Option Three:
A Novel About the University
by Joel Shatzky

on WSKG Radio’s OFF THE PAGE
L I V E Tuesday, June 13th at 1pm
(Repeating at 7pm)

One of the most prestigious titles in academia is professor emeritus, a title that is generally bestowed upon a full professor of long tenure at his or her retirement. They are eminent scholars in their field with extensive service to their institution.

Dr. Joel Shatzky is Professor Emeritus of English at SUNY-Cortland, where he taught for over thirty years. His writings include the novel “Iago’s Tale”, the story of Othello as retold by the villain, and sourcebooks on contemporary Jewish-American writers. He and his wife Dorothy collaborated on a moving account of their relationship as it was tested by her struggle with multiple sclerosis; “Our Longest Journey” was featured on OFF THE PAGE in 2001. He is also an accomplished pianist.

Now, after three decades in college classrooms Joel Shatzky has departed and emerged with “Option Three: A Novel About the University”. It is a wild and hilarious satire and, like any good satire, unnervingly accurate in its most fantastic moments. The book begins with the standard disclaimer that it is fiction and “any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.” So the unnamed University isn’t necessarily Cortland State – clearly it could be any college, or any institution trying to maximize its value with a minimum of expenditure.

The characters may be fictional, but even their names tell a story: University President Dick Fred, Provost Donald Pickle and a Dean named Dean Lean. The protagonist is L. Circassian, whose position as “Adjunct Acting Visiting Assistant Professor” is being eliminated for budgetary reasons unless (Option 3) he wishes to stay – the English Department needs him – at a 35% salary cut. A solution to the budget squeeze is found in fracturing and privatization of the public University, and the English Department is soon sold to a company called Intell-Ex., whose pursuit of the bottom line will begin with replacing Freshman English with a DVD telecourse called Fun-100.
Shatzky’s bark is equal to his bite. His new novel abounds with words that make their debut appearance in English (or any other language): “They’re scared enough to do nothing,” yarkled Circassian, fluming…”

Joel Shatzky joins WSKG’s Bill Jaker on OFF THE PAGE to share the observations and experiences that led to “Option Three”, and to his efforts as a publisher through his own N&S Publishers. To join in the discussion call during the live 1:00 PM broadcast to 1-888/359-9754 or post a message here or directly to WSKG.Radio@Gmail.com.

The Italian community in the Triple Cities continues to make many contributions to civic, cultural and business life. Two new books go to the heart and history of this group. On June 27th OFF THE PAGE welcomes Francis Battisti, a psychologist from Binghamton who writes personally and lovingly about his late father in “Checchino”, and Diane Vecchio, a Cortland native and history professor at Furman University, author of “Merchants, Midwives and Laboring Women”, which compares the role of working women in Milwaukee and Endicott during the first part of the 20th century.