Revenge of the Teacher's Pet: A Love Story (Yellow Shoe Fiction)

Revenge of the Teacher's Pet: A Love Story (Yellow Shoe Fiction)

Fifty-year-old science teacher Dale Portwit believes that the peak of his life has come and gone. A failed suicide, a food fetishist, so isolated that the Best Man at his wedding is a framed photograph of his former mailman, Mr. Portwit resolves to live entirely for the moment, to speak his mind at each turn no matter what the consequences. He sets his sights upon Mary Ann Tucker, Elkhart Elementary's plump, accommodating third-grade teacher. Their whirlwind courtship leads to wedding bands, a house in the suburbs, and an indulgent sex life -- so why aren't they happy? Perhaps a little revenge is just what this marriage needs. Decidedly odd, yet also oddly moving, Revenge of the Teacher's Pet is a skillful mix of comedy, poignancy, love, memory, obesity, top-ten lists, fish, and murder. "Darrin Doyle's startling first novel is dirty and sweet, funny and terrifying. But above all else, it's one of a kind: I've never read a book like Revenge of the Teacher's Pet, one that so daringly and empathetically depicts the sometimes messed up, sometimes beautiful things we do in the name of love." --Brock Clarke, author of An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England " Revenge of the Teacher's Pet is the kind of quirky, subversively off-center novel that page by page accumulates what becomes a sustained inner hilarity. It's a story that requires perfect tonal pitch, and Darrin Doyle, in this his first novel, makes that look easy." --Stuart Dybek, author of The Coast of Chicago " Revenge of the Teacher's Pet is a deftly made, raucous tale of love and its attendant hungers and humiliations. Doyle has conceived original characters in that 'poor twit' Mr. Portwit and his fleshy wife, Mary Ann, whose bodily sacrifices in the name of love--self-love and other---are, finally, heartbreaking." --Christine Schutt, author of Florida , a National Book Award finalist "Darrin Doyle's novel takes on both the teacher's lounge and married life in the way a shotgun takes on the squirrel and the pigeon. As soon as tiny science teacher Mr. Portwit gets himself a wife, he tucks his napkin into his collar and plots revenge against all who have wronged him, while in the background, the students 'cluck like poultry.' This wacky and philosophical story that suggests that the secret to a contented life may not be so different from the one employed in education: let's simply lower our standards. That said, this is also a convincing tale of romantic love." --Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of Q Road Darrin Doyle is also the author of the novel The Girl Who Ate Kalamazoo. His short fiction has appeared in Puerto del Sol, The Long Story, Cottonwood, Alaska Quarterly Review and other publications. He teaches at Central Michigan University. Used Book in Good Condition