This paper analyzes the novel, "A Tenured Professor," by John Kenneth Galbraith, in an exploration of the impact of fictional writing and other popular and mass media on public perceptions of higher education. In the book Galbraith offers his views on his own experience as a leading educator and on the world of higher education. The book tells about the career and personal development of a professor of economics who pursues wealth in order to influence society on the stage of higher education. The book is seen to address four main issues prominent in contemporary higher education: (1) institutional prestige and elitism, (2) faculty autonomy, (3) university politics, and (4) the debate over tenure. The paper examines each of these issues, as developed by Galbraith, using excerpts from the book as examples. It then compares the book's treatment of these issues with Galbraith's treatment of the same issues prior to writing this novel. (Contains 20 references.)(DB)