Writers Revealed 6.10.07 Joshua Ferris & Michelle Goodman: the Post-it edition & *free books!
This week on Writers Revealed: Joshua Ferris, author of the novel Then We Came to the End. We’ll be chatting about his novel, the drone of office life, the dot.com era, whether the office is a surrogate of one’s home, and what’s the deal with Chris Yop and the chair anyway? (hint: it’s in the book!). And as soon as I received Michelle Goodman’s incredible book, The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube, in the mail (I ripped the package open with my teeth, people), I knew I had to have her on the show. Click here to access the show & we’re taking callers so feel free to share your questions, LIVE!
About Then We Came to the End:
Then We Came to the End charts the end days of a Chicago ad agency caught in the burst new-economy bubble. As the firm’s employees watch those around them laid off and wait for their own walking papers, they obsess over one another’s behavior and the secrets co-workers may or may not be keeping. In Ferris’ descriptions of entire floors closed off and abandoned as the firm shrinks, and of workers clinging to a futile illusion of business as usual, there’s a tragic and palpable hubris.
- from the Small Spiral Notebook Review
More Links
Joshua Ferris’s website
Powells.com Interview
About The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube The days seem long with too much time for work and the nights seem short with too little time for sleep. What’s a modern girl to do? When you have a passion you want follow it, when you have a dream you want to make it reality, but when you have bills, they must be paid. It often appears as though you can’t have the best of both worlds. Today, lots of women would love to integrate their passion with their career and are seeking advice on how to do just that. Michelle Goodman, a self proclaimed, “wage-slave” has written a fun, reassuring, girlfriend-to-girlfriend guide on identifying your passion, transitioning out of that unfulfilling job, and doing it all in a smart practical way.
More Links
Michelle Goodman’s website
MediaBistro Interview with Rachel Kramer Bussel
Update! Publishers of both books are sending over *free* copies for our readers/listeners! If you have a question for any of the authors, do leave it on the comments section or feel free to call in on Sunday!
June 6th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
My question for Michelle: When working for yourself at home, how do you prevent yourself from becoming a shut-in and slowly losing your mind?
June 6th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
I write this from my office, not in “industry” but in the equally drone-ish offices of Medical Education at a state school. It’s a job that pays the bills (and hopefully some savings) until I can start my own business. I entertain myself by listing the most bizarre/annoying things about office life that are accepted as, well, normal and acceptable in office culture. So my question for both authors: what is the weirdest/most annoying thing found acceptable in your old office culture?
June 6th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Both sound like fantastic books and I am looking forward to the show on Sunday.
For Michelle: I’m a terrible procrastinator and working from home means I have all sorts of distractions. What practical suggestions do you have to stay focussed and productive as you make the transition, and/or develop your own career path?
For Joshua: Our jobs/work seems to be such strong identifiers of who we are, and yet we may not even enjoy what we do. We tend to say, “I *am* a doctor. I *am* a waitress. I *am* a plumber” when really those are the things we DO and not who we are. And yet, saying “I am a ” is immediately meant to say so much about a person. Have we become so obsessed with careers, and is the world moving so fast, that we are all just running to keep up and allowing ourselves to become just our jobs and nothing else?
June 6th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
thanks, guys! AMAZING questions!!!!
June 7th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
For Michelle:
Is the interest in non-9-to-5 jobs a generational thing? If so, why do you think they appeal to some demographics more than others?
Do you see anti-9-to-5 jobs as a move toward restoring work-life balance, or is it harder to make time for non-work stuff when you work for yourself and do something you love?
June 8th, 2007 at 10:23 am
[...] t, but healthy chowing). enjoy the lovely weekend & don’t forget to tune into writers revealed this weekend (psst! new site for the show to launch very, very soon!) Tag Me:These icons link [...]
June 11th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
I found this post on Monday, sorry. I love the site and its emphasis on thinking and discovering ideas.
I am 49 and have been working a flexible career for the past 6 years, i. e., I am a business owner (construction and trucking company) with great partners who tend the day-to-day business and I only tend to the business as a backgrounder. I “office” 2-3 days a week and then do most of the problem solving and heavy intellectual work at home.
My dilemma is mid-life boredom: the job has become just a maintaining exercise. How can an old lady of 49 get jazzed again about creating a new business or jumpstarting the existing business?
Awaiting your answer.
Thank you.
June 11th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Greetings,
Thanks for leaving a comment! Do note our new site: http://www.writersrevealed.com
Regrettably, all the questions were asked on yesterday’s show. Perhaps you can email your query directly to Michelle Goodman.
Her contact info can be located here:
http://www.anti9to5guide.com/contact/
Cheers, Felicia
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:22 pm
[...] ow one. Of course i’ve known who Joshua Ferris is for a while now. My fellow blogger Felicia has gushed about him and his book Then We Came To The End on her blog. I don’t kn [...]