I Hope This Email Finds You Never: The Official Guide to Blissfully Surviving the Modern Workplace

by Ken Kupchik, Emily Ann Hill

Ahhh, the modern a cauldron of stress and anxiety. From the moment we accept a new role, we’re thrown into a world of competing personalities, shifting protocols, and an endless stream of emails, Slack messages, and Zoom calls, all of which serve to distract us from the things we truly want to be doing, like eating Thai food and sleeping until noon. I Hope This Email Finds You Never puts aside the motivational screeds, productivity hacks, and pop-science, and focuses instead on those things in the workplace that truly cause us grief—like a coworker eating an apple during a video call—in a lighthearted, entertaining, and (most importantly) cynical way. Some things you’ll From Orientation (The Descent), Workplace Etiquette (No Eye Contact Before 11 AM), Working Remotely (Wink Wink), Coworkers (Getting Along with your fellow inmates), and everything in between, I Hope This Email Finds You Never is your must-have guide to surviving (thriving is not realistic) in the modern workplace.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Audiobook, Business

208 pages, Paperback

Published October 11, 2022

Reviews

[Ancillar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

This is a humorous non-fictional book meant to act as a guide on how to navigate the workplace in this era. This book involves all tips for work, from application to meetings and quitting. I loved that the book was easy to read and quite short but the amount of humor in the book was not for everyone. This book is perfect for fans of humor and there is something to appreciate and take from this book.

[Oumaïma (readwithmima) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 stars
This book was okay. I am not sure it would have been any help to a newly graduated me. But 9+ years experience me understands the humour. It does not necessarily make me laugh, but I understand where it comes from.

[Brigette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book involves all tips for work, from application to meetings to quitting. NetGalley kindle version was hard to read with the formatting issues but I would assume the purchased kindle version will be better.

It was a very silly book in general, so I’m not sure how useful it would actually be for anyone. It’s like Dilbert in book form almost. It did cover many aspects of work though, even pets at home

A funny quote example: “introductions can be fun because you have a chance to present the best fake version of yourself that your coworkers will ever see. But it’s imperator to be cautious when making introductions… a bad first impression can ruin a relationship right away, before you get a chance to ruin it gradually over a longer period of time.”

[Nicole Nieto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun with this. It’s a comedy book about the workplace and, with all the job hunting I’ve been doing lately and the frustrations that go along with it, I really needed the laugh. If you go into this book expecting it to give actual advice, close it now and move on, because that’s not what this is. But if you have to be told that after reading the first chapter, you may have bigger problems.
However, if you’re like me, frustrated and annoyed with work and job hunting and all the bs that goes with it, I heartily recommend this book. It’s sarcastic and takes multiple silly and ridiculous little jabs at all of the ridiculous little traditions and expectations the workplace has for us.

[sinag · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5 stars!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book isn't helpful at all. The amount of jokes is too much, we don't even get to know what are real tips/advice and what's satire or jokes. I mean, I get it that their approach here was to be humorous and fun to read, but the amount of jokes was way all over the place and it's just annoying. It feels like they are trying hard to be funny and it isn't working for me.

[Kelly Paradis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn’t get into this. The jokes are the kind of thing that might be funny once or twice (which is why the description hooked me at first), but it’s basically the same exact thing over and over again. After the first few pages, the humor gets tiring and cynicism takes over.

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is every entertaining and quite useful if you are starting a new job or have to face a multicultural environment.
I had fun and found some pieces of advice useful.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hahaha I loved this book! Full of sarcasm and nicely illustrated.

The work world is hard and sometimes boring and this book encapsulated that very well

Definitely recommended for those who enjoy a good laugh.

[Kim Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

The jokes here are a bit much, not much more than common sense advice on list form..

I had high hopes, but was disappointed

[Barbara Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious and 100% accurate! Any eye-rolling, heavy-sighing office or remote worker who has a love/hate relationship with their job will instantly relate.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, I was hoping it would be funnier but the gag gets old quickly.

[Jacquelyne Hernandez · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a fun book, just not for me. I guess I was looking for more serious talks amidst all the sarcasm.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cynicism begins to wear thin as you progress through the book, but still reasonably enjoyable.

[Lasha Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, snarky and an enjoyable quick read. A short fun read that gave me some chuckles and made me second guess my co-worker’s motivations.

[Brenten Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the attempt at humor and the presentation of actually useful information, but the balance between the two wasn't really there and it fell a little flat.

[Joanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author tried to be funny but missed the mark. This was a waste of time.
DNF

[Maggi Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good comedy work read.

[Jurgita Aleksandravičiūtė · Rating 2 out of 5]

- They say that a smart person knows how to get out of trouble , while a wise person knows how to avoid it to begin with.