Rating:  Summary: Anyone who works in an office can appreciate this one! Review: What an interesting way to write a book!! I found this book to be hilarious, and dead-on. I love that it takes place in London too. Beaumont paints his characters vividly right away, you love some and hate some. More catchy than a soap opera or Real World and funny the whole time.
Rating:  Summary: Whoever thought email could be funny? Review: I work in a company that lives and dies by the instant commication known as email and didn't think I would find this funny. I was intrigued enough by the unique approach to give it a shot, and it seemed like a pretty easy read.It does take some time for the plot to get going and character development can be difficult while attempting to sound like genuine email. Mr. Beaumont manages to pull it off. You will recognize all the types of people to be found at any large firm, doing all the things we know they're doing, but no one talks about. When you realize that every company runs like this you think it's a wonder that anything at all ever gets done. It's saucy, it's crude, and it's loads of fun. Get this book in one hand, a beer in the other, light the cigarette, and sit back and enjoy.
Rating:  Summary: Need a good laugh? Read this book. Review: Beaumont accurately portrays the cut-throat, backstabbing environment of an ad agency. Living the nightmare of a stressful job is torture but reading about it is comic relief. Beaumont does a great job of developing his characters through their own typed words. I bet if you read this book, you'll laugh out loud.
Rating:  Summary: Wonderful, Hilarious - a brilliant read Review: This is a great book. Provides an insightful look into the dog-eat-dog world that is advertising. I read it all within a day, just could not put it down - a laugh-a-page kinda book. Beaumont puts together the happenings of this ad agency via e-mail correspondences between the various people at the agency. Get it! It certainly cheered up my day.
Rating:  Summary: Clever idea, mixed implementation Review: I loved the idea of following a story by reading emails of the participants. I guess it appealed to the voyeur in me. On the whole, however, I was disappointed. Once you realize that a character is two faced (says one thing to subordinates and anothe to superiors) it loses its shock value. Seeing the same behavior again and again isn't funny. There are far too many characters introduced with little preparation. A table on an inside cover of all the people and their titles/functions, perhaps an org chart would be a big help. I would recommend skipping this title, unless you happen to be in the advertising business. In that case, the familiarity of the subject matter and the personalities will probably have so much appeal that the near-miss effort by the author can be overlooked.
Rating:  Summary: re: The dirt!!!!! Review: Without a doubt, the funniest book I've ever read. So much that it seems to have ruined all other books for me. Throughout, we follow the antics of the people at the Miller Shanks ad agency. There's sex, backstabbing, bizarre office politics, that one guy who just tries so hard to be your best friend, the one secretary that thinks the world begins and ends with her, and yet more backstabbing. With subtle and intelligent humor, 'e' succeeds as being hysterically funny without trying too hard. It's brillince lies with keeping countless stories together, building up to the eventual Coke campaign and scandal involving a saucy cabel channel. The characters have unique personalities and styles of writing. Where other e-mail based novels fail - in having perfect grammar and spelling, while also being sickeningly formal - 'e' gives a realistic view at the electronic age, not to mention office politics. As the blurb says, "E is a tapestry of insincerity, backstabbing and bare-faced bitchiness". It's an agency that would "sell their grandmothers in a car boot sale" to land the Coke account. Above all, it's "one pitch nobody will ever forget". No kidding. Besides, how can you pass up a novel by a guy who's "been fired by some of London's leading ad agencies"?
Rating:  Summary: Laugh? I was doubled over! Review: I was very impressed by this book. I bought it after seeing the reviews on this page, and I have to say I'm glad I did! The antics of the employees are hilarious! Each character has his or her own special trademarks, from the sad old anorak Nige to the sexed up Lorraine. This book has it all. There are a few characters that stick out most in my mind. Firstly, Pertti van Helden. He is a CEO in Finland. His cultural differences make his character all the more interesting. Another character I enjoyed was Liam. His quips made me smile. A lot. As for good scenes, there are too many for me to mention. All I can say is, if you buy this book, look out for the scene with Simon Horne and his "lady" friend. <BG> Great Read!
Rating:  Summary: Absolutely Genius!!! Review: This book is extraordinary! A real page-turner! A sign of the times! Nails the e-mail advertising culture! Loved it!!!
Rating:  Summary: Laugh Out Loud!! Review: This is the fastest moving, funniest book I've read in a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed it, read it in one evening (couldn't put it down!) and have recommended it to everyone I know.
Rating:  Summary: Imaginative and original ¿ dot.comedy rocks Review: Corks, yet another former copywriter turning his back on the evil empire and following his muse! Actually though, Matt Beaumont hasn't fallen very far from the tree with this one, an exposé of life in a purportedly fictional London ad agency over the course of two hectic weeks. You have to believe, then, that he knows what he's talking about. The result is a novel that rings so true you're feeling the characters' pain by page three. (And their panties by page 33.) There are lots of reasons to love this book. The antipodean version (and I guess that means the UK one) is subtitled "a hilariously funny novel," which you have to admire. Its email-based format means it's a damned quick read. Let's talk about that format a little. There is no, absolutely no, linking text. The entire story is told through emails, complete with addresees, cc's, bcc's and time stamps. I thought this would make for a difficult read, but it doesn't. If you're used to working in an organisation where your emails and vmails outnumber f2f's it doesn't take long to pick up the flow of the story. I think it's even got some edges over traditional narrative. In the time it takes to read six one-sentence emails you get six different perspectives on the same event, complete with insights into how each character chooses to "spin" their response to each other. Checking the cc and bcc lists tells even more of the story. Bit like real life really. Good on you Matt Beaumont. Told straight, your book would have just been a bloody funny story about life at the advertising coalface. Wrapping it in a brilliantly crafted whole new genre takes it a long way beyond that. Amazonians; read and enjoy. Amazonians in advertising; make that a double and charge it to your favourite client.
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