A retired academic is called to a remote university to speak as the
replacement for an old friend recently deceased in unusual
circumstances. The Stand-In is a transcript of these lectures,
revealing a sophisticated tale of art, fame, and adultery that unfolds
through rambling anecdotes and flashes of scholarly grandstanding.
Fiercely funny and bitterly ironic, The Stand-In has been called the
best academic doppelgänger story since Nabokov's Pale Fire.