(no subject)

[skygiants]

I think the best way I have to describe Calvin Kasulke's Several People Are Typing is that it's basically a Wayside School story for grownups (Wayside Office story?) as filtered through the medium of a book-length post on The Toast. This comparison is praise rather than censure, I very much dug both Wayside School weirdness and The Toast during their heydays and I zipped through Several People Are Typing at incredible speed.

The premise: it's a surrealist satire on office culture, a book told via slack channel messages at a PR firm with the twist that poor Gerald, previous owner of the nicest desk by the windows, has now gotten his consciousness trapped in the Slack and cannot figure out how to return to his human body. Unfortunately his coworkers all think that he's pulling an elaborate bit to justify his aggressive embrace of the company's new WFH policy so he is not receiving much assistance from anyone, with the exception of work pal Pradeep who is reluctantly tasked with helping Gerald sort out problems like What Has Become Of My Body and Could You Possibly Perhaps Forge My Rent Check. Also they are busy with problems of their own, like illicit office romance, nightmare clients, the howling! outside the window!! that seems to be constantly coming closer?!?!, and the fact that nobody can find the original brief for the dog food account fielding a rumor about regrettably poisoned Pomeranians. But at least he's really bonding with Slackbot!

I enjoyed the whole thing very much although there was one major plot element that threw me out which is that in the back half of the book Slackbot successfully hits on Pradeep. Now I have no problems with Pradeep banging Slackbot if he wants but Slackbot is nonconsensually possessing Gerald's body at the time (while Gerald is still trapped in Slack) and "I banged your body when I knew for sure that you weren't in there and had not agreed to it" is a fairly hard ethical line for me that in the book is mostly just used to set up the Gerald/Pradeep mutual confession scene when Pradeep tells Gerald about it the next day.

My other complaint about the romance -- which other than this one fairly large thing is perfectly charming -- is that it does feel a bit to me like the end of the book takes the easy way out by allowing the Cute Romance Ending to be the whole ending rather than perhaps just one part of a broader, weirder and more problematized ending; once Gerald gets his body back there's sort of an implication that everything is normal again, but there is so much other surreal nonsense going on that seems unrelated to Gerald's Problems that I simply want things to go on being stranger than that! Fixing Gerald did not fix capitalism!

All that said, this was some of the most fun I've had with a book in ages, strong recommend for a zippy good time if you ever enjoyed a "texts from x" post on The Toast.

Comments

[sovay]

Unfortunately his coworkers all think that he's pulling an elaborate bit to justify his aggressive embrace of the company's new WFH policy so he is not receiving much assistance from anyone, with the exception of work pal Pradeep who is reluctantly tasked with helping Gerald sort out problems like What Has Become Of My Body and Could You Possibly Perhaps Forge My Rent Check.

This sounds so wonderful to me that I am preemptively distressed that the romance blew up in non-con possession banging!

(There are definitely canons where I will read the non-con possession banging just fine, but this one doesn't sound pitched for it.)

[skygiants]

for the most part it really is wonderful! incorporates some lovely themes about, like, embodiment and intimacy and practical logistical care, unfortunately undermined rather by the non-con possession banging, but. (and conversely the non-con possession banging could have been narratively reasonable as a route to further weirdness and discomfort rather than an amiable stepping stone to Romantic Resolution.)

[coffeeandink]

I was disturbed by both the sexual consent thing and the ultimate fate of Slackbot. I mean, yes, it was a threat, but also it was .. kind of a baby? If you suddenly gave a baby an adult mind and body, it also would be really dangerous, because of the combination of physical power and ignorance and not having developed a conscience yet.

[skygiants]

Yeah!! I wasn't sure whether to read Slackbot as 'a baby' or 'an eldritch horrormonster' tbh, but either way I definitely read its ultimate fate & betrayal as a discomfiting/morally compromised victory at best ... which I don't know would be a narrative problem if the ending had let that sit in a less comfortable place instead of wrapping itself up as a cute rom-com.

[chestnut_pod]

Oh, this sounds like high-octane zane! I think I will definitely give it a try, in full knowledge of the possession-bang so it won't throw me off.

[skygiants]

'high-octane zane' is a great description, I will very much look forward to your thoughts!

[marginaliana]

I also enjoyed this very much except for the noncon possessed banging which, in addition to being Not Okay, seemed like it came out of nowhere. Also Lydia just... disappears?

I think I wanted something more from the ending but I'm not sure what. But I enjoyed it along the way. Also my brain has immediately decided to think about how I'd write Gerald/Slackbot and make it work. Something connected to the sunset gif segment, I think.

[happydork]

I just read this based on your review, and v glad I knew about the non-con possession banging going in, thank you. It was really fun and I loved the epistolary office horror everything of it, but for me it definitely felt more like a collection of cool ideas told in an engaging and novel way rather than a coherent and satisfying story. Absolutely loved self-meat, though, ten out of ten, do recommend this horrifying phrase for use in casual conversation.