When Body Language Goes Bad: A Dilbert Book [Paperback]

Scott Adams (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dilbert Book | Publication Date: March 2, 2003

Some might think that the corporate scandals of 2002 could make it difficult to find anything funny about today's business world. But When Body Language Goes Bad proves it will take more than that to slow down the inventive wit of Scott Adams, who clearly is never at a loss for finding hysterical things to mock in corporate life.This marks the 21st collection of Adams' wildly popular comic strip, Dilbert, which is featured in more than 2,000 newspapers worldwide. This book updates loyal readers on the so-called careers of Dilbert, Alice, Wally, Asok the intern, and other regulars as they wallow through pointless projects, mismanaged company takeovers, futile team-building exercises, and other inane company initiatives like the "name the rest room" contest.In addition to the strips' familiar characters, this collection showcases Adams' masterful ability to create hilarious "guest stars." There's the network design engineer known as Psycho Hillbilly, who was going for the gentle biker look until he decided it was overdone. Then, there's M. T. Suit, who is merely an empty suit walking the office halls spewing corporatese, such as "promising to enhance core competencies by leveraging platforms." Adams says that about 80 percent of his initial ideas come from his 150 million-plus readers. Those worldwide readers are sure to celebrate the humor found in When Body Language Goes Bad, his latest satirical look at the modern workplace.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Since being voluntarily downsized from a corporate job in 1995, Dilbert creator Scott Adams stays attuned to the business world with the help of hundreds of daily e-mails he receives from fans and the more than 1.5 million unique visitors a month to his Web site, www.dilbert.com. He is a past winner of the Reuben Award, cartooning's highest honor. He lives in California with Pam and two cats.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; Illustrated. edition (March 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740732986
• ISBN-13: 978-0740732980
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

What started as a doodle has turned Scott Adams into a superstar of the cartoon world. Dilbert debuted on the comics page in 1989 while Adams was in the tech department at Pacific Bell. Adams continued to work at Pacific Bell until he was voluntarily downsized in 1995. He has lived in the San Francisco Bay area since 1979.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything`s back in "snafu" order...., June 20, 2003

By 

takis tzanopoulos - See all my reviews

This review is from: When Body Language Goes Bad: A Dilbert Book (Paperback)

The last 2-3 Adam`s Dilbert collections were lackin on edge somewhat. Not that you can ever go wrong by acquring a Dilbert comic but Adams has accustomed his readers to a very high niveau of humor.
"When body language goes bad" is a tremendous return to top form for the Dilbert creator.
New and very welcome twists take place as Dilbert gets downsized, the Pointy Haired Boss becomes an engineer (even if it is for just a day), Wally takes Asok under his wings to teach him his "deepest secrets" on how to avoid work, Dilbert`s mother adopts an even more caustic attitude than wè had seen her up to now, and of course Alice is as usual the aggro force of the corporate corridors.
Wally keeps stealing the show as usual and the Head of Human resources (or "livestock") comes up with new and improved ways to torture the already overtortured souls of the employees.

On a downside, as has been the case with almost all of Adams`last albums Dogbert and especially Ratbert (possibly the 2nd cultest character of the series) seem to have taken second stage.`
This is bizzare on one hand but understandable on the other as most of the Dilbert characters have a strong fan base but it`s also a fact that Dogbert is one of the driving forces of the comic. As for Ratbert, yes, it can be a personal preference thingie.
It`s probably getting boring to say "a must buy" for each new Dilbert publication, but, as the faithful know, it`s an addiction.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some good stuff in here, March 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: When Body Language Goes Bad: A Dilbert Book (Paperback)

The best thing this compilation has going for it is that none of the strips are recycled, unlike recent so-called "treasuries" Adams has dumped on the market. The cartoons are funny enough, though this book lacks the catchy theme that previous works like "Excuse Me While I Wag" had. Dilbert and his co-workers continue to suffer from the idiocy of the PHB and the cruel jokes of Catbert, while Dogbert inflicts his usual bag of tricks on unsuspecting humans. Hey, whatever happened to characters like Bob the Dinosaur and his family?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Dilbert, January 24, 2007

By 

Beta73 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: When Body Language Goes Bad: A Dilbert Book (Paperback)

It really gives you a reason for laughs. Dilbert never lets me down on that matter.