The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more

Book Review: Out of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working from Home by Charlie Warzel and Anne Helen Petersen

Book #81 of 2022:

Out of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working from Home by Charlie Warzel and Anne Helen Petersen

An interesting, sporadically helpful, and yet deeply flawed discussion of how current expectations of working environments are poorly constructed and could be reformed. Journalists Charlie Warzel and Anne Helen Petersen are talking primarily about jobs in the broad technology industry, whose white-collar workers like me and them shifted to remote conditions at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are scrupulous to note that work-from-home is not a panacea, and will often replicate existing toxic elements from a company’s office setting. And they acknowledge that traditional in-person work often supports racism, ableism, and other biases that can be mitigated by the shift to an alternative mode.

At the same time, however, their overall assessment of computer-based employment outside of the office is negative in a way that does not ring true to my own professional experiences or preferences. They describe feeling obligated to check their inbox right when they wake up and late into the night, for instance, because work-from-home has blurred the boundaries between work and home. But that’s not a situation inherent to remote access; it’s a problem of one particular kind of corporate culture (and the lack of guardrails against it). Personally, I stop thinking about work when my workday is over and have no trouble transitioning back into the rest of my life, giving thanks that I no longer face an hour-long commute between the two. I would love to never have to work from a desk outside my house ever again. Either I somehow lucked into a shockingly non-toxic firm that meshes well with my personal brand of neurodivergence, or else the writers haven’t done enough research to hear from perspectives like mine.

They similarly make a lot of blanket statements about text and video-chat mediums not being adequate substitutes for face-to-face interaction, which may be broadly accurate for many people but could really benefit from the context and nuance of the academic literature on electronically-mediated communication. Researchers who study that field — including me, back in grad school — would take issue with the universal claims Warzel and Petersen offer without apparent support. There are some things like automatic documentation that text absolutely does better than speech overall, and individuals process and communicate information in different ways, some of which are not conducive to the casual in-person drop-ins that the authors clearly favor.

They are on much firmer ground when they talk about the problems of keyboard-monitoring software and other implementations that encourage a worker to engage performatively with their assigned tasks rather than efficiently, or how the widespread embrace of a productivity mindset over the past several decades has not resulted in higher wages for our greater output. Those elements have been my main takeaways from this read, and are why I’m rating it as highly as three-out-of-five stars.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t criticize the reporters’ treatment of the pandemic itself. I have no idea when their final draft was submitted to editors, but the title was published in December 2021 when the coronavirus continued to rage across the world (as it still does as I write this five months later with no particular end in sight). Nevertheless, Warzel and Petersen blithely mention “the pandemic year” or refer to current conditions as “post-pandemic” throughout their text. It’s hardly the point of their publication here, but it’s frustrating to read and it certainly undercuts their authority as supposed experts.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Book of Night by Holly Black

Book #80 of 2022:

Book of Night by Holly Black

This urban fantasy story is generally fine, and it closes on a stronger note than it begins (albeit in a way that seems it’s likely meant as the launch to a series, rather than the standalone work it’s been marketed as). But it all feels pretty generic, with its most distinctive element of shadow-based magic still a confusion of unclear worldbuilding details by the end. The protagonist is fairly unlikeable too, and driven by poorly-defined motivations for far too much of this plot. It’s a competent enough effort that I wouldn’t want to rate it any lower than three-out-of-five stars, but there’s no promising spark here to suggest I’d have any interest in coming back for the sequel(s) I’m expecting.

[Content warning for domestic abuse, alchohol abuse, poisoning, incest, gun violence, and gore.]

★★★☆☆

TV Review: Classic Doctor Who, season 2

TV #20 of 2022:

Classic Doctor Who, season 2

This sophomore season is the most complete of Doctor Who’s black-and-white runs, with only two episodes still missing, available as merely audio recordings and visual reconstructions today. Watching all this through finds a mixed bag overall, but there are a few highlights I’d particularly recommend to modern fans. (See my rankings below.)

And gradually, this series is growing more like what we’re used to these days. The Daleks become the first recurring species / enemy, and are shown with time-travel technology of their own. Another member of the Doctor’s as-yet-unnamed people is introduced in the finale, which represents the debut “pseudo-historical” adventure of the franchise: a story set in the past but with science-fiction elements besides the TARDIS, rather than just showing our heroes getting caught up in local conflicts with Marco Polo or whoever when they arrive in an era. That last serial also finally establishes — after a creative struggle behind the scenes — that history can be changed by willful time-travelers; the Doctor simply feels that it shouldn’t be. This small pivot would have resounding influence over the kinds of plots that the Whoniverse develops over the subsequent decades, beyond the Monk’s anachronisms just being a really fun device in the moment.

