Personal Days

I don't know if I have admitted this here before, but before I realized that librarianship was the perfect career for me, I spent several years working in Corporate America. Like many new college grads, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and I needed to pay the bills. The job was misery like I had never experienced before, but looking back on it now, I can laugh at the absurdity of it. If you have ever worked in Corporate America, you'll get a kick out of Ed Park's first novel Personal Days. Set in an unnamed company, a group of employees are trying to predict who will be next in the Firings. While their numbers slowly dwindle, they contemplate the best e-mail sign off, spend time crafting the perfect voice mail message, and work on their "layoff narratives." The boss keeps copies of The Art of War by Sun Tzu and Machiavelli's The Prince in his office and loves to use phrases like "Think outside the box," "Step up to the plate" and "Help me help you." The novel is clever, funny and really captures the corporate culture. A definite must read for fans of the movie Office Space.