Abstract

Work is a collection of short stories linked by themes of career, job, and the all consuming practice of "work". "The Shift", "Your Boy Friday", "Lady Fortuna" and "23 Ways to Creep Into My Sub Consciousness" are first person accounts that move fast in fine focus. Fun and sometimes bawdy, they are the written equivalent of a four-martini business lunch (expensed to the company, of course.) Taking a far less frenetic approach, the piece entitled "Clean" uses limited third person narration to, among other things, gain a sliver of space between navel and gaze. It is the somberest story of the bunch, dealing with life, death and the impossible, sometimes irrational lengths we go to in order to find acceptance. "Little Girl Games" employs first person, but achieves distance through nostalgia and reflection, putting years between the narrator and the subject of the story. Whether dealing with travails at the office, janitorial duties, wedding planning or fortune telling, Work attempts to wring a spirited energy out of what can often feel like banal drudgery.