In other changes, we have a major casting shakeup, with three companions departing over the course of the year and two others coming aboard. As a result, only William Hartnell’s Doctor now remains from the original group, which cements him as the primary protagonist in this drama where he could seem like a side figure or even partial antagonist at times before. These shifts are happening incrementally and somewhat unintentionally, but they are collectively bringing this program more in line with our 21st-century expectations.

Serials ranked from worst to best:

★☆☆☆☆
THE WEB PLANET (2×16 – 2×21)

★★☆☆☆
THE ROMANS (2×12 – 2×15)
THE SPACE MUSEUM (2×26 – 2×29)

★★★☆☆
PLANET OF GIANTS (2×1 – 2×3)
THE CHASE (2×30 – 2×35)
THE RESCUE (2×10 – 2×11)
THE CRUSADE (2×22 – 2×25)

★★★★☆
THE TIME MEDDLER (2×36 – 2×39)
THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH (2×4 – 2×9)

[Content warning for slavery, threat of sexual assault, and racism including brownface.]

★★★☆☆

Book Review: Archer’s Goon by Diana Wynne Jones

Book #79 of 2022:

Archer’s Goon by Diana Wynne Jones

This 1984 sci-fi / fantasy novel, which I read and reread countless times as a child and is apparently one of Neil Gaiman’s favorites as well, opens with an irresistible premise: a hulking enforcer camps out in the thirteen-year-old hero’s kitchen, saying his mysterious employer is missing the latest delivery of 2000 words from the boy’s father. It turns out Archer and his six siblings “farm” this unnamed British town, each controlling a different domain like its utilities, police forces, public transportation, and so on. None of the rest seem to know the point of those writing samples or why the Sykes family has been caught up in this affair, but they quickly launch a tug-of-war power struggle over the household, all demanding their own pieces to study and learn what the others are up to. In the process they torment the home in their respective fashions, from shutting off the electricity to blaring music from the radio to sending workers to dig up the road outside.

It’s fun for that whimsical inventiveness along with the dry reactions that each new frustration evokes, and the plot moves at an admirably efficient clip to introduce our memorable cast of characters and speed us to a conclusion. There are some solid twists too, including people who turn out to be either friendlier or crueler (and in one notable case, both) than they’ve initially appeared. And while the worldbuilding is no more complicated than it needs to be, with the exact nature of those secretive beings left unclear — are they wizards? aliens? demigods? — it all works fantastically, and leaves a distinctive impression despite the lack of heavy details. There’s time-travel, and mayhem, and all sorts of quotable witticisms. I’m so looking forward to sharing it with my own children someday.

[Content warning for fatphobia.]

★★★★★

Book Review: The Humans by Matt Haig

Book #78 of 2022:

The Humans by Matt Haig

This 2013 novel is one part a Douglas Adams-esque assortment of absurdist reflections on humanity, and one part a K-PAX plot of someone who looks like a regular human claiming to actually be an alien, to everyone’s reasonable disbelief. Yet whereas that latter title — which is namechecked here, so I’d say the homage is intentional — follows a psychiatric doctor worried his patient has concocted a delusion to suppress a trauma, this tale is rooted in the extraterrestrial’s perspective instead. We’re also plainly meant to accept that protagonist’s claims as genuine, since people do witness his powers and another member of his species at one point.

In truth, I think the story might have been stronger if it had held back on that last front, maintaining an ambiguity over whether the math professor had honestly been replaced by an off-world doppelgänger looking to erase all traces of his supposedly dangerous research or if this stranger confused by earth’s customs and how to relate to its inhabitants were just that same man experiencing a breakdown from stress. (That’s partly because such a reading is always going to be my preference in this kind of thing, and I know author Matt Haig manages that unresolved tension neatly in his later work The Midnight Library, but I do feel there’s good textual evidence for it here that’s ultimately squashed.)

Nevertheless, this is a fun and surprisingly moving affair overall, with a murderously problematic fave who’s sweet in his gradually-strengthening efforts to connect with the population around him. Although the writer is clearly still learning his craft, I’ve enjoyed this quite a lot.

[Content warning for attempted suicide.]

