This is basically a variation on the Incompleat Enchanter stories by Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague DeCamp. Maybe I will go back and reread them next. It has been even longer since I read those. Of course, I will have to check the shelves - they aren't available for Kindle. Or I could buy used paper for under two bucks - six by the time they have handled and shipped - maybe it is on the shelves.
Whatever. The premise is fun. It being widely acknowledged that a degree in English is possibly one of the most useless degrees going, a depressed English grad student - probably having recognized that fact - has essentially abandoned his dissertation to study an antique parchment which he found in an old book. When he finally gets around to reading it aloud, he activates the spell which transports him to a universe where magic works and its medium is the spoken word, preferably rhyming. Given his extensive study of the poetry of the Western World, he discovers that he is an extremely powerful wizard in his new world.
I like very much the message of the power of words. Even in our rational world they have great power when used well. Unfortunately, in our world many of those who use words well frequently do not use them in a manner that would be sanctioned by the forces of good which keep an eye on such things in Wizard Matthew's new universe. Stasheff makes a good job of the conversion of a rational man into a man who must survive in a world where an oath is an actual binding and good and evil literally exist.
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