Summary

In Chapter 7, “As Dead as the Dead White Men,” Ruhaba emailed Oliver apologizing for talking so much about herself when they went out. Oliver had not noticed. If she had asked about his past, he was unsure what he would have said.

Oliver remembered laboring “toward tenure” (114). When he did not secure the position, his friend Walter Cummings helped him find work at the Seattle university. He got tenure “the following year” (116).

After Kathryn’s birth, Oliver earned a sabbatical. He and his family traveled the Pacific Northwest. Upon his return the following year, he realized the new faculty was bringing in new ideas. For three years thereafter, Oliver served as “department chair” (118). Throughout these years and those following, Oliver had many affairs. He slept with students and adjuncts alike. When Emily found out, she took time away with Kathryn. When she returned...