Chromy and Morris adapt their online venue for venting, PleaseFireMe.com, into a fictitious primer for a working-class revolution.
Perhaps people hate their jobs more in an economic downturn when the option to quit is no longer on the table and the words “You’re fired!” can often provide the comfort of a steady unemployment check. That conundrum is what inspired Chromy and Morris to create their popular website where irate, disgruntled employees post their frustrations without fear of reprisal. This literary rendition framed as a faux revolutionary manifesto provides rants from the humorous (“Please fire me. I am dressed like a smoothie”) to the zany (“Please fire me. I work in a restaurant. One day, I meet this nice old lady who gives me a hug. Then she says, ‘Oops, I probably shouldn’t be doing that; I have TB’ ”) to the downright ridiculous (“Please fire me. My wife went into unexpected early birth of my first child. When I asked my manager if I could leave work to be with my wife at the hospital he replied, ‘Well, that’s just poor planning on your part. What’s more important, your career or your family?’ ”) Smirks and sidesplitting laughs are abundant, but the scattered format of the hit-and-miss revolutionary dialogue the authors use to plug the gaps between the real-life testimonies is apt to leave readers unsatisfied. When the book does work, however, even the most despondent of workers won't be able to help cracking a smile at this collection of hilarious tales from the labor front. Scan for the funny and skip the rest.
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8065-3443-5
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Citadel/Kensington
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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