Business as Usual [Paperback]

David Mazzotta (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 2007

Something is rotten at consulting giant Can-Am, Ltd. Jake, the junior partner and world-renowned management guru, is busy lamenting his estranged son and playing domestic politics with his socially ambitious wife. Jim, a young corporate golden boy, is busy lamenting his lost, carefree, slacker years and trying to bed the boss's daughter. Neither of them is doing much work. Both men are successful beyond their expectations, yet they sense something missing from their supposedly charmed lives. Chance brings them together in a scheme that will provide the freedom and redemption they desire - if it doesn't leave them in ruin. Surrounded by an addle-brained company figurehead, an unmerciful, yet beautiful, vice-president, an inept blackmailer, a pool-hustling fleshpot, a six-foot lady cop, a wily corporate raider, a sneaky weasel and a randy bovine, Jake and Jim launch their caper. High-jinks ensue in this riotous send-up of corporate shenanigans. About the Author: In the grand epic tradition, David Mazzotta struggled to overcome an ordinary middle-class childhood filled with public-school bullies, downscale shopping malls, and awkward adolescent moments in a suburb of Detroit called Southfield. While attending the University of Michigan, he worked as a bartender and a car salesman before leaving to seek glamour and excitement in Northern Virginia, where he did hard time as an accountant near his nation's capital. David now lives a care-free life outside Ann Arbor, Michigan. Business As Usual is his second novel.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

In the grand epic tradition, David Mazzotta struggled to overcome an ordinary middle-class childhood filled with public school bullies, downscale shopping malls, and awkward adolescent moments in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Michigan. While attending the University of Michigan he worked as a bartender and a car salesman before leaving to seek glamour and excitement in Northern Virginia where he did hard time as an accountant near his nation’s capital. David now leads a rather confusing life just ouside Ann Arbor, Michigan. Business As Usual is his second novel. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Media Creations (November 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595268111
• ISBN-13: 978-1595268112
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,407,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A chuckle-worthy tale of schemes and office politics, March 8, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Business as Usual (Paperback)

Business As Usual by David Mazzotta is a wry tongue-in-cheek novel of two up and coming corporate stars - who may at first seem overrated for their slimy true characters and resistance to doing actual work, but who just might be well suited and upstanding individuals compared to the mindless company figurehead, the utterly ruthless albeit beautiful vice-president, the blackmailer who doesn't know what he's doing, and others. A chuckle-worthy tale of schemes and office politics spiraling out of control, Business As Usual is highly entertaining reading from start to finish.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Satire wrapped in a caper, November 19, 2003

By 

"mitchellmax" (Highland Park, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Business as Usual (Paperback)

Basically a caper story but with some very compelling and sympathetic characters. A younger yuppie-sort of executive joins up with an older jaded executive in a gambling pool scheme. Along the way they engage all sorts of corporate characters and doge all sorts of bullets, including a somewhat unbelievable, but very funny sexual harassment suit. And then there's the head of the company, known only as The Decrepitude, whos comic incompetence is on display throughout.

The real pleasure here is the characters, especially the two leads. The younger executive, Jim, is haunted by his good fortune and can't seem to escape his slacker college friends. The older executive, Jake, is a perfect portrait of a successful, yet bitter man confronting himself late in life.

A very funny, but thoughtful, book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Smarter than your average lad-lit, February 19, 2004

By 

darius7 (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Business as Usual (Paperback)

I read this after reading and enjoying Mazzotta's previous book, Apple Pie. This one has an entirely different feel to it. It is written in third person and has more of what could be called adult themes. It is being marketed as a 'caper' comedy, but like his first book, it really starts from a foundation of 'Lad-lit' and builds from there. In this case, the protagonists are two men trying to come to terms with their situations, though at very different points in their lives. They face the usual 'lat-lit' absurdities with the requisite combination of irony and introspection. The difference here is that instead of spending the entire book stumbling helplessly through life they feel driven enough to take action, and this action is what builds into the caper. The caper only serves to accentuate the absurdities and irony which in-turn further feeds the caper. It is a very smartly constructed book.

I'm only giving it four stars because I'm not sure the portrayal of some of the characters is realistic in a corporate setting. But it is as funny as its reputation suggests. A worthwhile read.