★★★★☆

Book Review: The Burning Room by Michael Connelly

Book #77 of 2022:

The Burning Room by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch #17)

Another perfectly competent police procedural with detective Harry Bosch, looking into a pair of cold cases from decades back: a shooting recently upgraded to a homicide after the victim finally succumbed to his injuries and the bullet could be extracted from his spine, and an apartment building arson that the veteran cop’s new partner survived as a child. Neither crime’s details are particularly distinctive against the protagonist’s lengthy career at this point, and they both peter out in somewhat downbeat fashion by the end, but they’re solidly interesting enough to pass the time beforehand. My only slight complaint is how silly and superstitious he sounds to keep harping about the momentum of the investigation(s) and the need to push on immediately from one development to the next, given how many years have already passed in each matter.

For long-term readers of the series, it’s the changes in the hero’s personal life that will likely carry greater importance, despite being sidelined by the novel’s episodic plot. Harry’s daughter Maddie is now sixteen, dating, and showing an interest in following her parents into law enforcement, for instance, and her father is nearing his mandatory retirement age with the LAPD. These notes suggest possible future storylines more than they impact the present, but the serialization helps brighten up an otherwise run-of-the-mill volume.

[Content warning for gun violence, racism, death of children, and domestic abuse.]

★★★☆☆

TV Review: Saturday Night Live, season 47

TV #19 of 2022:

Saturday Night Live, season 47

This is the fifth season of SNL in a row that I’ve watched straight through as it aired, so at this point I feel pretty confident in my ability to rate a given span against the program’s typical output. So, what was different for the long-running sketch comedy show this time around?

First, the new cast members. Sarah Sherman brings an offbeat surreal energy that doesn’t always land for me but is distinctive enough that it’s generally refreshing. James Austin Johnson throws himself gamely into roles and is just incredible at the Trump and Biden impressions for which he was hired — a big improvement over anyone the show had used in either capacity before. Aristotle Athari, though, other than his delightful “Laughingtosh 3000” segment on Weekend Update, has failed to really register much all year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him cut from the roster after this.

Then there’s the size of the cast. At 21 players, this is the largest ensemble Saturday Night Live has ever fielded, and it shows. Some of the senior performers are absent for long stretches of time filming other projects, but when everyone’s around it’s common for some folks to get only a stray line all episode, as often happens with Athari. I personally think the series is best when it feels like a tight-knit troupe, and that’s not exactly what we’ve been getting lately. Luckily four stars have already announced their departures — Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson, and Kyle Mooney, the first two of whom I’ll especially miss — so if Lorne Michaels and the other producers can hold off on replacing them directly, we might have a more reasonable group going forward.

That count of 21 doesn’t even include Please Don’t Destroy, a trio of writers added this run who also do their own prerecorded skits. These guys are sort of like Lonely Island at making a smaller show within the show, but they haven’t scored anywhere near the hits of that older crew yet. I don’t mind them and I always appreciate a creaky beast like SNL trying new things, but I wouldn’t miss it if this experiment turns out to be one and done.

All of which is to say that overall, season 47 isn’t much better or worse than usual. The laughs are reliable despite some recurring bits yielding the expected diminishing returns, and the political comedy has its heart in the right place even if it doesn’t seem to ever quite live up to the program’s sharp critical reputation. I’m still impressed they manage to throw everything together in a week each time, and it’s a nice distillation of the cultural zeitgeist that I don’t get as cleanly from the scripted series I follow. I wouldn’t call it a favorite this year or any other, but it’s solidly entertaining through and through.

★★★☆☆

Book Review: The Test by K. A. Applegate

Book #76 of 2022:

The Test by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #43)

This Animorphs novel is a direct sequel to ghostwriter Ellen Geroux’s earlier story #33 The Illusion, in which Tobias gets tortured by the unhinged sub-visser “Taylor.” The same antagonist is back for this tale, quickly recapturing the hawk boy after he makes the local news for leading rescuers to a missing child who’s lost in the woods during a raging storm. It’s an early example of the difficult moral questions looming over this volume: Should our protagonist risk his cover to help save the deaf kid? Can he trust that his abuser is earnest in her request for a partnership against their common foe? Will he participate in a terrorist attack on the Yeerk pool, knowing it would kill thousands of unwilling human hosts and noncombatant enemies along with the strategic target?

That’s the mission that Taylor proposes, even freeing Tobias to bring the offer to his friends. Claiming to now oppose Visser Three, she wants them to morph Taxxons and dig a tunnel connecting a natural gas pipeline to the pool, which she will then carefully incinerate with just enough fuel to wipe out everyone inside the underground cavern without damaging its structure — which her new regime will still require to feed — or anything on the surface.

