Pond Life

'Philosophy isn't about finding the right answers but asking the right questions' Jack is a young man without a plan. After graduating from university in the UK, he embarks on a doctorate in political philosophy at Princeton in the search of something meaningful. When he secures a scholarship from the Willoughby T. Forsyth Foundation, the future's looking bright across the pond... After two relatively quiet years at Princeton, the election of Trump galvanises Jack to join the political activism sweeping campus, through which he finally finds a purpose - and a girlfriend! But in a cruel twist of fate, the budding progressive activist's life is thrown into chaos when the sordid past of Willoughby T. Forsyth is revealed. Dumped, publicly shamed and with his bank account empty, Jack struggles haplessly through the fallout from under his desk. Will he ever make it out? Witty and thought-provoking in equal measure, Pond Life is a satire of contemporary academia that questions the institutionalisation of privilege and highlights the dangers of unequal power. AUTHOR: Jack R. Williams grew up on the south coast of England before studying Politics with International Relations at the University of York. He moved to Switzerland to complete an MA in Political, Legal and Economic Philosophy at the University of Bern before going on to obtain a PhD in Political Philosophy at the University of Zurich, during which time he was a visiting researcher at Princeton University. Jack has worked as an Assistant Professor of International Relations and Acting Dean of the College of International Studies at the American University of Kurdistan in Northern Iraq where he continues to teach as an Adjunct Professor. He is the founding President of the Institute for Global Negotiation based in Zurich. Jack has written two full-length plays Life for Life and The Shrink's Cabinet the latter of which was selected for the FriScenes International Theatre Festival. His first short film Train of Thought has been shown at a number of international festivals. This is his first novel.