Cow Country

By: Adrian Jones Pearson

Narrated by: Therese Plummer, LJ Ganser

When a down-on-his-luck educational administrator arrives at the makeshift bus shelter of Cow Eye Junction, he finds a drought-stricken town and its community college on the precipice of institutional ruin. Struggling to navigate this strange world of bloated calf scrota, orgiastic math instruction, and onrushing regional accreditors, Charlie must devise a plan to lead Cow Eye Community College through the perils of continuous improvement to the triumphant culmination of world history.

Idiosyncratic, wry, and ambitiously constructed, Cow Country is Adrian Jones Pearson's most American work yet, deftly blending the lunacies of contemporary academia with the tragic consequences of New World nation building. A must-listen for anyone who has ever worked at an institution of higher education or attempted to straddle partisan lines, this insightful novel offers a poetic requiem for the loss of our humanity - and our humanities.

©2014 Adrian Jones Pearson (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

An inside joke for academia

What would have made Cow Country better?

The main character was flat. A more interactive characterization, rather than employing a foil, may have made the story more interesting.

What was most disappointing about Adrian Jones Pearson’s story?

The plot was thin, based only on a series of caricatures of college stereotypes.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The main character was voiced as a bit of an idiot. The other characters were well represented.

Should Be Categorized as Fantasy

There was no way that you could pick out when or where the story was set. I finally had to go with sometime in a universe not ours. There are way too many female teachers and minorities for it to have been in the 60's. The where is equally dubious.

Obviously, this community college is set in another Universe where the laws of biology, physics, and the US government do not apply.

Hoped for More...

This was a bizarre tale with odd pacing and little pay-off.

The first half is spent on what feels like every second of Charlie's first few days in Cow Eye, while the second barrels through the next several weeks, and at some points the timeline becomes completely muddled due to either a poorly executed literary device or the protagonist's deteriorating mental state. I couldn't tell. I found myself frequently wishing he'd get to the point, but then ultimately there wouldn't really be one.

The characters bounce unsuccessfully between "almost weird enough to be true" and "completely absurd," and I had a hard time figuring out exactly WHEN it was supposed to be set at times. Mongoloid? Negroid? Seriously?? The way things like the administration trying to address racial issues were portrayed are flat out bad, which is disappointing since the division between the meat-eaters and vegetarians is proof the author is capable of apt bits of satire of life in the Midwest.

It did have some moments that made me laugh aloud over Charlie's ridiculousness, but the ending was abrupt and unsatisfying.

The backwardness of educational administration

laugh out loud funny at parts but dull at others but enjoyable overall. unique in the age of teenage werewolves and remakes

Weird book

This book was weird. With no point, start, middle or end. It's story was muddled between the telling of the story and the jumping back and forth between personal conversations. It's was difficult to follow.