Customer Reviews

Business as Usual

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Part corporate satire, part con story, and very clever throughout. This is the story of two men working for the same company. One is a younger and quickly, and guiltily, climbing the corporate ladder, although with a lot of help from his relationship with a very highly positioned woman in the company who also happens to be the daughter of the senior partner. The other is an older man, Jake, the junior partner, who harbors all sorts of bitterness and even hated toward his hapless superior, feeling as though he has been an unappreciated force behind the success of the firm.

These two men com together in a scam that they think is about winning money, but actually is about their own personal dissatisfaction. They pile lie upon lie, creating an ever increase sense of chaos until, inevitably, the whole thing comes apart.

The book is arranged with alternating chapters told by each of the main characters, drawing parallels and sometimes describing their different points of view of the same events. This is a very effective technique and emphasizes both the similarity and contrasts between the two men.

There are some excellent comic sequences and though the characters often act immorally, they are fundamentally sympathetic people. Well written and worth reading.