As a moderate independent who used to work at a liberal university I can honestly say this book is borderline non-fiction. Sometimes I laughed because of the humor, sometimes I laughed because I didn't want to cry over close to home it hit. ( )

Campusland by Scott Johnson checks all the stereotypes of elite university life. Put together, it creates an extreme picture that might make you say that it could not happen. Except that some of it does. The events can individually be found on many a campus. The author creates a cohesive story out of a composite of reality in a way that is entertaining and funny while at the same time a serious commentary on the state of our eduction system.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2020/03/campusland.html

Reviewed for NetGalley. ( )

This wildly amusing contemporary novel depicts today’s American elite college campus environment. The plot includes vulgar fraternity shenanigans, gender confusion, herd mentality of jumping on a band-wagon to support a cause simply because it draws personal attention to one-self, the ultra-sensitivity requiring “safe spaces”, and the campus justice system of the controversial Title IX Sexual Assault Regulations (guilty until proven innocent with a highly paid administrator in the roll of judge and jury).

Labeled as a satire, "Campusland" certainly demonstrates the shortcomings of the American education system in a mocking, humorous manner. The shame of it is these shortcomings are having dire consequences on society, which in reality is not the least bit funny.

The two primary characters are Lulu Harris, a wealthy entitled Manhattan social climber who believes she is ‘wasting her time’ in her first-year at Devon University, and Eph Russell, a sincere young Professor seeking tenure at this prestigious North-East campus while hiding his southern Alabama ‘red-neck’ small town up-bringing. The two characters collide when Lulu falsely accuses Eph of sexual assault.

"Campusland" has been compared to several Tom Wolfe novels, and I found it surprising that the most similar comparison was not mentioned- "I Am Charlotte Simmons", which also takes place on a college campus. Of course, the campus issues prevalent in the early 2000s when Tom Wolfe wrote his satire were not nearly as catastrophic for society. Wolfe was accused of writing his characters “with dullest of stereotypes” and “little more than a list of clichés and caricatures”. I’m sure many readers were offended by his crass descriptions of people - even if they were accurate. The same applies to Scott Johnston’s "Campusland". And, I imagine labeling the novel as satire helps make the content a little more palatable for those unwilling to admit the absurdity of reality.

The story starts out slow, but be patient… once all the important characters have been introduced it picks up speed. shifting the story back and forth from Lulu to Eph, and a variety of other characters including scenes from a jock fraternity, campus agitators who espouse Saul Alinsky’s community organizing techniques, and several faculty members who are juggling campus politics and trying to stay on top of the campus chaos.

Scott Johnston spend time on the Yale campus as an adjunct professor which lends some credibility to the realistic theme of this thoroughly entertaining novel. ( )

Man, I am not even sure how to rate this book. It started out funny, then started getting weirder and weirder by the page progressions. I know Campusland is supposed to be satirical, however, it felt real, like I could see it happening today and have seen it happen living 50 miles away from Cal- Berkley. That touched a nerve. The writing was engaging, maybe too engaging! I wanted to reach through the book and throttle so many people. This is what makes Scott Johnston a good writer.

Lulu's obsession with social media, her need to be accepted by the likes, the comments, the view count of her posts showed a sadness, I felt bad for her. I wanted to reach out and be her friend if only to add depth to her sorry life. However, her #crawlpeace shenanigans was the weirdest of all the causes and I had a hard time getting past it. but plug along I did. I am glad I did if not only to see what happens next but also to finish the book and hope that there was some good to come out of it for Professor Harris.

I guess this book resonated with me because it made me think deeply, it just was how I see what is dangerous in the "virtues" of the social justice warrior students of the day, How does the college administration decide which group is more deserving of more money, how do teachers teach their curriculum without having any given student in the class taking offense and causing problems for the teachers? How do we make it fair for all sides of the agenda's to "feel safe" if we kowtow to the loudest of the student body population and not all of the student population? These are very hard topics to talk about sometimes, if only because someone will get upset and protest the outcomes even if the subject matter is one of high importance. I feel for the adults that are trying to do their best to teach subjects, be good role models and also navigate through the murky waters of the social justices issues of the day at the same time as teach the history to the era of when it happened and not what we see with our modern eyes.
Satire at it's best. Tough issues. Campusland is that book. Well done, Scott! ( )

American literature professor Eph Russell feels more at home at Devon University, an elite Northeastern institution, than he ever did in his native Alabama. However, he’s about to find out that, while you can take the man out of Alabama, you can’t take Alabama out of the man. Other major characters include first-year student Lulu Harris, who is more interested in enlarging her social media following than in earning a degree, and progressive activist “Red” Wheeler, a professional student whose trust fund income ensures he can postpone graduation indefinitely. The action takes place over the course of one academic year.

This novel satirizes many of the current hot topics in academia. There’s something in the book to offend almost any reader, whether it be someone on the liberal/progressive side of the spectrum whose favorite causes are satirized or someone on the religious right who may be turned off by the often coarse language and sexual content. Readers from both sides of the spectrum who are willing to set aside their biases, as well as everyone in between, will find an entertaining novel that reflects the current zeitgeist.

This review is based on an electronic advance reading copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley. ( )