Soar Above the Madness:
Surviving Office Politics Without Losing Your Mind, Your Job, or Your Lunch

By Miriam Drennan
Rutledge Hill, $12.99
ISBN 1558539794

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Laugh too hard and you might get fired

Okay, we'll admit it. This is one book of office humor we approached with more than our usual fear and trepidation. After all, it was written by Miriam Drennan, former associate editor of BookPage, who knows all about our foibles, follies and fearsome tirades. Would she use her new book to skewer her former co-workers, to tell us what she really thinks about our tendencies to pilfer pencils (and chew off the erasers before returning them), to send nagging e-mails, to spend entirely too long in the restroom on dreary Monday mornings?

It's a relief to report that we didn't recognize a single BookPage staffer in Soar Above the Madness: Surviving Office Politics Without Losing Your Mind, Your Job, or Your Lunch. Drennan must have been inspired by some other office when she and Joel Anderson created this withering parody of the two-faced, back-stabbing, nit-picking, thunder-stealing employees (and bosses) who haunt the halls of some unfortunate businesses. If you need help surviving the work day, you'll appreciate this laugh-out-loud guide to dealing with types like "Brownie, Office Kiss-Up" or "Space Invader, Touchy-Feely Boss." Drennan thoughtfully includes tips on how to avoid detection when faking a sick day, where to take an in-house vacation (the server room or supply closet) and how to appear busy when the boss walks by (shuffle papers). Just remember -- she didn't learn it at BookPage!