Love Poems for the Office

by John Kenney

In the spirit of his Love Poems collections, as well as his wildly popular New Yorker pieces, New York Times bestseller and Thurber Prize-winner John Kenney returns with a hilarious new collection of poetry--for office life.

With the same brilliant wit and biting realism that made Love Poems for Married People , Love Poems for People with Children , and Love Poems for Anxious People such hits, John Kenney is back with a brand new collection that tackles the hilarity of life in the office. From waiting in line for the printer and revising spreadsheet after spreadsheet, to lukewarm coffee, office politics, and the daily patterns of your most annoying--and lovable--coworkers, Kenney masterfully captures the warmth and humor of working the "9 to 5" in today's modern era.

Genres: Poetry, Humor, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Adult

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

John Kenney is the author of three novels and four books of poetry, including Love Poems for Married People. His first novel, Truth in Advertising, won the Thurber Prize for American humor. He is also the author of Talk to Me, which received a starred Kirkus review. He is a long-time contributor to The New Yorker magazine’s Shouts & Murmurs. He lives in Larchmont, NY, with his wife, Lissa, and two children.

Reviews

[Ruth Covington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as much fun or relatable as the others in this series, but the “How many hours did you work?” poem had me in stitches. I also enjoyed all the Zoom references!

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned:
“…no one cares anymore…”

A comedy tongue in cheek but sadly relatable look at current working practice, with some existing office tropes, but mostly the ridiculousness of everyone’s personal take on breaking the barriers to try and make a new set up work in extreme pandemic times. Zoom meaning and etiquette, whose meeting is this anyway confusion, unmuted toilet/pet/family shouting whoopsies, one-upmanship on effort exerted, social distancing, masks and gel for me and for you… but mostly me, empty printers and fish in microwave office moments (the latter which I actually did this week!)… Hahaha - glad that we’re all going through these things to differing degrees together - despite the temptations to tap out that I’m sure that we’ve all considered, how I’d miss these amazing simple psychoanalyses of interactions laid bare but can thankfully stay under the banner of not my whole life… a great audio performance by the author too (although from the Q&A I feel that I should call him a cruel name on this appropriate platform, but I can’t when he provides such entertaining insights)

“…turns out trust is a funny thing…”

[Erin Schwane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Kenney had me laughing out loud. The first and last poems, as well as "Autocorrect" were my favorites. I hope his love poem volumes keep coming!

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are a good laugh! I loved the poem about the word ping and others.

[Mo the Lawyer✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hilarious poetry collection about the corporate world in the time of coronavirus. Had me laughing out loud. It's like a poetic version of The Office. There is only one serious poem in the entire book.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent, short collection of poems centered around office life. A few made me laugh out lout which is always welcome.

[Michelle Hyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kenney is dry, witty, and spot on as usual. I work in (and have always worked in) an office so I really could relate to many of these. Many, many laughs. And the end one about his mother kind of surprised me in its seriousness, but I liked that one too, altho the ending was curious:

I can't seem to get this right.
I want to keep working on it.
I don't want it to end.
Yes, she would say.
Keep working.

Would love to hear thoughts/interpretations on this.

Anyway, quick read and well worth the $15!!

[Richelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This poetry collection was definitely created for the “Office Space, but make it poetic” crowd. Every poem was witty, relatable, and perfectly simple. I guffawed so much reading this book. And, it’s even better if you’re a couple beers in while reading it. If you’re a burnt out office worker wanting to read something by an author who gets your situation, this poetry collection has you covered.

[Itzy Morales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Kenney, the writer you are.

The way he is able to effectively capture the dynamic of the workplace and how it can be very awkward and yet passive aggressive, is genius. We all know the feeling of having that one coworker who just does something to your nerves, the unexplainable tension of that work crush (which really only happens because you’re confined in a space where you are together all the time), and getting the feeling that you’re doing too much without the recognition. Kenney just hits the nail on the head with these poems.

The best ones in my opinion are Passive Aggressive Emails (1-4). Truly, the most I’ve ever laughed with coworkers.

[Julian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just listened to 20% of this, 10mins or so. It's a terrible take at meetings and the classic office cliches and phrases. It's been done a countless times. It is not funny, witty or entertaining.

[Rea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious. Especially if you work/have worked/during normal times used to work in an office setting

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny stuff - and poems on point during this crazy time of Zoom meetings and work from home.

[Brianna Kinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was quite funny and witty.

[Matthew L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little musings about the office. An easy listen for an hour or so

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audio book with headphones on and my kids kept asking me why I was laughing. Alas, I couldn't share any of these with them. A few of the poems were more sad than funny, but most were fun to hear.

[Kristin Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funnier than I expected it to be.

[Gene Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these were pretty damn funny. The style reminds me of Demetri Martin

[Nella ☾ of Bookland · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Just the kind of sarcastic humor I need in my life.

[Louise · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadful. I was about to drift off to sleep but woke up from a damn heart attack because this is so dire and the author sounds bored AF reading it. Nein danke

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I could have written something similar in an hour or two. Some of the jokes were funny, some were cynical, some were both, and some were neither. Overall I still think this could bring a nice laugh and a smile or two, but it didn’t have a wow factor for me.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relevant to all work situations, not just offices.

Made me smile.

