Yeah, Fell, I know it's not unheard of or something. But I sure haven't had any of my profs do that, even though many of the profs I had were in fact published authors. And I've had a lot of school so far. (Just got my MA in American lit at BYU). So it's not like I haven't been around the academic block a few times. (Gee, I am so sick of school!) Anyway, at least where I've attended, I never had that experience. The prof I worked for over the course of four years has written almost ten books, most of which could easily be incorporated into her classes, but she chose not to. huh.
Anyway, from hearing my friends' experiences, it seems more likely for a prof to assign his own work to the class if it's a text book rather than a work of creative fiction, that's all. (shrug) Don't know why that is, though. Naturally, I can't prove it or anything. At any rate, I can't help thinking it would be kind of funny/weird to teach your own novel to a class, you know. Ah, if only all of us were even fortunate enough to -have- that option!