Help Wanted
Ratings5
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings5
Average rating3.9
From the best-selling author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. comes a funny, eye-opening tale of work in contemporary America.
Every day at 3:55 a.m., members of Team Movement clock in for their shift at big-box store Town Square in a small upstate New York town. Under the eyes of a self-absorbed and barely competent boss, they empty the day’s truck of merchandise, stock the shelves, and scatter before the store opens and customers arrive. Their lives follow a familiar if grueling routine, but their real problem is that Town Square doesn’t schedule them for enough hours—most of them are barely getting by, even while working second or third jobs. When store manager Big Will announces he is leaving, the members of Movement spot an opportunity. If they play their cards right, one of them just might land a management job, with all the stability and possibility for advancement that that implies. The members of Team Movement—including a comedy-obsessed oddball who acts half his age, a young woman clinging on to her “cool kid” status from high school, and a college football hopeful trying to find a new path—band together to set a just-so-crazy-it-might-work plot in motion.
Adelle Waldman’s debut novel was a breakout sensation, lauded by the Los Angeles Times as an “exacting character study” with “excellent and witty prose” and described as “incisive and very funny” by the Economist and “brilliant” by both NPR’s Fresh Air and the Washington Post. In her long-awaited follow-up, Waldman brings her unparalleled wit and astute social observation to the world of modern, low-wage work. A humane and darkly comic workplace caper that shines a light on the odds low-wage workers are up against in today’s economy, Help Wanted is a funny, moving tale of ordinary people trying to make a living.
Reviews with the most likes.
This book delves into the intricate dynamics of workplace relationships, shedding light on how individual lives shape attitudes, opportunities, and perceptions within a retail logistics department. While the narrative ambitiously attempts to offer glimpses into each character's life, the lack of depth prevents a strong emotional connection. Presented from a third-person perspective, the story provides a comprehensive overview of the department's inner workings, highlighting workforce inequalities and the significance of shared goals or adversaries in fostering camaraderie.
Although the setting is compelling, the absence of a central character leaves the plot feeling somewhat detached. The conflicts presented lack the necessary urgency to fully engage the reader, despite their potential significance to certain characters. Perhaps anchoring the story around a central protagonist, while still incorporating other key perspectives, could have heightened the stakes and increased reader investment.
While the narrative may resonate more strongly with those familiar with the retail industry, it still offers an insightful portrayal of workplace dynamics. Despite its shortcomings, the book remains an enjoyable read, albeit one that falls short of its full potential.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this audiobook.
I read this novel and in retrospect, I might have enjoyed it more if I'd listened to the audiobook instead. There are a number of characters and I didnt register their names enough so I didnt get the full effect of knowing who had which back story. The cast of characters are the early morning workers in the Movement department of a box box store which I imagined to be like a Target. When the General Manager gets a transfer away, the team in Movement - workers who unload the trucks and stock the shelves- plot how to get a certain manager promoted, so that each of them might advance as well. It's not a thrilling plot. Instead, it the means of entering these workers' lives to see the challenges which they face day in and out. This fact-based background allowed me to enter a world which is foreign to me - yet as close as the unloading dock at the big box store around the corner.