[The Lit Bitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

John Kenney’s quick little ‘Love Poems’ books have been a bright spot in my reading calendar over the last few years. While not quite a ‘poet’ Kenney never ceases to connect with his audience in an unexpected way.

I laughed out loud at a number of this poems over the years and have enjoyed giving these little books to friends and family throughout the years, especially for stocking stuffers. He has a wonderful comedic voice.

When this one came up for review, I was excited to read it because I know that he has rarely written a poem that I don’t find humor in, in at least one way or another. And these books are short and quick to read as they are poetry, you can easily pass some times quickly reading through this collection.

This collection of poems is geared toward corporate America and the traditional 9-5 jobs. While this collection might be geared toward ‘business people’, as an educator I still found humor and relatability in these poems and I think anyone who has worked with the public in any way, will find humor in many of these pages.

I think the most relatable poem in this book though was a compilation of poems about Zoom meetings. During a time when Zoom dominates not only work life but home lift and school lift, I think many of us can relate to the humor in the Zoom poems. They are so real and honest and 100% could happen to any of us. I was in a Zoom class for my per-schooler and one of the moms on the Zoom class was CHEWING her kid out and all of us were like ummmmmm mute? So when I read about the wife who yelled at her husband to get the kids out of the fucking room I laughed so hard recalling how awkward and uncomfortable those moments have been.

I think that Kenney has truly been blessed with wit and astute observations in a time when we sorely need humor at our present ‘work’ situations. I loved reading this book and laughing at all the work issues even if it didn’t pertain to me. I mean haven’t we all thought ‘this could have been an email’ while we were listening with our camera off to the Zoom meeting? I know I have and I just love all of Kenney’s humor and honesty at our present situation. This is a great gift to give your work colleagues and friends! They will no doubt find humor in these lines of poetry!

See my full review here

[TraceyL · Rating 4 out of 5]

These poems genuinely made me laugh out loud! I rarely ever enjoy poetry collections, but this popped up in my library app and it seemed like fun. I'm so glad I picked it up. I will definitely read his other collections.

[sahra (readwithsahra_) · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was a disappointment on my part. the title mislead me bc I thought I would read about people falling in love in an office, which I was super excited in. unfortunately it wasn't

instead I got 100 pages of poems about someone complaining about their workplace. don't get me wrong it can be funny but it's not what I thought I would get, so I didn’t enjoy it as I should have

it was kinda depressing to read it bc of how my own workplace is a mess. not the introspection I need tbh

i have a thing with the authors writing, which I don’t particularly like. it doesn’t translate the lyrical and romantic aspect I am usually so attached to in poetry. it lack this magical aspect that comes with reading poetry

disappointed about this but I'll give it a try some day in the future, now that I know it’s not literally love poems

2/5

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set this on the break table at work.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of poems was hilarious. Kenney does a phenomenal job of succinctly capturing the annoyances of office work/life as well as the relatable mishaps and awkward dynamics that we have with the people we sometimes interact with more than our own families. From elevator awkwardness to Zoom faux pas, to interns with hangovers, and clunky business “speak,” it’s all there in bite-size, but sometimes laugh-out-loud poetry.

Love Poems for the Office would make a great Secret Santa gift for a likeminded, irreverent colleague, or for friends & family who work in office jobs and even for those who don’t work in an office, but can relate to the frustrations of inconsiderate or inappropriate coworkers or obnoxious bosses.

[Leane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like his Love Poems (For Married People) [See my review.], this is another small book of verse that had me in stitches at the witty and snarky humor that captured perfectly what work life can be like—especially during the Covid years. His take on Virtual communication was sublime and spot on. I need to get his others. Readalikes may be Billy Collins' poetry, Eating Salad Drunk, an anthology of haikus, and the prose of David Sedaris. Also note that Kenney’s 2025 novel I See You’ve Called in Dead (See my review.) was a lovely combination of agile humor and poignant storytelling.

[Taylor's♡Shelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

If this is a sneak-peak at what poetry of the 20s may look like, then lay it all on me.

Sure, it may read more like screenshots of snarky work tweets, but really is that not what a lot of us need right now? The poems about Zoom calls during the Corona virus were partially good. I was no longer a civil servant when the pandemic hit, but I feel like I missed out on some great comedy fodder.

Also hats off to Kenney for pulling a drastic change of tone for the last poem.

Recommendation: listen to the audiobook at 1.75 speed. Trust me.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pub date: Oct 2020
I couldn't wait to read this and I'm so glad I jumped the gun, since it made me laugh SO HARD! Another hilarious book of poems, this time centered around the office, work and zoom meetings. That there are some dealing with the work from home issues in this time of COVID makes it even more spot on (and that much more funny!) Definitely a welcome respite, and one that I'll again be buying for my friends and family. Please keep 'em coming, Mr Kenney!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect light reading filled with relatable office fodder, plus a sweet bonus tribute to the poet's mother, who died suddenly and far too young. All the traditional office tedium and repetitive banter and annoyances that drive you batty are present, along with some special experiences in this time of COVID-19.

Favorites:

Who keeps stealing my yogurt?
Mythirdemailtotechsupportregardingmyfreakingstickyspacebar
Thank you for heating up fish leftovers in the break room microwave again
No one was paying attention to your presentation
Conference call
Office, August, freezing
Do we really need those magnetic security turnstiles in the lobby?