I was intrigued by the description and premise but I think the author's dry, rather dense sense of humor is not for me. This might be good for someone who is interested in an anthropological take on corporate America.

It took a while for me to get into this book. The first third felt very repetitive, but maybe that was the point? That said, the story itself is interesting and kind of a hilarious take on how insane our society functions, through the lens of the author's life during the Y2K crisis as a QA analyst.
I picked up this book because of the cover and was hoping it would have covered society as a whole instead of one story, but it was an interesting take on a time I have vivid memories of.

Have you ever wondered what life looks like behind-the-scenes at the mega corporations that run the global economy? Have you pondered what it is “business elites” are really up to in those high rises and in their fancy suits? Well, wonder no more!

Fake Work is an ethnography and memoir of the author’s year as a management consultant in 1999, focused solely on Y2K preparation: i.e. preparing for the end of the world that never came. Leigh Claire La Berge offers a fascinating and truly unique perspective into a strange time in modern history that offers us plenty to reflect on, as we consider that moment in time now, two and a half decades later.

La Berge’s accounts of her year working at Anderson LLC are vivid as she recounts the mundane and the absurd with equal richness and colour. She pulls from her detailed accounts of that year—her Bildungsroman, as she calls it—and it truly does feel like a peek into a moment in history that one might not have otherwise ever gotten to see the inside of.

I loved her attention to detail and how well she fleshed out each of the characters she encountered during her time working there—they seem both utterly absurd and completely believable at the same time, which was quite a delight. One of my favourite lines in the book was this: “She explained that The Process valued consistency over idiomatic accuracy, and she predicted that with more site visits I would find myself transliterating from corporate vernacular into Processor Latin almost unconsciously.” This illustrates how well she’s able to illustrate the absurdity of corporate beige-ness with humour.

It’s worth noting that La Berge is an academic and her prose definitely does read like the work of one. This is not an inherent critique, but rather an observation. Her voice comes through clearly in every paragraph, however the tone and style did feel more academic and like a literary critique than a traditional memoir. As an example, she writes “so obviously symptomatic was I that my presentation wouldn’t have been out of place in Freud’s fin de siècle hysteria investigations.” A line that clearly conveys her strong voice and also can feel a little dizzying for the average memoir reader, if they’re not expecting it. If you go in to this book keeping this in mind, you can still certainly really enjoy her accounts of a truly bizarre moment in time and her specific vantage point, which is well articulated.

This book is a good fit for anyone who’s been disillusioned with corporate life and is looking to feel seen in the pages of a text. Yes, this memoir speaks to a moment in time that seems like forever ago now, but its relevance feels particularly apt today.

I was intrigued by the premise and not sure what to expect, but found myself sucked in by La Berge’s tales of working on the front lines of capitalism at its best/worst. This was an enjoyable read (albeit sometimes a little academic at times) and I’m glad I now better understand what the Y2K panic looked like from within the walls of corporate America at the turn of the millennium.

This was a bit of a dense read, to be honest. I was intrigued by the title and hoped for something ripping capitalism a new one, but that’s not what I got. I usually don’t pick up memoirs or business related reads, but again, the title drew me in. I expected a good roasting of capitalist corporate America. What I got was the philosophical musings about mundane corporate life during Y2K and the dot com bubble. Not that it didn’t have some good quotable moments or interesting perspectives. Ultimately, I could only get through half it before I had to put it down. This book may have an audience out there, but I am not it.

A humorous take on the state of the work/life balance in modern society. La Berge's clever writing makes for a good read. While I have never worked in a corporate job (or a fake corporate job) I related more than I expected.

A funny, fascinating memoir about modern big business and treading water under capitalism. I'm a big fan of highlight the often absurd practices that exist behind the shining gloss of modern corporations so this was a very fun read!

4⭐️

[a copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher from netgalley. thank you!]

an interesting & insightful memoir about modern capitalism & work practices.

Not for me personally but I loved the cover. Thank you for the opportunity to try out the ARC. I would recommend for someone looking for a quirky business memoir.