The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune keep hitting beleaguered English professor Jason Fitger right between the eyes in this hilarious and eagerly awaited sequel to the cult classic of anhedonic academe, the Thurber Prize-winning Dear Committee Members. Once more into the breach…

“Schumacher abandons the epistolary style of her previous novel for a straight narrative but retains all of its acid satire in a sequel that is far more substantive and just as funny…. A witty but kindhearted academic satire that oscillates between genuine compassion and scathing mockery with admirable dexterity.”
— Kirkus, starred review

“…satirizes the pitfalls of academia with searing wit, skewering everything from the abominable faculty offices to the eccentric personalities throughout the university. Beneath the comedy lies a tragic commentary on the state of higher education…. _ The Shakespeare Requirement _offers a desperately funny take on campus foibles, as Schumacher stretches reality to the boundaries of absurdity in this raucous underdog tale.” 
— Booklist

“Schumacher blends satire with righteousness; she seeks to circle collegiate wagons against external threats to the liberal arts…. Fitger’s choler feels suddenly ardent in the manner of Joan of Arc: he burns with a moral anger, and The Shakespeare Requirement imagines the work of teaching with compassion and urgency.” 
— Katy Waldman, The New Yorker

“A clash of cultures — mammon vs. art — burns through this novel, which provides a wry commentary on the plight of the arts in our mercantile era.”
— Ron Charles, The Washington Post