"Villanova" (or "How I Became a Former Professional Literary Agent") is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

by American humorist

John Hodgman John Kellogg Hodgman (born June 3, 1971) is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as his satirical trilogy '' The Areas of My Expertise'', '' More Information Than You Require'', and '' That Is ...

. It was first published in the first issue of '' One Story'' on April 1, 2002.

Premise

While attending a

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

romance and

western fiction Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 20th century and ...

writers' conference in an

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

Embassy Suites, an unnamed

literary agent A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwr ...

stumbles across an elusive science fiction writer who has largely disappeared since the 1970s after publishing an incomplete trilogy. The story is interspersed with excerpts from a fictional June 1979 ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine article called "Where Is Darling Egan?"

Publication

The original publication of ''Villanova'' was limited to a print run of 600 with an overall cost of $1,000. ''Villanova'' was republished as "How I Became a Former Professional Literary Agent" in the final chapter "The Beginning" for Hodgman's

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

satirical almanac '' That Is All''.

Reception

''New York Journal of Books''s Vinton Rafe McCabe reviewed the story (along with the penultimate ''That Is All'' chapter "The End") as "honestly, in and of themselves, worth the cost of all three books."

References

2002 short stories Short stories by John Hodgman Short stories set in Oklahoma {{2000s-story-stub