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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Office Space Spooky, June 10, 2004
Paul Trilby has come a long way down, from a teaching position at a prestigious university to an office temp at the Texas Department of General Services. He has made every mistake in the book, and so he finds himself divorced, alone, barely making enough to live on, his life in shambles. Worse yet, he is haunted by Charlotte, the ghost of his ex-wife's cat, the cat he drowned because...well, it's complicated. Well, cubicle hell is bad enough, but then strange things start happening. Strange pale men appear and disappear mysteriously. Strange post-it notes appear on Paul's computer. People know things about him they couldn't possibly know. Tiles in the ceiling move strangely, suggesting someone--or something--is up there watching. Amusing as all this may be, it will soon get personal for Paul. He will be asked to make some terrible, serious decisions. Does he have what it takes? And is all this real? Or is Paul going psychotic? You will have to read the book to find out. Author James Hynes is absolutely brilliant. His writing reflects his vast erudition without being the slightest bit pretentious. It flows along easily, and you find yourself unable to put the book down. At first it is humorous, but then it becomes alarming, enthralling, unvelievably suspenseful, as you race through the last hundred pages. I recommend this book highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finest kind, says Kat from Readerville.com, April 15, 2004
I gulped down this book in a single afternoon, it's not just that good but that thigh-slapping funny. And, oddly or perhaps not, that useful in thinking about examined lives and such. Of course, Hynes, can write bloody well ... or bloody well write, whichever, but lordy knows he gives awfully good book and then some. This one, "Kings of Infinite Space," is finest kind and a worthy counterpart to his earlier "The Lecturer's Tale" which also made sore my laugh muscles. Folk who have read Hynes' earlier novela trilogy ("Publish or Perish") might recognize a character or two, not all entirely human. Hynes reprises these and gives them a fullness of life that anyone would envy. If this guy ever writes a sententiously serious novel, he'd be in great danger of earning one of those prestigious prizes -- you know, a Pulitzer or an NBCC or some such. Because everyone knows you can't write a marvelously FUNNY brilliant book and win squat. Or rather, squat is what such a brilliant book wins.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Entertaining Examination of Nine to Five America, May 1, 2004
Have you ever worked in one of those huge soulless offices --- the kind that is full of row after row of gray cubicles and harsh fluorescent lighting? Then perhaps you know how mind numbing the days in these environments can be. But for Paul Trilby, who works in just such an office, life in a cubicle, so he thought, was the least of his concerns. James Hynes's latest novel KINGS OF INFINITE SPACE, tells the story of Paul Trilby, a temp worker employed in the General Services Department of the Texas Department of General Services. Trilby didn't always work as a tech writer in a government office. In fact, he was once an English professor at a prestigious university. But he was fired from his job there and when his wife Elizabeth found out about his girlfriend Kymberly, he was divorced as well. After Kym and Paul moved to Lamar, Texas (a thinly veiled Austin), their relationship also falls apart. Paul now finds himself typing away at TxDoGS, an office filled with eccentric and creepy characters, and living in a run down motel, haunted by Elizabeth's dead cat, Charlotte. It soon becomes clear to Paul that the problems of working at TxDoGS are bigger than dealing with the snotty Olivia or his clueless boss Rick. For example, who is leaving cryptic Post-it note messages on his computer screen? Why does he feel like he is being watched? Is the recycling bin really a bottomless pit? Why are people afraid to be in the office after dark? And, finally, who are the mysterious Stanley Tulendji and Boy G, and what do they want from Paul? KINGS OF INFINITE SPACE is office life taken to an absurd, but unique, extreme. Hynes's satire has a bit of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. Paul Trilby is a classic everyman down on his luck (granted, his current predicament is entirely his fault). He is grumpy and arrogant but still actually likeable. And, as Paul becomes more and more enmeshed in the bizarre world of TxDoGS, we cheer for him more and more. The mysteries and secrets of the Texas Department of General Services finally become clear to Paul and at the same time dangerous. Hynes asks Paul (and readers) to think about how much he is willing to sacrifice for a work-free life, a life unaffected by gray cubicles and mindless busy work. Hynes also questions if a person is defined by the work they do. KINGS OF INFINITE SPACE is at turns frightening and laugh out loud funny. Hynes has captured many of the realities of office work while contorting them to nightmarish fantasies. From office politics to bloodthirsty zombies, from classic literary references to a steamy love affair, Hynes erases lines between genres by putting it all in one quite readable novel. Smartly written, this is an entertaining examination of nine to five America. While it doesn't offer many revolutionary insights into postmodern alienation and the costs of productivity versus creativity, you will never look at the ceiling tiles above your desk the same way again. --- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman
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