the finger, but when the bandages com [...]
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Nelson Humboldt is a visiting adjunct lecturer at prestigious Midwestern University, until he is unceremoniously fired one crisp autumn morning. Minutes after the axe falls, Nelson's right index finger is severed in a freak accident. Doctors manage to reattach the finger, but when the bandages come off, Nelson realizes that he has acquired a strange power-he can force his will onto others with a mere touch. And so, with a brush of his finger, he obtains an extension on the lease of his university-owned townhouse and picks up two sections of freshman composition, thus saving his career from utter scholastic ruin. Soon these small victories seem inconsequential, and Nelson's finger starts to burn for even greater glory. Now the Midas of academia wonders if he can attain what every struggling assistant professor and visiting lecturer covets—tenure. A wonderful, pitch-perfect blend of satire and horror, a Faustian tale of the terrors of academe, James Hynes's new novel confirms his reputation as a storyteller of rare and hilarious gifts. Author Biography: James Hynes is the author of The Wild Colonial Boy and Publish and Perish. He lives in Austin, Texas.