What an absolutely brilliant idea for a book. I wish I'd had it and feel full of envy that I didn't. These compulsively readable messages are part of the pathetic and poignant pornography of our time. Simon Critchley, Professor of Philosophy, The New School for Social Research Dear Professor: A Chronicle of Absences is a collection of over two hundred often involuntarily comical emails in which students excuse themselves for missing class. The result is a satirical yet unexpectedly sympathetic collective portrait of modern-day academia where both students and teachers feel pressured to comply...