cover image Virtual Morality

Virtual Morality

Christopher Hill. Pushcart Press, $24.5 (325pp) ISBN 978-1-888889-18-5

Lampooning university speech codes, champions of ""Womyn's"" rights, and all things politically correct, this broadly written academic satire is a decade behind the curve. Everett Broadstreet, dean of a fictional Colorado college, is vainly trying to hold the line against the forces of liberalism, led by Daphne Stiggler, self-proclaimed professor of ""Womyn's"" studies. But when Stiggler gets into a shouting match with David Shore, one of her students (she accuses him of date rape; he insults her sexual orientation), and Shore is expelled from the college, Broadstreet has to deal with an administrator's worst nightmare: bad publicity. Shore, a rich frat boy from New York, sues the university, bringing TV crews and newspapers to witness the latest fight in campus politics. The smarmy lawyer who is pressed by his partners to take the Shore case is Parker Thompson, the newest junior partner in an old-shoe Denver law firm. Thompson is a Porsche-driving hotshot who spends as much time checking himself in the mirror (""How did he look? Powder blue pinpoint cotton shirt with a spread collar just right, so that there were tiny creases along the seams"") as he does pursuing actual legal work. He sees the case as a quick, flashy victory, but matters don't go quite as planned. His Porsche gets firebombed, his legal career suddenly has some hiccups and even his chance to find true love with the seemingly sweet Mary O'Neill goes bust because he fails to quit his habits of cocaine, drinking and sleeping with supermodels. Even a satire needs at least one likable person--if only for contrast--but readers will be hard-pressed to find one here. Though some scenes are undeniably funny, and the issue of acceptable speech may still be raging on some campuses, this novel won't add much to the debate. (Feb.)