Stick with it - it pays off The first third of this book is quite sharply written, but really not all that engaging. It is episodic and rather aimless, and while many of the vignettes are mildly amusing or mildly intriguing, the characters are mostly unsympathetic and it fails to draw you in. I read the first 80 pages or so and stalled on it. My wife tried it and only managed 50. Eventually, I ran out of other reading material and went back to it - and my opinion changed the moment the focus shifted from general office... more info
Not sure! Well I finished this book this morning and I really cannot decide whether I liked it or not. The book is set in a failing Chicago advertising agency which is what mainly drew me to the book as up until six months ago I was working in a failing advertising department for a newspaper so I suppose I may have been looking for a little bit of nostalgia.
The characters are the driving force of Ferris' work as until the end not much happens. The characters are fantastic though, you have Marcia Dwyer who has... more info
Original, funny, close to life When I first started reading I thought the "we" viewpoint would annoy me but having finished it ina matter of hours, I think the author has pulled it off with incredible skill. It's original, funny, close to life and all those things that a good book should be: the characters are absolutely fascinating and believable, the plot strands are very carefully woven together. I can understand those who don't want to read about work when they aren't there, but unlike working in my office, I really feel... more info
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 different voice which... more info
