Much like the series, this book starts out slow-ish, really picks up in the middle, and kind of falls apart in the end when Steve Carell is gone. I did however start watching the show again (for the third time) on Netflix as I read it and it was fun to watch the show knowing all of the little stories behind it. Great for fans of The Office, but a little bit long for me!

The Office is absolutely a must for any fan of the hit tv show The Office. If you are, read this for fun behind the scenes stories about the creation of the show, the casting process, and so much more! If you know a fan, buy this for them as a gift and they will love you. The book entertains, gives great insight into the show, inspires yet another rewatch, and it truly made me laugh out loud several times. Highly recommended!!

The style of this book is perfect. I loved reading everyone’s personal experiences without and “butting in” from a narrator. I appreciated the variety of people they included—I originally anticipated it would just be he cast. I really enjoyed the perspective of the crew as well.

Well first of all, why is the title so freakin long. Ninety percent of the words in that title aren’t necessary. Second, THIS BOOK IS AMAZING.

Hopefully if you’ve chosen to read this book, you’re already a fan of the office. You just won’t understand most of what people are talking about if you haven’t watched it. They start at the very beginning with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant discussing the birth of the UK Office and how Greg Daniels wanted to adapt it for American audiences. They discuss the casting process, the writing process, the pilot, and the network’s response. You learn all kinds of background stories and hear actors’ opinions of some storylines and episodes. It’s incredibly fascinating. I wasn’t sure I was going to be as interested in the commentary from producers or executives or writers, but there was not one single part of this book that I found boring. I loved the way the author created the flow of the commentary with some interviewees directly contradicting each other with certain opinions or the way he showed how some of the crew threw shade at some actors. I think the main consensus I took away was that Steve Carrell was universally loved by every single person on this show. Except maybe the big executives.

There were some stories that made me laugh out loud. I even went back to watch a few specific episodes on Netflix when I finished. If you’re a fan of The Office, you need to read this.

A fun read for fans of the show! As somebody who's seen the show many times (like thousands of other people!) I'm always worried about reading "behind the scenes" books of my favorite shows because I don't want anything to color my view of the show. However, I found this really interesting and I found out a lot of things about the show that I didn't know before! It kept my interest throughout, and I loved all the insights from various people who worked on the show.

Thank you to Dutton Books for a digital copy of The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 200s: An Oral History by Andy Greene. It is really climbing the charts among The Office Fanatics. If you are looking for THE BOOK to read with all of The Office back story, casting, UK origins, and fandom, look no more. However, while reading this book, you may decide to stop reading altogether...so that you can go and binge a few episodes of The Office!

As a big fan of The Office, I was disappointed with this book. It did not hold my interest at all, especially when they were discussing the original sitcom. I understand it is an important anecdote for this novel, but I don't think it needed the amount of time the author allocated it.

This book was an absolutely pleasure to read. As an avid view of the show, the inside look at the cast and filming of the show as recorded oral-history-style by Andy Greene was a fresh perspective that I have been talking about ever since I finished. This one was fun to read aloud to my husband, and it prompted me to follow up and learn more about the mentioned scenes and history of the show and its impact on American culture at the time (and even now!).
What a pleasure to read this advanced copy. Thank you Penguin-Dutton and Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Reading this book felt like sitting at a bar with friends you haven’t seen in way too long, reminiscing about the good old days. As a huge fan of The Office, it was everything I wanted it to be.

I was pleasantly surprised at this book and give it 3.5 stars. I have never read a book that is in the "oral history" format, so that took some getting used to. It was enjoyable to hear all different perspectives from the writers, creators, actors, even ultra fans who had written on fan-based websites as the show aired. I also could relate to many of the opinions about the strong points of the show The Office through the years, and a resounding agreement about when the show kind of lost it's interest for me. I would say that this book would hold the interest of a strong fan of The Office, and not someone who only watched an episode or 2. I have watched and enjoyed 7 of the seasons, and enjoyed chatting with my teenage kids who have recently watched the entire series. Coming from that point of view I enjoyed it, but still felt that it was a little longer than kept my interest. Maybe a little like the actual show The Office.

(I receive an Advanced Readers Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for my honest review of the book)

This was a wonderful mental escape into one of my favorite comedies from my college years - much more comprehensive and journalistic than I expected. In addition to having fun, I also learned a lot about TV show casting, writing and production. I already know I'll be buying copies for some of The Office fans in my life.

A must-read for any fan of The Office. The details about characters, changed plans and the struggles of running a show ahead of its time are incredible for any avid fan of the series. This was by far the best thing I've read about The Office.

As a big fan of the Office this was such an enjoyable book to read! I loved seeing all the ins and outs of this series. You learn so many great tidbits and now I’ve got to go binge watch the series all over again. If you are a fan of the Office this is a must read.

As almost anything related to The Office, this book certainly did not disappoint. As a huge fan from my high school days onward, long after the show stopped airing, this book filled me in on its pop culture influence as if I had been watching it while on the air. The history of the show itself and those involved in it are extensively written about, making me feel more connected than ever to the iconic early 2000’s comedy show.

Greene draws from a large trove of material to create this paean to The Office, a show that only gains in popularity as time goes by. It’s certainly entertaining, and for fans who want more than the nine seasons available to them, this may fill a need. The tone is roundly nostalgic and there’s much to like here, but this was a great show made by great people, and there’s not a whole ton to add. Given the new Office podcasts available put out by some of the show’s stars, this book might not have the kind of impact it could have had. Still, there’s a lot of good material here.

