e (Paperback)

by Matt Beaumont (Author)
Key Phrases: simon horne, creative floor, fizzy pop, Harriet Greenbaum, Susi Judge-Davis, Liam O'Keefe (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Lightbulb jokes, office snafus and scatological humor are ostensibly the stuff of comedy in this debut epistolary novel constituted solely of e-mails. It's the dawn of the new millennium and the London advertising firm of Miller Shanks is about to embark on two weeks of intensive effort with the goal of winning the most impressive jewel in the industry's crown: the $84 billion Coca-Cola account. Meanwhile, a team has been dispatched to Mauritius for a location shoot, where they run afoul of Ivana Trump, and a technological glitch has been rerouting all of the CEO's communications to the Helsinki office, so the Finns have cheerfully blundered their way into the Coke campaign with an ABBA-esque pitch. The one-dimensional characters are predictable typesDthe prima donna creative director, the touchy-feely copywriter, the many sycophants and backstabbersDwith not a real protagonist in sight to hang the reader's sympathies on. The plot is thin, the internecine conflicts will likely intrigue only those with a particular interest in advertising, the constant paranoid jockeying for power is tiresome and the clich d office sexual shenanigans lose their juice when played out in the noncorporeal land of cyberspace. In an age of swiftly advancing technology, this material already seems dated with its Y2K references. In theory, a novel composed solely of digital correspondence should provide voyeuristic, warp-speed fun. In practice, this one is like reading endless pages of other people's junk mail. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
A fast-paced, wickedly funny tale of office back-stabbing and corporate intrigue that unfolds in a succession of escalating e-mails.

Carla Browne-1/5/00, 3:05 pm
to: All Departments
re: I'm leaving now . . . but before I go there are some things you should know . . . !!!!

Set in a London ad agency desperate to land a coveted big account, e follows the bureaucratic bungling, cutthroat maneuvers, and outrageous sexual antics of a group of Miller-Shanks employees as they scheme, lie, lust, and claw their way up (and down) the company ladder.

Written by a former advertising copywriter, this hilarious, dead-on-target novel marks the debut of a hip and exciting new voice in contemporary fiction. With the click of a mouse, Matt Beaumont brings the novel of letters into the twenty-first century, turning his merciless, unerring eye on today's Machiavellian corporate culture-with uproarious results.

Rachel Stevenson, Personnel-1/5/00, 3:09 pm
to: Chandra Kapoor cc: David Crutton
re: Urgent: Please delete Carla Browne's ID from e-mail with immediate effect. Thank you.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Plume (October 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452281881
• ISBN-13: 978-0452281882
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,879 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars e-mazing read!, November 13, 2002

By	Dianna Johnston "Compulsive Reader" (Joplin, MO) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

If you are in the mood for something quick, light, fun and funny, look no further than "e." I didn't really know what to expect from a book written entirely in inter-office e-mails, but it works! Matt Beaumont has done a superb job with this novel. I eagerly await the sequel.

"e" is the story of a group of employees at one of London's top advertising agencies, Miller Shanks, and the two weeks of preparation before the big Coca-Cola pitch. Landing Coke is quite a deal, but left in the...ahem...capable hands of the creative department, it is as good as done. Meanwhile, there are disasters on the horizon with other clients, and, of course, an office isn't an office without co-worker rivalry. "e" provides readers with all the juicy details!

Despite knowing any background information or characteristics of the characters, Matt Beaumont has managed, through the e-mails, to give them all distinct voices. It took several pages to finally put it all together, but their personalities eventually shined through. I loved this novel and all it's two-faced bigwigs, [weak] employees, backstabbing, love triangles, and corportate politics. Hilariously written and one I will definitely read again. I also suggest Syrup by Maxx Barry, another great novel based in the corporate world, this time in behind-the-scenes Coca-Cola itself.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why don't more people know about this book?, October 17, 2000

By	Andy Orrock (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I literally fell across 'e' while looking for 'Syrup' by Maxx Barry...Matt Beaumont's first novel stood next to it alphabetically. Just got off a Dulles-to-SFO flight and confirmed that these 346 pages can be devoured in one sitting. I must have looked like a complete whacko sitting in my seat with tears of laughter running down my cheeks.

Folks, this may be the funniest book you ever read bar none. And amazingly, it is told completely in e-mail format. Takes you about 10 pages to get used to it, but after that it flows smooth and easy. Who would have thought that such complete character development was possible via e-mail dialogue?

By the end of the book, you could show me 10 of these missives and I could identify the author of each one. Beaumont is just amazingly creative in this effort. The groundwork he lays for the intricate e-mail exchanges is breathtaking.

Just one character to watch out for (among many): Simon Horne, head of Creative Services. A completely amazing creation...all the more because Beaumont has no doubt drawn him from his experiences in the advertising industry.

I feel the need to spread the word about this great book.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Liaisons Dangereuses for the online generation, November 4, 2000

By	Tristán Harvey E. White (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

Hand on my heart, it's been a long time since I have read anything quite as amusing as this splendid début novel by Matt Beaumont. As a wannabe novelist myself, still awaiting my first break, and as a fan of the epistolary genre, I could kick myself that I did not think first of this splendid idea for a novel myself. Namely: a book written entirely in e-mails amongst the staff of an advertising agency in London, weaving a tale of intrigue, sexuality, back-stabbing, hypocrisy and office politics.

Without giving too much away, "E" is about three weeks inside an advertising agency trying to land a lucrative deal with *Coca-Cola*. But there is much more to it than this. Beaumont gives each secretary, each copywriter, each creative and each manager a really lifelike personality, with their own ways of writing, making each character immediately recognisable both within the novel and in the real life that we live in. We've all met a Simon Horne or a Pinki Fallon in our lives. The medium in which Beaumont has chosen to write his novel admirably and successfully emphasises the constant back-stabbing and twofacedness that takes place on an hourly basis. The speed at which e-mail travels makes the whole experience seem more real and dynamic.

Of course, we are not talking about brilliant writing here... in order to make the novel seem more lifelike, the e-mail writers are given their own idiosyncrasies, and occasionally there are intentional misspellings. It makes the novel seem more authentic. What is brilliant is the story itself as it unravels before us, the snowballing lies, the outrageous behaviour.

"E" has put the E back in e-pistolary. When we consider other novels of this ancient genre, we can appreciate that because of the speed of which e-mails and the gossip hidden within travels, Matt Beaumont's tale is more dynamic than those often sluggish letter-filled works of times past. Anyone who works in an online office environment, particularly if the office has a new-media slant, will love this book. But, to be honest, there is not a single person on this planet to whom I could not wholeheartedly recommend it. Bravo Matt Beaumont. You will go far! Roll on novel number two!

TRISTÁN WHITE, London