Cubicle Rebel

by Jennifer Kley

Dislike your job? Stuck in a beige or gray cubicle wearing itchy nylons and uncomfortable heels or a necktie noose around your neck? Does your overpaid boss have a window office featuring natural light while you wither at your desk shuffling his papers? Are your coworkers mostly drone heads with various levels of neuroses? What about your salary—does it live up to your expectations? Do you sit in rush hour traffic five mornings a week inhaling exhaust fumes from the ridiculously large SUV braking heavily in front of you? Do you spend 3.8 hours a day perusing the internet on company time for a new improved cubicle? How much do you have saved for retirement? How many jobs have you had, anyway, including that burger joint in high school? Does The Man irk you beyond description? Tired of gazing at coworker Brenda’s skeet marks she so politely left in the workplace toilet? Where do you see yourself in five years? Oh look—there’s a catered meeting in the conference room. If you hurry you can score a free previously fondled muffin and not have to waste 85 cents in the vending machine.
Cubicle Rebel is the true story of a tragically right-brain office avoider, a directionless malcontent former employee of everything from chicken joints to retail and finally office life. Join the author as she gets hired and fired, takes a failed sabbatical that resulted in a 40-pound weight gain, moves to an undesirable first home, becomes homeless—all while trying unsuccessfully to find purposeful work. You will relate as an office worker/professional.

358 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 30, 2011

Reviews

[T.M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to force myself to finish this book. It started out with a promise and then just never lived up to it. It became chapter after chapter of the same old rant about being a slave to a dead end job and never being able to break out of the cycle. Partially, I believe, because of the author's own habits. She recognizes ways to break free, but then falls back into her same old routine. Somewhere along the way, she dropped the humor she started with and picked up muted hostility.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the last third of the book, she develops a nasty habit of insulting different types of people. Her favorites to pick on were: anyone that held a smidgeon of power (managers) anywhere she worked, people that lived in the country, anyone that did not live in a city, people that drove anything bigger than her beloved compact car, rednecks (I'm proud to be a redneck, but I also embrace all the things that rednecks are accused of ignoring - like education), and pretty much anyone that wasn't just like her.

The book, if it can be called that, quickly turned into a very long, very tired personal rant about how wonderfully talented she was but how no one realized it. And musings on why she wasn't a rich and famous author and artist.

Bottom line: Not worth the read.