"Love Story": an American classic

[snopes]

Comment: Rumor - in the 1970s, author Erich Segal, taught a literature
class at Harvard, listing his own book, Love Story, among the required
reading list of "American Classics". The class, thinking it was a joke,
began laughing. Rather than continue with the class, Segal stormed out.

[applepwnz]

I've actually had courses where the professor used their own book for coursework, and nobody thought that it was a joke, most students just felt that the professor was unfairly profiting from us, although this book was mainly a compilation of various philosophical texts so at least the professor didn't try to claim that it was an "American Classic"

[Skeptic]

Hard to call it a classic when it was only a few years old at the home.

[ASL]

I actually seem to recall that the book was written roughly concurrently with the movie and that the movie was actually finished and released first... That would make it kind of hard to go unrecognized.

[Dara bhur gCara]

Segal's specialism as an educator was "Classics" in the sense of works written in ancient Latin or Greek, rather than "Classics" in the sense of really good all-time works. I think he's something like the world's foremost expert on Plautus.

Not that this proves or disproves anything, but although he is a literature professor, the literature he teaches isn't in English, so unless Love Story was translated into Latin or Greek, he probably wouldn't have taught it in his class.

[Banrion]

It should also be noted that even if true, it is not uncommon to have books written by the professors as required course materials, especially at high caliber schools who's professors are leading experts in their fields.

[ASL]

Originally Posted by Banrion

It should also be noted that even if true, it is not uncommon to have books written by the professors as required course materials, especially at high caliber schools who's professors are leading experts in their fields.

Although that tends to be more of the text book variety, not fictional literature variety, right?

[ThistleS]

Originally Posted by ASL

Although that tends to be more of the text book variety, not fictional literature variety, right?

Yes. Since interpreting the literature is the primary aim of a literature class, having the professor teach hir own novel would hamper discussion.

[PrincessLeia]

I've had that happen a couple times in university. In my first year interdisciplinary studies class, one of the professors made us read one of his unpublished papers and then summarize and respond to it. I think he was a philosophy prof though.
I also had a religious studies prof who used a book he wrote as a textbook.

[Thing 2]

I know that there are several professors at my school who assign their own books. Last semester, my sociology professor had us read an article of his from the 1970's, which included the Skinner baby UL (as a fact).

[Towknie]

Originally Posted by ASL

Although that tends to be more of the text book variety, not fictional literature variety, right?

I had to read a number of books written by my professors for my history degree. I don't know how you would classify them though. They were neither textbooks nor fiction. They were history books.

ETA -- Does it count when authors like Tom Keneally (Schindler's List) and Kurt Vonnegut came to visit and we had to read their books to be able to meet with them?

[BringTheNoise]

Originally Posted by Towknie

I had to read a number of books written by my professors for my history degree. I don't know how you would classify them though. They were neither textbooks nor fiction. They were history books.

History books are textbooks, generally speaking.

Originally Posted by Towknie

ETA -- Does it count when authors like Tom Keneally (Schindler's List) and Kurt Vonnegut came to visit and we had to read their books to be able to meet with them?

Not unless you were taught exclusively by the authors.

[Ramblin' Dave]

I've had several incidences of professors assigning their own books in class, but never fictional ones. (To be fair, I can't recall ever taking a class with a professor who had published a novel - definitely not a widely known one and certainly nothing like Love Story.) I'm not crazy about the practice, since it definitely hampers critical discussion, but the only time I really found it offensive was in a history class where the professor's book was the only one he assigned. To be fair, this individual was genuinely the foremost authority in the world on the subject in question - odds are if you've read a history of the country he specialized in and it was written since the 1970s, he is at least cited repeatedly; and if you've read more than one, odds are he wrote at least one of them. So his material was the best, but I still think he should have offered at least one other perspective.

[RealityChuck]

Originally Posted by ASL

I actually seem to recall that the book was written roughly concurrently with the movie and that the movie was actually finished and released first... That would make it kind of hard to go unrecognized.

The book came out in February and made the best seller lists. The movie was released in December.

The book was based on Segal's screenplay of the movie, however. Prior to Love Story, Segal's best known movie screenplay writing credit was Yellow Submarine.

[fionapoulsen]

I also had professors in the university recommending their works. I do not think it is an unusual practice.

Though if an author is recommending his/her book among the "American Classics" that is a bit stranger.