MFA Thesis Novel
Creative ne're-do-well Flip Montcalm isn't cut out for office life, so he jumps at the chance to join an MFA program in the rural Midwest. Broke and infatuated with the 20th century literary canon, he alienates his writing workshop with five hundred pages of existential dread, can't name a single player on the university football team, and is actively trying to steal a rival writer's girlfriend.
Flip needs a new novel idea fast, so he turns to his cohorts for help: a career PhD student who hasn't written in a decade, a professor with no opinions, a narcissist whose novels read like action movies, and a frat boy underplaying his suburban privilege. As he fights off academic conformity and obsessive football fans, Flip faces the challenge of writing a novel that'll not only satisfy his artistic passions, but might even get him a better job.
A delicious romp through the smudged halls of academe, this book will make you laugh out loud, as pretenders, druggies, hapless romantics, and the slightly talented do battle in fiction, trying to invent a book that will save them from the fate of ordinary life.
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
"MFA Thesis Novel is a very funny book about books, about creativity, about a writer's need for isolation vs. the desire for community-these are outsiders among outsiders, and Ian M. Rogers writes with a wit that's as dry and sharp as the best academic satire. But this isn't just a delightful lampoon-it's a book full of heart and charm, with characters seeking meaningful lives, connection, and inspiration." Timothy Schaffert, author of The Perfume Thief
"I just added MFA Thesis Novel to my list of personal favorites alongside Wonder Boys, Straight Man, After the Workshop, and Moo. Wry, contemplative, heartfelt, and very funny, Ian M. Rogers is a terrific new voice, and his debut novel is a winner. I would recommend this book to any writer, unless I were teaching in an MFA program, in which case I'd require it." Sean Doolittle, author of Lake Country
"Ian M. Rogers's MFA Thesis Novel is a fierce testament to the struggle of fitting into the MFA environment and choosing to blaze your own path. In this true-to-the bones novel, Rogers expertly crafts a plotline that is character rich, absurdly hilarious, and most of all, honest." S.R. Stewart, managing editor of Unsolicited Press
"A delicious romp through the smudged halls of academe where pretenders, druggies, hapless romantics, and the slightly talented do battle in fiction workshops trying to invent a book that will save them from the fate of ordinary life. While suffering bad advice, sabotage, regret, sloth, fear, and longing, their brawling over plot, women, and meaning reminds us of John Irving on steroids. This book will make you laugh out loud as it skewers the sacred cows of the graduate writing workshop and the world they mirror. Ian M. Rogers is a heck of a satirist!" Jonis Agee, author of The Bones of Paradise
"If you have ever wondered what would happen if Joseph Heller had gone to a not particularly distinguished MFA program instead of Italy and World War Two..." Annabel Davis-Goff, author of Walled Gardens
