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4.0 out of 5 stars
Sarah Burney for the Carolina Review, June 27, 2003
[The below review is by Sarah Burney and originally appeared in the Carolina Review, December 2001, a publication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Reprinted in its entirety by permission.]
What will life be like after graduation? How will you prepare for that big job interview? What is the difference between a charcoal gray suit and a gunmetal gray suit, and why does it matter?
Manhattan Sharks, a new novel by Thomas M. Sipos, answers these questions and more in a satirical look at careers and daily life in 1983 in New York City.
It is hard to summarize the plot of Manhattan Sharks, since there does not appear to be one upon cursory examination. Dig deeper, however, and it is not just a story of job hunting and corporate ladder climbing. It is a story of friendship, romance, and the search for the perfect résumé.
Cathy C. Calery, of the Cathy C. Calery Career Counseling Center, is a woman driven to be the best in her field. She faces stiff competition in the form of Simon Seltzer and the Seltzer Agency, which is better funded, connected, and respected than the Sextuple C.
Cathy enlists the aid of TVR, a company that does ratings research as well as produces commercials, to air an advertisement on Letterman to attract clients in her key demographic. Kyle Klifton handles her account, and eventually falls for Cathy despite his distaste for her liberal politics. He is attracted to her beauty and brains, she is attracted to his power suit and power tie. It is strange how yuppies can turn even relationships into business.
Meanwhile, recent junior-college graduates Russell Rusche, Rupert Rusche, Patrick Patterson, and Henry Willoughby navigate the treacherous world of job interviews, office politics, and twice-daily subway rides. The subway is described in nauseating detail, from the first cramped seconds to the final, sweaty rush to freedom. Sipos's description of the sights, sounds, and smells of the borough of Manhattan is no less loving, and could only have come from a native New Yorker. The mention of the now-fallen World Trade Center towers causes a pang of nostalgia, as do the mentions of Reagan before the Alzheimer's took hold.
Henry Willoughby is the standout of the recent graduates. He lands a job with TVR as a number cruncher in the ratings department, though what he really wants to do is direct. A meek, mild man with a sensitive digestive system, Henry spends his days flirting unsuccessfully with Sheila the secretary, trying to avoid his loud, abrasive co-worker Better, carefully planning ways to get the best snacks from the office kitchen, and analyzing Nielsen and Arbitron ratings that come from binders of varying size and thickness. Henry seems almost Dilbert-like in manner, though to Sipos's credit, Manhattan Sharks was first conceived in 1987, well before Dilbert became popular.
Sipos tells the story in vignettes, and it is sometimes hard to follow where he leads. Nevertheless, the reader quickly adjusts to the somewhat choppy narrative style and becomes engrossed in the stories. The characters are sometimes tough to like, especially when Cathy Calery indulges in that favorite activity of the left, Reagan bashing, but they are always realistic and believable.
Almost all of the names in Manhattan Sharks are alliterative, Henry Willoughby being the only exception. It is a rather irritating incongruity, and it makes the novel seem almost cartoonish at times. Perhaps the author's purpose in using this device was to draw the reader's attention to how different Henry is from the rest of the characters. He is not smartly dressed, overly ambitious, or a relentless social climber; in short, he is not a jerk. The reader therefore identifies and sympathizes with him.
Manhattan Sharks is not an instant classic. It was written to be funny and entertaining, and Sipos accomplishes that purpose admirably. His on-target skewering of Donahue and gun control lobbyists is hilarious...Phil Donahue and the gun control set are not the only sacred cows Sipos leads to the slaughter. Neither communist revolutionaries, nor Woodstock-era hippies, nor gold-digging yuppie women are safe from Sipos's biting satire.
Many UNC seniors will be able to relate to the trials and travails of the characters all too soon, as they graduate from this respected university and enter the real world. The stress of job interviews, the drudgery of office work, and the treacherous world of romance and politics will unfortunately become all too familiar in the coming months. But take heart, seniors -- it could be much worse. At least you will not be in college anymore, and the 80s are long past.
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