It’s a tough moment for Tobias, who bluntly informs us that he’s still dealing with PTSD from his last time in her clutches and clearly can’t stop her from getting under his skin once more, but also for Cassie, who bravely stands up against her fellow Animorphs and refuses to take part in an operation requiring so much collateral damage to innocent lives. In a twist of deeply cruel dramatic irony, that positions the pacifist girl to step in and save the rest of the team when Taylor inevitably betrays them and tries to set off a massive explosion instead… which Cassie is only able to prevent by viciously battling a half-dozen human Controllers, something the teens have all sought to avoid whenever possible.

Because Tobias is narrating this adventure, we don’t get to witness that fight firsthand. But we see the brutal aftermath of their unconscious, barely alive bodies along with the effect on Cassie, who’s out of morph sobbing, clutching herself, and unresponsive when he and the others arrive. In the meantime, we’ve also been shown the terrifying all-consuming hunger of the Taxxon morphs, which nearly results in Tobias and Ax both trying to eat their allies and overstaying the morphing limit to be stuck in those forms forever.

In the end Taylor is gone and presumed dead, and the only real victory the heroes have accomplished is escaping without external injury and without having to actually bear the expected amount of death of their conscience. (Spoiler alert: it turns out the entire plot was a ploy Visser Three devised to try and slaughter the Andalite bandits and the faction of Yeerks favoring peaceful coexistence, who had organized to feed at the pool en masse at that time.) I would have preferred more space for Cassie’s perspective given how much she ultimately anchors the narrative along with Tobias, but overall this is another powerhouse production of teenage trauma and the bleakness of war from Geroux and credited series author K. A. Applegate.

[Content warning for ableism, body horror, and gore.]

★★★★☆

Book Review: The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal

Book #75 of 2022:

The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal (Lady Astronaut #3)

I’m still enjoying this alternate-history sci-fi series about the ramifications of a natural disaster accelerating the space program as humanity in the mid-twentieth century seeks a way to get most of the population off-planet, but I consider this third volume to be a minor step down from the two before. We’ve switched protagonists to someone I find less interesting — astronaut Nicole Wargin, a prior supporting character — with this book following her activities on earth and the moon during the timeline of the Mars expedition from the previous one. Much of that turns out to be a scramble for survival in the face of a polio outbreak and potential saboteurs on the lunar colony, and author Mary Robinette Kowal continues to exhibit great technical prowess in exploring how such problems would arise and be solved within the limits of 1960s technology. (I’d definitely recommend these stories to fans of The Martian!) But the plot drags a bit over too many pages, and its mystery angle isn’t enough of a whodunnit investigation to really hook me.

[Content warning for disordered eating, gun violence, racism, and death of a spouse.]

★★★☆☆

Book Review: Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long

Book #74 of 2022:

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long

The protagonist of this YA novel reminds me strongly of Katniss Everdeen: a teen girl, cold and toughened beyond her years, forced to enter into a deadly spectacle where she puts her wilderness survival skills to good use and gradually comes to open up and realize depending on others doesn’t have to be a weakness. In this case, the sci-fi action takes place on a future colony planet that has been ravaged by exploitative corporations, worsening the already-icy temperatures and dangerous storms. The path to the most profitable mining region, inaccessible to heavy-duty spacecraft and reached only by genetically-engineered wolves pulling sleds behind them, has become an annual event with an entire cottage industry around it — from the locals training to participate in the race, to their off-world patrons, to the audiences watching the drone feeds and gambling on every team’s odds. While it’s not as bloodthirsty as the Hunger Games, the competitors are encouraged to sabotage one another’s operations en route, above and beyond the inherently treacherous terrain.

The worldbuilding doesn’t provide too many cultural details on this society, but debut author Meg Long brings the harrowing setting to life in viscerally descriptive prose. As our viewpoint character reluctantly gets drawn into this contest that killed her mothers, she finds herself torn between their two respective worlds: the population of racers who are at least tacitly supporting the capitalistic forces of climate change and the tribe of settlers who have renounced those ways and retreated to seek harmony with nature. She also bonds closely with the feral wolf that a local gangster has asked her to train as a prizefighter, a tender relationship that forms the true emotional core of the story. When she ultimately frees the animal and flees the settlement, she has no choice but to join a group of friendly scientists as they embark on the race, helping them towards their research site and hoping to earn enough credits to travel literally anywhere else in the galaxy.

That mission only starts about halfway through the plot, but both before and after this point, it’s an absolute pulse-pounding rush. I am very impressed, and although the volume has been marketed as a standalone, the ending is open enough that I’d happily come back for a sequel. Maybe by then I’ll have finally stopped feeling the chill from this one.

[Content warning for frostbite, violence against animals, amputation, and gore.]

★★★★☆