Playing the Game
The Streetsmart Guide to Graduate School
by
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“With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die.”
-- Abraham Lincoln
WARNING:
This book is written with a humorous and irreverent attitude. If you are vocabulary-impaired, this means that we tend to be disrespectful, mocking, impertinent, derisive, impudent, rude, flippant, and bold. Those who take themselves way to seriously might even say that we are sinful, ungodly, blasphemous, wicked, sacrilegious, improper, vulgar, and/or offensive. Basically, we take the stance of a couple of rude, crude, cocky, anti-P.C. grad students. Our authorial omnipotence is based on the belief that near-toxic doses of warped humor will provide a welcome break from the mind-numbing jargon you’re fed in massive doses on your trip through grad school. Throughout this book, we poke fun at the pervasive sense of somber importance that permeates almost every corner of the Ivory Towers. We aim to write graffiti all over a couple of those towers, because we’d like to help you escape the halls of Academe quickly yet effectively—uh, efficiently. Besides, defacing surfaces with spray paint is symbolic and it makes us laugh.
If you prefer whitewashed walls then do us a favor: buy a different book. We would actually prefer that you buy something boring if you are easily offended, or if a bit of raunch is simply not your cup of double mocha latte. If you have thin skin, or don’t have a sense of humor, please give your copy to someone who will appreciate it, or simply burn it in protest. Some of the greatest literary works have been burned throughout history and we would be most proud to become members of that distinguished club. If you hate the term “Academe” then you’ve invested your bucks wisely. Oh, and consider yourself warned…
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About the Book
"This book is lewd, rude and superb! Frank and Stein have written the first guide to grad school from a student's point of view; and the result is an irreverent, humorous and USEFUL book of advice. These foul-mouthed sages will help you get through a master's or doctoral program more quickly, with fewer blunders and less angst. I plan to recommend this book to all the graduate students I coach and teach."
-Mary McKinney, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist and Dissertation Coach
http://www.successfulacademic.com
Yes, sports fans!, er, grad school fans Bad boys Fred and Karl are back with an updated version of their best selling self-help guide for grad students. This New and/or Improved Version is stocked with additional content, more lame attempts at humor, and a lower price (Karl threatened to moon the publisher unless his demands were met).
Written with the attitude of a couple ill-mannered schoolboys who exhibit the insight and genius of the Ph.D.'s who wrote it, Playing the Game simplifies even the most complex aspects of grad school.
Authors Frank and Stein have broken down Playing The Game into three hilarious and straightforward sections: Getting In, Getting Through, and Getting the Hell Out. In whatever stage of graduate school you find yourself, rest assured that you will never again grumble, "If only I had known! If only someone had explained this @%#! to me sooner!"
Playing the Game simplifies the entire graduate school experience while imparting comically relevant stories and translating complicated graduate school jargon. This self-help guide helps grad students to comprehensively navigate their graduate school journey from application to matriculation. Unlike most of the material you'll be reading in grad school, Playing the Game is actually intelligible.
www.playing-the-game.com
About the Author
Frederick Frank and C. Karl Stein are the irreverent alter-egos of two very serious and sober Ph.D.s who graduated from prestigious doctoral programs. Their combined experiences include publishing, researching, conference presentations, doctoral committee service, consulting, grant writing, and "teaching" graduate school.