Leland J. Edwards, Ph.D, Dean of Rookery State College and senior member of faculty is 58 years old. From the moment you meet Leland you get the sense he has never really experienced the world; never really grown up. Rookery State College runs in the family as his father chaired the History Department. He still lives with his 81 year old mother and caters to her every need as she has advanced lung disease. He is, in his own words, "excessively attached" to her. With his marriage failed, Leland pours himself into boosting Rokkery's flagging fund-raising efforts. In the hopes of bringing national exposure to the college he works to bring a renowned poet to the college for a reading. It is from this moment that Leland starts to stand up to his mother, quell the memory demons, and make peace with the problems of his past. ( )

In Hassler's latest novel, The Dean's List, Leland is 25 years older and a much sadder man. Now the dean of Rookery State College, a mediocre institution in northern Minnesota, Leland finds his administrative duties and his dying mother shouldering out what little energy or time he has for music. But if Leland Edwards has given up his dreams of a jazz career, he still has some hopes for his reputation as an academic. When a famous elderly poet, Richard Falcon, comes to Rookery State to work on what he hopes will be his final masterpiece, Leland sees an opportunity to put himself and his institution on the map.

The Dean's List is more melancholy than its predecessor. Still, Jon Hassler's inimitable style, his flair for character, and his well-limned portraits of Minnesota and its people lighten the shadow of gloom that hangs over Rookery State College this year.

3664. The Dean's List, by Jon Hassler (read 17 Dec 2002) This is a sequel to Rookery Blues which I read and liked in October. I did not find it nearly as enjoyable as Rookery Blues. I got tired of the characters, none of whom are without irritating traits. This book came out in 1997 and is I believe Hassler's last book. I have read all his books, I think. Most I appreciated much more than this one. ( )

Like most of Hassler's books, this does a great job of capturing the essence of Minnesota. It's not my favorite of his novels, but it's close. ( )