Several People Are Typing – Calvin Kasulke
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: For reasons never fully explained, Gerald, a mid-level employee at a New York City public relations firm, has his consciousness trapped in Slack while his body remains in a cationic state at his apartment. While his coworkers think he’s joking, and his bosses are pleased at the productivity, he increasingly starts to worry if he can get out of his web-based hell before he’s trapped for good.
Expectation: A quirky workplace comedy.
Reality: A funny, thought-provoking satire that nailed corporate/creative agency absurdities. It also had an understated M/M love story.
Recommended For: Fans of satire and light science fiction.
Why I Read It: One of my favorite Bookstagram buddies raved about it.
My Take:
Told through Slack chats between various characters (and the Slackbot, the software’s automated help tool), the enjoyment, or lack thereof, you get out of this story is dependent largely on your work experience.
Those with a corporate or creative agency background, or any profession where you are reliant on technology for communication and collaboration, will find the humor and tragedy in Calvin Kasulke’s satire.
Everyone else will probably think this is incredibly stupid and far-fetched, and not just because of the body swapping/artificial consciousness plot. It’s hard to grasp the true absurdity of the work environment Kasulke skewers if you’ve never experienced it for yourself.
I found the story to be creatively absurd, and it 100 percent worked for me.
As one character puts it, “What is a workspace but a cult where everyone gets paid?”
From the always-on mania that permeates a competitive work environment to forced fun and how the simplest decisions are analyzed and obsessed-over while larger problems are ignored — if any of that sounds familiar to you, read this book.
Kasulke brilliantly shifts from office absurdities (“it’s in the brief!”) to several surprisingly deep soliloquies about losing identity, privilege, ableness and the crushing realization that we work for most of our lives — and for what purpose?
Many of us poured ourselves into work the past two years as the “healthy” escape from reality. Digital communication was our safe way to stay connected, but that — combined with social isolation — contributed to a loss of humanity, especially in how we view our colleagues. They became less like people and more just voices through a computer that are a barrier or a means to an end.
Maybe it’s a stretch to say this novel is a warning to not lose our patience, but it’s one of the themes that stuck with me. I’m also never going to feel the same way about sharing a .gif again. As the year goes on, this one may make it on my recommendations list.
Because of the unique structure of this book, I think reading it versus listening to an audiobook is the way to go. It’s relatively slim, and you can finish it within a couple of hours.
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Rating (narration): N/A
Formats: Hardcover (personal library)
Dates read: January 9 – January 14, 2022
Multi-tasking: N/A
