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Richard Hine

Autor/a de Russell Wiley Is Out to Lunch

2 obres 41 Membres 9 Ressenyes

Obres de Richard Hine

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Russell Wiley’s path is hitting a sharp turn on the rollercoaster of life. His wife is less interested in him and his job is failing.

The writing flows well enough and Russell’s problems were interesting at first.

As the story goes on all I kept thinking is “Okay where is this going? Where is the plot?” Unfortunately, I never found one, or I did not get what it was. The book was pretty boring. In the beginning, I felt bad for Russell, but then somewhere near the middle, I stopped caring. I read other reviews that this was humorous. I did not laugh once.

Maybe if you have worked in an office with a job like Russell you would like this more than I did and find it funny. Sadly, I did not like this book.
… (més)
 
Marcat
lavenderagate | Hi ha 7 ressenyes més | May 12, 2022 |
Russell Wiley spends his work life selling ad space in the Daily Business Chronicle, which is a print-only daily business newspaper with declining circulation. There are clear disadvantages to this, but it's not made easier by his boss, Henry, who is determined to make no useful changes, the hotshot new consultant who is trying to turn this short-term gig into a permanent job, the poor hiring choice Russell made a few month ago who is dead weight for his department but whom his boss thinks is Da Bomb...

Oh, and his marriage is falling apart, too.

Clearly, Russell has to make some major changes.

Making a mistake in a spreadsheet, a mistake that is going to cost the company millions of dollars, wasn't the major change he would have chosen.

This is light, funny, a great distraction from paying attention to today's news!

Really, it's just a lot of fun. Recommended.

I bought this audiobook.
… (més)
 
Marcat
LisCarey | Hi ha 7 ressenyes més | Sep 19, 2018 |
In an alarming political year, this little novella is pure lark.

The bad news is that Donald Trump has been elected President.

The even more bad news is that Russia has just had a little accident with a nuclear missile that has resulted in unfortunate damage to a Canadian military base in Nunavut.

The worst news is that while Trump's cabinet, or at least some members of it, are scrambling to keep him from over-reacting and starting World War III, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the government of Norway come under sufficient pressure that the cooperate on a (fortunately non-nuclear) attack on a base in Russia.

Secretary of Defense Jesse Ventura, National Security Advisor Sean Hannity, and CELIA head Jodie Foster (what's CELIA? Why, the Celebrity Intelligence Agency, obviously), with no help from from Secretary of State Sarah Palin, collaborate to prevent Trump from launching a full nuclear first strike. While they're doing that, Kim Kardashian is embarking on a round of shuttle diplomacy to get all the relevant parties to agree to a deal that will prevent nuclear destruction of the human race.

And to make them accept it, Kim is going to start a #PeaceExplosion.

Is this book serious? Not for one single second. Is it plausible? Sure!

At least in its own scary, funny way.

This is the perfect distraction when you think you can't take this election year for another single second.

Recommended.
… (més)
 
Marcat
LisCarey | Sep 19, 2018 |
While you might think a comparison to "Office Space" or "The Office" (either version) or "Dilbert" would be apt since this is a workplace book, it's not really comedy. Not even a dramedy. I guess you'd all it a light drama that reminds of the workplace books of Ethan Cooper, especially "Smooth in Meetings."

The eponymous Russell Wiley is a middle manager at a newspaper called the Daily Business Chronicle. It's 2006 and even back then the newspaper business is floundering. Russell faces obstacles both professional and personal: a new management consultant, annoying coworkers, and a failing marriage. Most of the book then is Russell navigating these hazards, which is like in the old Pitfall video game where Pitfall Harry would jump from one alligator to another--one wrong step and gulp! you're gone.

Since you probably have not read "Smooth in Meetings," you might think of this as similar to a political drama like "Primary Colors" or "House of Cards" where we follow the main character through the various challenges he faces while he tries to consolidate his power. Only Russell is not as sleazy as the main character in any of those items I've mentioned. He's pretty much a good guy whose only real sin is a crush on a co-worker.


The book is written well enough and manages at least in my view to capture the real essence of working in any office environment. Where the book fell down for me was in about the last three chapters, which could have been combined into an epilogue, since it certainly had that feel. In that epilogue, things come together much too neatly and much too happily with some events bordering on the surreal. A little more modest silver lining would have upped this to a 5-star read. But I would still recommend it.

That is all.
… (més)
 
Marcat
ptdilloway | Hi ha 7 ressenyes més | Nov 21, 2013 |

Estadístiques

Obres
2
Membres
41
Popularitat
#363,652
Valoració
3.1
Ressenyes
9
ISBN
2