There are so many things wrong with the model under which scholarly publishing is running — or trying to run — today. Not least: I received a request from a press today, the 26th of December, asking me to review a book proposal, with a deadline of the 7th of January.

I believe in peer review, and in paying forward the generosity that reviewers have shown my work. And I believe in university presses and the crucial work they do to support the circulation of knowledge. And I know how tough an environment editors are working in today.

But at the end of This Particular Year, with all one might imagine has been required of an associate dean for research and graduate studies in an underfunded arts and humanities college, the only words I have left run along the lines of are you even fucking kidding me with this.