The Academic Worm Genre

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After finishing Joanne Harris's Gentlemen and Players this week, I thought about its genre. I have a weakness for novels that feature:

* an academic setting (a private boy's school, a university)
* a wide cast of characters (various academic types: the upstart, the recluse, etc.)
* witty dialogue with literary references
* gentle poking at the foibles and psychology of the setting and its denizens
* a plot centering on a character whose desperation or sociopathy leads him or her down a path of greed or sabotage

Some of the novels I've read of this type include (roughly in order of greatness):

Gentlemen and Players, by Joanne Harris
Moo, by Jane Smiley
Kill Your Darlings, by Terence Blacker
The Lecturer's Tale, by James Hynes
Small World, by David Lodge
The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen (one plot strand only)
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