This book was super fun! The back story to all the episodes and actors made me to incredibly happy! Any Office fan would just love this book! Just like the show this book had me laughing out load. I really miss The Office so this book was a perfect little gem! The set sounded like it was fun all the time!!!
I also was a little surprised that I learned some amazing new The Office trivia. Bottom line…… buy this book!!! and let’s start a petition for a reboot!!!

The Office is one of my all time favorite tv shows. I can’t even tell you how many times I have binged it (though I often skip those last two dumpster fire seasons after Steve Carell left). When I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. I was hoping for lots of behind the scenes trivia and maybe some juicy scandal, but it wasn’t quite what I expected.

The format of the book is mostly excerpts from interviews from people involved with the show – ranging anywhere from cast and crew to Scranton Chamber of Commerce employees. The author did a lot of interviews with these people, but he also utilized other published interviews, quotes from dvd commentary, etc. to fill things in. The quotes are arranged in a way that almost feels like a conversation, but there were often times where it was just quote after quote basically saying the same thing (i.e. everyone commenting on what a hard worker Steve Carell is or how Greg Daniels [the man responsible for adapting The Office from the UK] was the best). It didn’t always work for me and there were a few times where I skimmed through it. Most of the quotes were also from writers, producers, or less central cast members, so I wasn’t always hearing from the people I wanted to the most.

Here are a few things I learned that stood out to me:

-I’ve heard it said numerous times that the Chili’s Manager in The Dundies episode that bans Pam from the restaurant for being drunk was an actual Chili’s manager, but that’s not true. He was an actor. They weren’t even filming in an actual Chili’s, they had just worked with the restaurant chain to bring in fixtures, etc.

-Instead of the big dance number at Jim and Pam’s wedding, the original script had Roy riding in on a white horse to try to stop the wedding. Then Dwight takes the horse to Niagara Falls and it was going to fall down them. Greg Daniels was apparently the only one who liked this idea and there were a lot of fights about it before the idea was finally scrapped.

-Supposedly, Steve Carell wanted his contract to be renewed after the seventh season, but there was change in leadership at the network that wasn’t a big fan of the show and they didn’t try to make any deals about paying him more money, so he left.

-There was a big debate about whether to make Andy or Dwight manager in season 8 and most people wanted Dwight, but the network wanted Andy because he was a bigger star at the time, thanks to The Hangover movies.

-James Spader basically took the job because he was broke.

-The network really wanted a spin-off and they wanted Parks and Rec to be that spin-off, but the creators wanted it to be it’s own show and casting Rashida Jones as a different character ensured the shows couldn’t be related and kind of came across as a “screw you” to the network. There was also talk of doing a family-centered spin-off and everyone was annoyed when Modern Family came out using their mockumentary style.

-Most of the cast and crew considered Steve Carell leaving the end of the show. (I 100% agree with this.)

-There was a plan to kind of reboot the show in season ten with a new cast and that’s why “New Jim and Dwight” were brought on, but then they decided to end after season 9 because the network wanted to work on developing new shows and the writers were pretty burned out.

Overall, there were enjoyable things in the book, but I wouldn’t consider it a “must read” for The Office fans. While there was definitely a sense of all the the cast and crew being family and loving the show, there was also a whole lot of negativity and blame coming across and it kind of made me like the show less instead of more. It will still be one of my go-to binge shows, though.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 3 Stars

The Office is one of the all time greatest TV shows. Jim, Pam, Dwight, Michael. They are names that as recognizable as Sam & Diane, Joey & Ross, and Andy and Barney. I very likely reference or quote The Office twice a day...at MINIMUM.

This book by Andy Greene is like sitting around with these people, plus the creators and writers and just.....laughing. This is the behind the scenes, behind the creation and development. This is the story we all didn't know we needed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

THE OFFICE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE GREATEST SITCOM OF THE 2000s is just that - an oral history of the show from the people who made it. The show's cast and crew reminisce about their time on what has become one of the most beloved TV shows in American history.

Fans of The Office, you don't want to miss this one. From details about the logistics of getting the show on the air to deep dives into key episodes, this book is a treat. Superfans may know a lot of the tidbits already, but the wide array of voices brings something for everyone.

I was a bit worried at first that this book would be entirely hero worship and rose colored glasses, and it is a bit early on when discussing the scrappy first seasons where everyone fought to get and keep the show on the air. But it also doesn't shy away from the post-Michael Scott seasons, both in terms of the show feeling creatively lost and the physical and mental toll that creating 22+ episode seasons took on everyone.

This book also gets a bit into why the show has seen such a resurgence, especially among younger folks who didn't see its original airing. I find this phenomenon fascinating, and I'm so glad this inventive and ultimately loving show is finally getting its due.

As an Office fan, I really enjoyed this book. It’s structured in the form of interviews with just about anyone who has ever had anything to do with The Office, including the caterer! Each chapter tackles a certain topic or classic episode, and then has brief anecdotes from the various participants about that topic. There are chapters on casting, the mechanics of filming, key episodes, some of the characters and key personnel, the aftermath, and each season as a whole. It even devotes a couple of chapters at the beginning to the British Office and how it led to the American version. Absolutely fascinating, and highly recommended to Office fans.