Customer Reviews

Overqualified

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It was unrelated to the purchase, somebody was taking a picture of him, and he did not want to look at the camera I think. I stared back, not wanting to be the one to break eye contact. Like Joey had thrown out some unspoken dare and I didn't want to disappoint him. Halfway through he gave me a little wave, as if to say it would be all right, that it was almost over.

Overqualified is a lot like that. Each letter is funny and amazingly written, but it shows you a glimpse of something darker. It chokes you up a bit. It makes you want to call up your brother and see how he's doing. Makes you want to put the book down, but it also makes you want to keep reading, so as not to disappoint Joey.

And by beautiful, I mean Joey Comeau. Overqualified is such a wonderful, insightful, heartbreaking, hilarious, and familiar book that with every page I read, even everytime I wander past it while it sits gloriously on my nightstand, I have an incredible urge to just take my pants off. Sometimes I can't resist. When I say sometimes, I mean everytime. Right now, I know you may be thinking I'm a crazy person and that this book is only for crazy people or for people whose aspirations are to someday be crazy, but my friend, you are so very wrong. Once you read Overqualified, you will know. You will be pantsless and you will also know what I mean. Buy it. Don't ask, just do it.

A dear friend of mine once told me that there are only four possible endings to a fight that indicate a successful argument:

1. The feeling that you won't need to have the same fight again in the near future
2. Makeouts or their equivalent had
3. Objects thrown and shattered, preferably against other shattering objects
4. Sudden absurd laughter

Joey Comeau's book has only questionable success at best with regard to #1, but blows the other three away so thoroughly that I have to admit Overqualified is the most successful fight I've ever read.

Of all the false ways we present ourselves in the world, job applications may be the pinnacle of fakery. The goal is to commodify the self into a bland, inoffensive package, in order to slot it into the corporate machine. And of course, we hide or amputate any aspects of who we are that don't mesh with our socially-constructed ideas of how people are supposed to think, act, and feel.

Overqualified is a short novel in the form of a series of cover letters for jobs the author will never get. Something has shattered his world -- a car accident, a tragedy -- that's disrupted his participation in the hollow process, left him unable to continue pretending his life fits into tidy, respectable categories. He goes on writing job applications, but they warp into confessional outpourings, defiant assertions of individuality, furious searches for meaning and connection and humanity.

The book is poetically written and wildly funny -- the kind of wicked humor that's all raw nerves and secret truths and naked heart. Joey Comeau is one of the most honest and courageous writers I know, and his writing is always a wake-up call. I highly recommend it.

I had read a lot of this before, but there's just something about having an actual hardcopy book that kinda trumps just reading it online.

When i first found Comeau's entrancing and disturbing (in a way i find hilarious and bold) web-comic (using the term comic loosely) "asofterworld", i browsed a little further and found some of these letters he sent to various companies in search of a job.

Spoiler alert: I don't think he's really looking for a job.

In short, after the first, i was hooked. Luckily, i was at a new job, training, with little respsonsibility, and a lot of time to surf the web. It was hard to explain why i sometimes appeared to be crying to my new coworkers, but once i forwarded the choice ones on to them, they knew it was just because i had been laughing hysterically in my little corner of the office all afternoon.

10/10

When I first heard about a story by the mastermind behind A Softer World, told only by way of cover letters I was sure I was in for an amazing experience. When it arrived I savagely ripped apart the packaging, not being able to wait any longer before getting at the goodness that was inside. However, upon reading the first page I was disenchanted somewhat. What I had hoped this would be was a pseudo-real somewhat-plausible sounding series of cover letters that skillfully and (here's the big one) subtly portrayed the author's mind slowly spiralling into insanity. This wasn't to be so, as the very first cover letter blows apart that possibility, almost desensitising the reader to anything that could possibly happen. I find it hard to believe that the same author who so cleverly manipulates 3 panes of a photo and 2 or 3 sentences could miss the mark in such a big way.

However, after the 2nd time through I got off my high horse and started to judge it on what was written, rather than what I arrogantly believe should be there. It's entertaining and insightful, exquisitely juxtaposing the sad with the funny in a way only Joey Comeau (OK that's a lie, but just roll with it) can. Is this worth the $10? Absolutely and without a doubt. There are some stories in there which I know will stay with me for the rest of my life. If you're thinking about it, just do it, if for no other reason than to keep the man writing this gold.

Joey Comeau can make me cry like nothing else. Reading this book, about his brother's death, is like some punching you straight in the gut.

Only it's hilarious. You get punched in the gut and it hurts like hell but for some reason you can't stop laughing. The guy punching keeps throwing out witty remarks and God he's a douche for punching you, but damn he is funny and kind of an okay guy otherwise.

I'm not good with metaphors. What I'm saying is: this book is amazing. I love you Joey, you horrible jerk.

Stop reading this review and go buy the book. Now.

Great, if somewhat short, novel!

Now, about the paper: Although I agree with other reviewers that the paper is lush, and in its own way overqualified to carry monochrome words and punctuation (watercolor, or pencil drawing had possibly been more appropriate), the lush tactile experience of the paper very nicely juxtaposes the wry humor and tragic story of the novel. Like you get hugged and stabbed at the same time.

Sadly, the paper of the cover doesn't match the paper of the content in quality: thinnish, and warping the wrong way. In a humid country like the Netherlands such warping makes books take up more shelf space than necessary, and space is a precious commodity in the Netherlands.

I once engaged in conversation with a Canadian who first visited the Netherlands, who wondered what was up with all the storage spaces he saw. 'This is our housing', I told him.

Anyway, I think this is a great book, although I feel the pacing, the way small pieces of information in each letter eventually add up to a story of loss, could have been done better. Also, at 94 pages I'm not sure the book needs to be divided in three parts. Why was that?

All things considered, I say buy it! Make yourself laugh and cry!

Down to the fine paper the book is printed on, this stirring, outrageous, and at-least-a-little-bit-inspiring read exhibits the playful seriousness which has delighted me for far too short a time on A Softer World. The longer cover letter format, suits Mr. Comeau's humor well (perhaps, arguably, better than the webcomic). Like a REAL potential employee, the letters begin with formulaic earnest, but suddenly nosedive into the fantastic, the inappropriately personal, or the sobering. Sometimes all three at once. Reading is a bit like playing Twister with your brain: you follow all the moves, laughing the whole time, and sometimes you fall over, left on the ground in an awkward position, contemplating the meaning of life.

I haven't read any of Joey Comeau's other books but I was really impressed with this one. A novel told through cover letters probably doesn't seem that exciting, but it's so hilarious, sadistic and sombre that it manages to break pretty free of the format. I'd already read most of the overqualified archives, so it probably wasn't as much as a kick to the head to me as overqualified newbies, but I found it enjoyable enough to read in one sitting (it's reasonably short) and to read aloud to friends. Knowing that some of these actually got sent out to HR departments makes it feel particularly inspiring, a nice mix of nihilism and the romantic for the downbeat. Also, the paper is great.