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There are currently 26 member reviews
for Help Wanted
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Laurie S., Minneapolis, MN
A Madcap Menagerie of Retail Workers
What a madcap menagerie of retail workers! It's like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest comes to Town Square, the retail giant, AKA, Target?! Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman, dedicated to all retail workers, provides a laugh out loud glimpse into the life of warehouse workers with a pitch perfect, true to life, cast of characters. One of my favorites, Milo, unloads the replenishment trucks by "theme," what he considers his art. The characters in the "Movement" department, formerly known as Logistics, are all jockeying for positions and possible promotions. I'm passing this book onto to some of my family members who serve in leadership positions in the retail industry right now. My only criticism was that I wanted to hear even more from each of the characters.
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Catharine L. (Petoskey, MI)
Help Wanted
Team Movement clocks in at 3:55 AM. Under a demanding and self-absorbed boss, they empty the day's truck of merchandise, stock the shelves, and leave.
Then when there is to be a promotion, the Movement band together to ensure their choice wins.
A dark comedy about people living from paycheck to paycheck- their hopes and their fears.
I really enjoyed this book. It is so different from what I normally read. It describes the lives of people who often go unnoticed. The characters are real and their problems and faults are real, but I want them to succeed.
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Sandy P. (Chandler, AZ)
Big Box Drama
Great read! I enjoyed all of the characters; their quirks and their stories drew me in. It was fun and funny, sad and hopeful. This enjoyable book describes the drama of the ups and downs of mostly ordinary people working at an ordinary big box store. Recommended for book clubs.
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Stephanie K. (Glendale, AZ)
Selling Retail Lives
In "Help Wanted," Adelle Waldman cuts close to the quick in detailing the struggles of retail workers in a big box store. As a former retailer myself, I identified with many of the emotions the characters were attempting to work through. This novel gave me a mild case of the "cold dreads" as I vicariously faced what each of the workers were facing in their personal and professional lives. It was a good take on the realities of life in retail, which at times can be like trying to run through mud.
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Edie M. (Kennett Square, PA)
Help please
This book seemed extremely repetitive. Kind of like the life of an employee at a big box store! Makes you appreciate the people behind-the-scenes, who unload the trucks and stock the shelves! It doesn't happen by magic.
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Elizabeth L. (Langhorne, PA)
Not for me
Unfortunately, I had a difficult time engaging in and relating to the characters and storyline of Help Wanted. Obviously working in retail is difficult yet I did not feel sympathetic to the workers' plight. I found the use of the names Big Will and Little Will distracting, and I was not interested in knowing how the story would end or what happened to the myriad of characters. There were a few moment of levity but not enough for me to recommend the book to others.
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Jennie W. (Denver, CO)
Help Wanted
I wanted to like this book. It has a great premise about the inequalities in the workforce; rank-in-file versus management. However, there were so many characters with so many issues that it was hard to keep track of each character and their problems. The writing and the plot were flat and made it difficult to stay interested in the story..
