NetflixVENICE, Italy—In 1988, Nicholson Baker’s novel The Mezzanine caused a stir with its ironic, witty rendering of the everyday thoughts of a young office worker, in all their mundanity: Over the course of the book, Howie disserts on paper straws, escalators, and popcorn. Over the course of the ’90s, Seinfeld would take that idea and run with it, digging deep down into the quotidian lives of its characters and their menial preoccupations.David Fincher’s new film, The Killer, premiered Sunday
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Office novels explored the strange reality of our working lives. Now they make us nostalgic for our cubicles.
Stuart Miller, The Washington Post
Feb. 25, 2021
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Office novels have evolved alongside workplace culture.Little, Brown; Jonathan Cape; Simon and Schuster I miss boring meetings, John Kenney said. The author of two workplace novels - Truth in Advertising and Talk to Me - and Love Poems for the Office, Kenney doesn t miss being bored. I miss being in a room with other people.
Zoom meetings are functional, Kenney said, but lack spontaneity and stymie meandering conversations. What makes work interesting is the serendipitous spark that could come when you re chatting and the other person said something and then you get an idea, he said. Serendipity is hard to capture on Zoom.