<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: An enigmatic masterpiece
Review: I am a woman of little words so let me just say that I found the content devilishly beguiling-- is the book a simple auto-biography or an insightful commentary on the universal drudgery of work?
Rating:
Summary: An enigmatic masterpiece
Review: I am a woman of little words so let me just say that I found the content devilishly beguiling-- is the book a simple auto-biography or an insightful commentary on the universal drudgery of work?
Rating:
Summary: Funniest book I've read in a long long time
Review: I can not add much more that what is already said in the other reviews, other than that I had to put this book down so many times because I was laughing so hard that I could not breathe. I recommend this book to anyone who has had to work in the food service. We can all relate to Greg's Frustrations and Episodes. I think it should be required reading by all management trainees in that field. Maybe they'd learn from other's mistakes. Good luck to Greg and I hope he has more work coming!
Rating:
Summary: Funniest book I've read in a long long time
Review: I can not add much more that what is already said in the other reviews, other than that I had to put this book down so many times because I was laughing so hard that I could not breathe. I recommend this book to anyone who has had to work in the food service. We can all relate to Greg's Frustrations and Episodes. I think it should be required reading by all management trainees in that field. Maybe they'd learn from other's mistakes. Good luck to Greg and I hope he has more work coming!
Rating:
Summary: Move over, Albert Camus!
Review: There are very few books in this world that can make me laugh out loud, even on the second or third or tenth reading. This is definitely one of them. Some people I've shown this book to just didn't "get it." They saw the author as a clueless loser who just wrote whatever came into his head. I feel sorry for those people. Like the fictional works of Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre, Greg Tate's narrative pulls us into an absurd world that must be faced on its own terms. It's the world of the anonymous working stiff, of petty indignities, of corporate insanities, of people and things that refuse to cooperate with our cherished plans and dreams. Thrown into this hellish world, a world he never made, Greg Tate saved himself by learning to laugh at his predicament. He shares his keen, deadpan observations of life at the Burger Store with us, forcing us to watch as things go wrong again and again and again, blaming people, yes, but never making the mistake of trying to find some deeper meaning in it all. Tate is the post-modernist writer par excellence: things happen over and over, an endless stream of people come and go from the store through a revolving door, getting hired and quitting or getting fired, pausing only to piss him off or to commit some absurd act. Words are repeated, language breaks apart, communication devolves and fails. Tate's use of dialogue, in fact, is a worth successor to Eugene Ionesco and the Theater of the Absurd. Here is a passage that should give a flavor of the book: During the first week of March, the store was out of glass cleaner. Ward was accusing Walter of not doing his job. Keith said something to me about the windows not being cleaned. I told him there was no glass cleaner. He said, "Use dish soap." I went and washed the windows. When I got finished, Ward said something to me about the windows not being cleaned. I told him there was no glass cleaner. He said, "Why didn't you say something?" I had mentioned that there was no glass cleaner. I had also left a note in the office saying, "We need glass cleaner." Ward said, "There was no note." He said, "I am going to put an ad in the newspaper that the Burger Store needs a janitor." Ward then said, "I might put an ad in the newspaper that the Burger Store needs 2 janitors." He sounded like he was going to fire me. If he was going to fire me, I would go on unemployment. The thing was, he had to chew me out in front of everybody. Ward wouldn't chew me out downstairs where nobody was around. I think he was afraid that I would kick his [butt], and he wouldn't have any witnesses. [p. 36] At the end of the book, Greg Tate says he's working on a fictional drama. I can't wait!
Rating:
Summary: Move over, Albert Camus!
Review: There are very few books in this world that can make me laugh out loud, even on the second or third or tenth reading. This is definitely one of them. Some people I've shown this book to just didn't "get it." They saw the author as a clueless loser who just wrote whatever came into his head. I feel sorry for those people. Like the fictional works of Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre, Greg Tate's narrative pulls us into an absurd world that must be faced on its own terms. It's the world of the anonymous working stiff, of petty indignities, of corporate insanities, of people and things that refuse to cooperate with our cherished plans and dreams. Thrown into this hellish world, a world he never made, Greg Tate saved himself by learning to laugh at his predicament. He shares his keen, deadpan observations of life at the Burger Store with us, forcing us to watch as things go wrong again and again and again, blaming people, yes, but never making the mistake of trying to find some deeper meaning in it all. Tate is the post-modernist writer par excellence: things happen over and over, an endless stream of people come and go from the store through a revolving door, getting hired and quitting or getting fired, pausing only to piss him off or to commit some absurd act. Words are repeated, language breaks apart, communication devolves and fails. Tate's use of dialogue, in fact, is a worth successor to Eugene Ionesco and the Theater of the Absurd. Here is a passage that should give a flavor of the book: During the first week of March, the store was out of glass cleaner. Ward was accusing Walter of not doing his job. Keith said something to me about the windows not being cleaned. I told him there was no glass cleaner. He said, "Use dish soap." I went and washed the windows. When I got finished, Ward said something to me about the windows not being cleaned. I told him there was no glass cleaner. He said, "Why didn't you say something?" I had mentioned that there was no glass cleaner. I had also left a note in the office saying, "We need glass cleaner." Ward said, "There was no note." He said, "I am going to put an ad in the newspaper that the Burger Store needs a janitor." Ward then said, "I might put an ad in the newspaper that the Burger Store needs 2 janitors." He sounded like he was going to fire me. If he was going to fire me, I would go on unemployment. The thing was, he had to chew me out in front of everybody. Ward wouldn't chew me out downstairs where nobody was around. I think he was afraid that I would kick his [butt], and he wouldn't have any witnesses. [p. 36] At the end of the book, Greg Tate says he's working on a fictional drama. I can't wait!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Waste Your Money
Review: This book could have been 5 pages long. There is no storyline, no plot, no substance. I had to force myself to finish it, and regret the investment I've made.
