Customer Reviews

Wrongsized: Become chronically unemployed in 26 Easy steps

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Larry Soloman writes an amusing tale on how to loose a job, well actually he writes about many different ways to loose many different jobs. This is an especially funny read if you yourself have been downsized, were the person that was the one that was reduced in work force, value-captured, or laid off. Larry writes about many different jobs; bartender, detective, cesspool cleaner, art critic, karaoke singer, undertaker, and so mch more. We watch Larry go through a semi jaded experience of being laid off by a nameless corporation.

One of my favorites lines in this book is, "So, here I was. Twenty years away from starting to collect Social Security, three weeks away from starting to collect unemployment, and ten minutes away from starting a hangover." If you have been there, you know how true these words are. I enjoyed his amusing journey through finding another job. This is an enjoyable read, that shouldnt' be missed.

Mr. Solomon's book is both insightful and unabashedly funny. Filled with laughs, this is a testament to the American tradition of finding humor in the most adverse situations. It's a veritable survival guide to today's economy - a must read for everyone.

Show of hands please. How many of us know someone who has been impacted (nice way to say lost their job) by the recent economic downturn (nice way to say crash)? Well, as long as they are past the suicidal depression stage, you should really give them a copy of "Wrongsized Become chronically unemployed in 26 easy steps". It may not help them get a new job, but they will certainly glean some interesting pointers on what NOT to do and probably pee their pants laughing at the same time.

Larry Solomon has written comedy pieces for some pretty famous shows (Laugh-In, The Smothers Brothers, The Dean Martin Show) and his 'unique' look at different jobs available these days is sure to tickle anybody's funny bone. The laughs start at the introduction and don't stop until the last page. From the 'stages' of job loss to hilarious stints as Postal Worker, Limousine Driver, Fortune Teller, Undertaker, and many more, Solomon has the knowledge and the willingness to say it exactly like it is.

As someone who lived through 'downsizing', Solomon invites readers on a merry tale (he even admits where the truth stops) of an out-of-work executive looking for a new job. The chapters are short, sweet, and well-written as well as snortingly funny. So for those tired of the gloom and doom of current news, pick up a copy for a lighter look at the ups and downs of employment in today's America.

BOOK: Wrongsized
AUTHOR: Larry Solomon
PUBLISHER: Outskirts Press, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-1432723477
RATING: 5 stars
BOOK REVIEW by Leigh-Ann Lemire

Wrongsized is a fantastically funny book that also gives you practical advice on how to be gainfully employed.

It's not that I couldn't put this book down, it is more like I didn't want to put this book down. I read it straight through from cover to cover laughing hilariously out loud and enjoying every minute of reading this book.

To top it all off, the book is filled with "end notes" that you have to turn to the back to find out what the author has to say. I tried not turning to the back because I was interested in what I was reading but found the little numbers nagging me. More often than not I either learned something new or had another laugh. You really do need to find out about the poisonous snake!!

After the author keeps you thoroughly entertained and at the point where he totally has your attention, he gives very practical advice on how to get a job which makes this the perfect book for anybody that is in the job market today because it gets you over the dismal feelings by laughing about it. Once you are cheered up, then you get the practical advice which is very good, useful information.

Some people can't get a job. Others can't stop losing them. "Wrongsized: Become Chronically Unemployed In 26 Easy Steps" is a humorous novel about one eager job seeker who can't seem to keep a job down. His adventures are endlessly entertaining and highly amusing as he takes every job from soldier of fortune to vacuum cleaner salesman. "Wrongsized" is a top pick for those looking for a good laugh in this time of unemployment.

In today's global market, people are losing their jobs at the rate of hundreds a day as the recession grinds along. Each time, families are left scrambling to try to pay the bills. That is not a very funny issue, but Larry Solomon has taken the depressing and lightened it up a bit. He himself spent some time unemployed and this work is based a little on his experiencen, but mostly on fiction.
Our tale starts off as many similar stories do, with the soon to be unemployed totally clueless as to the pending disaster. He is in his own little world, working away as doom approaches. It arrives in the form of a kid younger than the tie of the worker, a real jerk who still believes that he will solve all the problems of the company. He starts with firing before mentioned hard-working employee.
In desperation, our now unemployed friend turns to a temp agency to find a job. It is there that he embarks on 26 misadventures that are the heart of the book. This is where the story veers off into the unexpected. The title suggests that discussed inside are 26 basic mistakes that a person can make to become unemployed. However, instead 26 jobs are chosen, from the usual to the bizarre, and funny but usually unrealistic ways to lose that job are given. The results are hilarious, but the reader is left wondering how exactly this fits into the basic premise. It is an unexpected turn and while that can be surprising it also gives more chances for laughs, which is the point.
Finally, our much abused author finds a job and his struggles are over. Not the type to leave other suffers without help; the author gives practical advice on getting a new job. There is great stuff here, both doable and result giving. However, the advice only takes up a few pages in the book! This is a pity because the suggestions such as list former jobs for ideals and brain storm for new possibilities to be considered then narrowed down is solid, helpful stuff. The major intent of the book might have been laughs, but that doesn't exclude good advice.
The book is a good read for the laughs the job traumas of the author gives. Comedy doesn't mean it can't be helpful and one can only hope that in the next book the writer gives us more of his wisdom, which is clearly there.

I read Wrongsized and could not stop laughing! This book was definitely a funny read. The author found a humorous way to lighten up the job situation as it is now for a lot of people - unemployed and trying to find a new job. He found a way to make you laugh and yet at the end, he gives great tips for those that are out of work to try something new and/or ask themselves questions to determine a path to potentially look for work in maybe something you didn't initially think of. Some of the jobs he tries are ridiculously funny and the ways he gets "fired" from them are even funnier. This book would be a great read if you could read it all the way through the first time you read it. I read it in chunks and it lost some of what I had laughed at initially by coming back to it. I think I would have laughed hysterically throughout the whole thing had I read it straight through. It's a short book, not hard to read at all. I definitely recommend it to those that are unemployed and looking and even those that are employed. It's just an all around funny read!

"Wrongsized" is a hilarious book on being unemployed. Unemployment, itself is not funny, but the spin that Mr. Solomon puts on the various temp jobs and their outcomes had me falling onto the floor. Okay maybe not on the floor, but certainly laughing enough to say this is a great book. Need a break from reading about our failing economy, read "Wrongsized" and see how Mr. Solomon endured various crazy jobs and survived.

Decades ago, when a company reduced the size of its' work force, it was known as layoffs. As a response to criticism, some marketing "genius" coined the term "downsizing" and then yet another "genius" came up with the term "rightsizing" as a euphemism to describe large numbers of people being added to the class of unemployed. In this book Solomon expresses his actual genius in creating his own term and then develops a series of humorous essays about his experiences, embellished, imaginary and a few parts true in trying to reenter the labor force.
The jobs range from the smelly, pumping out sewage tanks, to the macabre. Through it all, Solomon manages to make what is a traumatic experience amusing and entertaining. While he has not toiled at all of these jobs, there are no doubt people that have tried them in an attempt to earn their daily bread. Even if you haven't worked at a specific job, you will be able to appreciate his humor as he describes them.

The book is hilarious and a great read - a must for casualties of right-sizing, down-sizing, whatever-sizing. One bit of criticism (everyone's a critic!) - I didn't think the sexual innuendos/references added to the humor...in fact, for me, detracted from it. It was funny enough on its other merits. But it wasn't enough of a turn-off not to give it a five-star rating and hearty recommendation.