A Review of Something Else

An Update Post-Viva

My dear readers,

I apologise for not having a review for you this week, but I promise there is a very good reason:

I am exhausted.

Yesterday evening, I passed my thesis defense/viva/examination, whatever you want to call it, I passed. The defense is a conversation with two experts in your field (my examiners were a prominent post-war American cultural historian and the preeminent scholar on 20th century Hollywood (I’m talking cream of the crop, top of the game preeminent)) who took weeks reading your thesis and coming up with questions to make sure you know what you are talking about in it and to see how confidently you stand by the arguments you made. And I passed. I am now Dr. Vaughn Joy.

And what’s more, they complimented my writing. They said that it was a genuine pleasure to read my 373 page dissertation, and they specifically complimented my lack of jargon. That preeminent scholar said it sounded like I had an idea and I actually wanted to convey it clearly to my reader. That is the highest compliment I think I could have received because, as you all know, I truly believe that I am only doing my job best if I am making my scholarship accessible to the widest possible readership.

So I am revelling in a self-celebratory moment and taking pride in the work I have done over the last 5 and a half *years*, and I’m going to allow myself the indulgence of repeating that compliment on the accessibility and enjoyability of my writing. And that indulgence means I am not writing a film review this week because I need to rest.

Thank you all for bearing with me while I finished the thesis and now while I recover from the shock of experts in my field calling me “Dr. Joy” and meaning it. I’ll be back next week for a normal review - hope to see you then!