Greg Tate is not Albert Camus. Camus' work makes you think - Tate's work makes you stop thinking.
Rating:
Summary: This book ROCKS!
Review: This is one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. It is a deceptively simple tale about a janitor who lives with his mother and works at a place called "The Burger Store". As such it chronicles the Kafkaesque descent into hell that is the American job, with all its attendant indignities and petty humiliations. The author carefully controls the pace and rhythm of the book to create a relentless, hammering tone that rings inexorably like the death knell for American wage-slavery. Like the great French existentialist writers, Tate manages to create a kind of static tension that slowly builds throughout the stor, up to the book's surprisingly passionate-and yet utterly predictable-ending. This is not to say that "11 Years..." is a chore to read. On the contrary, it is an endlessly diverting picaresque adventure. I literally found myself laughing out loud while reading this book, partly from the farcical actions of this motley cast of characters but mainly from the narrator's deadpan delivery. The author creates the perfect anti-hero to serve as the narrator: like Ignatius J. Reilly, "Greg" is an ingénue in a world of rogues, a voice of reason amongst a confederacy of dunces. The real hero of Greg Tate's novel is Greg Tate. Through his obsessive attention to detail and simple irony-free prose we cannot help but to compose an image of the author that is as strong as any of the characters in the book. In most cases this image jibes with that of the books narrator, "Greg". But-and this is where the book starts to take on increasingly complex levels of meaning-not always. The character Greg narrates events through one filter while the author writes with another, and the result is a rich and fascinating character study. Throughout it all the author stays remarkably true to himself while occasionally providing tantalizing clues as to his personality. On page 66, following a spirited exchange between Greg's irrepressible co-conspirator Devon and the two middle-management corporate tools Doby Dallons and Cheryl Kreps, the author blurts out, "by the way, KISS is my favorite rock and roll band". There is almost nothing about this book that is not simply great. Its title, its acknowledgements and introduction, even its author bio are all fantastic. There are comic moments involving floating turds, errant pickle-juice, Motorhead songs, and hot-dog fanatics that are priceless. This book truly and fully rocks. This book is published by Xlibris.com, which is a new form of publisher that doesn't manufacture the books until they are ordered. The downside of this is that there is about a 2-week wait for books, but the upside is that they are able to carry many specialized or independent authors who would otherwise not be able to get published by the major labels. Another advantage is you can go to the Xlibris web site and read a one-chapter excerpt from this book. (it is currently listed in the New Books section.) I would also recommend buying the book through Xlibris as a favor to the writer, who gets greater royalties that way.
Rating:
Summary: This book ROCKS!
Review: This is one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. It is a deceptively simple tale about a janitor who lives with his mother and works at a place called "The Burger Store". As such it chronicles the Kafkaesque descent into hell that is the American job, with all its attendant indignities and petty humiliations. The author carefully controls the pace and rhythm of the book to create a relentless, hammering tone that rings inexorably like the death knell for American wage-slavery. Like the great French existentialist writers, Tate manages to create a kind of static tension that slowly builds throughout the stor, up to the book's surprisingly passionate-and yet utterly predictable-ending. This is not to say that "11 Years..." is a chore to read. On the contrary, it is an endlessly diverting picaresque adventure. I literally found myself laughing out loud while reading this book, partly from the farcical actions of this motley cast of characters but mainly from the narrator's deadpan delivery. The author creates the perfect anti-hero to serve as the narrator: like Ignatius J. Reilly, "Greg" is an ingénue in a world of rogues, a voice of reason amongst a confederacy of dunces. The real hero of Greg Tate's novel is Greg Tate. Through his obsessive attention to detail and simple irony-free prose we cannot help but to compose an image of the author that is as strong as any of the characters in the book. In most cases this image jibes with that of the books narrator, "Greg". But-and this is where the book starts to take on increasingly complex levels of meaning-not always. The character Greg narrates events through one filter while the author writes with another, and the result is a rich and fascinating character study. Throughout it all the author stays remarkably true to himself while occasionally providing tantalizing clues as to his personality. On page 66, following a spirited exchange between Greg's irrepressible co-conspirator Devon and the two middle-management corporate tools Doby Dallons and Cheryl Kreps, the author blurts out, "by the way, KISS is my favorite rock and roll band". There is almost nothing about this book that is not simply great. Its title, its acknowledgements and introduction, even its author bio are all fantastic. There are comic moments involving floating turds, errant pickle-juice, Motorhead songs, and hot-dog fanatics that are priceless. This book truly and fully rocks. This book is published by Xlibris.com, which is a new form of publisher that doesn't manufacture the books until they are ordered. The downside of this is that there is about a 2-week wait for books, but the upside is that they are able to carry many specialized or independent authors who would otherwise not be able to get published by the major labels. Another advantage is you can go to the Xlibris web site and read a one-chapter excerpt from this book. (it is currently listed in the New Books section.) I would also recommend buying the book through Xlibris as a favor to the writer, who gets greater royalties that way.
Rating: 
Summary: Short quick and definitely worth it
Review: Your appreciation for this book will be increased if you've ever had a [bowel movement]job, ever had to watch as incompetent management destroyed every shred of morale and independent thought in their staff. It's really short, it's not a masterpiece and it's full of typos but what you get is pure content. There is no wasted space in this book. Practically every sentence has something for you, and that something is usually funny, ironic, or yet another tidbit to make you shake your head and say "How did he ever put up with this?" This one will stay in my permanent library of books I have too much of a connection with to ever throw away.
<< 1 >>
| 
