Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780141027630
ISBN: 0141027630
Label: Penguin
Manufacturer: Penguin
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: January 04, 2008
Publisher: Penguin
Studio: Penguin

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Rating: - Good but not as good as the hype
'We were fractious and overpaid. Our mornings lacked promise. At least those of us who smoked had something to look forward to at ten-fiteen.'

This book is funny - about work in offices and in advertising. The characters are mainly cyphers. Our narrator is one of the gang but we gradually come to understand the different personalities as they live through being fired or the fear of being fired. The boss they all fear has breast cancer and part of the novel is her story in a very ... Read More

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Rating: - Nagging feeling
I was taken in by the blurb on the cover and that probably set my expectations too high. The overriding feeling though, throughout reading this was that it is a poor, less funny book in the style of Douglas Coupland. If you loved this book (like so many people seemed to do) then try Microserfs and JPod by Coupland and see, in my opinion, how it should be done and how funny this kind of subject can be.

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Rating: - inventive but too long
I really enjoyed a lot of this book, perhaps not least because I know the advertising world a bit, but anyone who's worked in an office will recognise the petty intrigues, games and rituals that develop over time.
It could have done with slightly harsher pruning from the editor I feel, but no doubt some of its repetition is to make the point about how repetitious office life is. Very funny in places, very sad in places and thoughtful throughout, this isn't the most up book you'll read, but ... Read More

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Rating: - That's how to write a book
I don't want to give the wrong impression; this is not a thriller, but finishing it somehow left me breathless. On reflection, it's the way you're sucked into the world of characters: warts and all characters, with possibly more bad points than good; they become your companions, and leaving them brings on a feeling of being wrenched away. The skill of the author brings life to seemingly mundane events, and they end up interesting because you're intrigued just as much as the advertising agency emplotees ... Read More

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Rating: - Then we didn't laugh but we enjoyed it anyway
A lot of people have been very disappointed with this book and I think it is partly down to the misleading blurbs used on the cover. Many of the quotes suggest that the book is a comedy. People buying this book might expect to be laughing out loud on the bus but it just isn't that kind of comedy. It's more the kind of well oberved comedy that makes you think "hmm, that's true." In other words the not funny type of comedy. I never felt the need to laugh once.

That said I enjoyed the book. The ... Read More

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