Then we came to the end

Set in a Chicago advertising agency during the post-dot-com collapse, the narrative follows a communal "we" through a series of layoffs. Employees like Joe Pope, Benny Nofret, and Janine Gorjanc spend their days obsessing over office ergonomics, speculating about their boss Lynn Mason’s breast cancer diagnosis, and tracking who will be the next to receive a cardboard box for their belongings. The plot centers on the mundane absurdity of corporate life, from the search for a stolen chair to the desperate scramble to produce a pro bono campaign for breast cancer awareness while the department shrinks.

Readers interested in the psychological dynamics of white-collar environments read this to see the office social hierarchy stripped bare. It appeals to those who enjoy satire rooted in the frustration of fluorescent-lit cubicles and rigid professional etiquette. The reader walks away with a detailed catalog of how shared anxiety over job security creates an intense, temporary family unit. It provides a cynical but precise look at how people define their identities through professional competition and the shared language of the workplace.

Thought-provoking; a moderate read.

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