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Lightning Rods
Lightning Rods | Helen Dewitt
After failing to succeed as a salesman, Joe finally finds a product he can sell and refuses to fail regardless of the obstacles in his way.
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The_Penniless_Author
Lightning Rods | Helen Dewitt
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Pickpick

An ex-salesman comes up with a creative solution for dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace. The juxtaposition of using such banal business/self-improvement jargon to describe such an outlandish idea really worked for me. DeWitt is a funny writer and great at conveying the gap between how people see themselves and how they actually think and behave.

rwmg I loved \“The Last Samurai\“. I didn\'t know she\'d written another one. 1mo
42 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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The_Penniless_Author
Lightning Rods | Helen Dewitt
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#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

One way of looking at it is that it was just an unfortunate by-product of Hurricane Edna.

review
merelybookish
Lightning Rods | Helen Dewitt
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Mehso-so

Second book completed for the Helen DeWitt spotlight group I joined. What can companies do to prevent sexual harassment? One business man comes up with a surprising solution. 👀😳🍑🍆 And then builds a business on it. DeWitt is clever beyond words & her ability to satirize the absurdity capitalist logic and American corporatese is amazing. Still, I will never love satire. Not for the faint of heart. A short story version would have been plenty.

dabbe I spy two adorable kitty butts! 🖤🐾🐾🖤 14mo
Centique Yes satire almost never strikes me right 🤷🏻‍♀️ 14mo
merelybookish @dabbe Yes! They both like to join me when I read. 14mo
merelybookish @Centique It seems to lack the emotional depth that I crave from fiction. 14mo
70 likes4 comments
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merelybookish
Lightning Rods | Helen Dewitt
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DeWitt's second novel, a satire on sexual harassment in the workplace. It's testing me. 😒

Lindy Whew! I know what you mean. This one really pushes the acceptability boundaries 14mo
57 likes1 comment
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Ruthiella
Lightning Rods | Helen Dewitt
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Happy birthday month @wanderinglynn and congratulations on reaching 300k Litfluence! 🥳🥳🥳 Thanks for this generous giveaway opportunity. 🙏 I‘ve tagged a book from the never ending TBR that I‘d love to receive.

#300KBirthdayGiveaway

wanderinglynn Thank you! 😘 And thanks for entering! 2y
50 likes1 comment
review
Minervasbutler
Lightning Rods | Helen Dewitt
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Pickpick


Joe is a struggling salesman when he suddenly gets his brilliant idea - a way for companies to safeguard themselves against sexual harassment suits by providing a (cough) facility which testosterone-fuelled workers can avail themselves of at scheduled times. Brilliantly written in a style which at times parodies the clichés of the self-help and motivational genres this is laugh-aloud hilarious.

Ruthiella Helen Dewitt is an author I‘ve been meaning to read for years! 2y
52 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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TheLibrarian
Lightning Rods | Helen Dewitt
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Panpan

Joe has bad luck selling the Encyclopedia Britannica so he comes up with an idea based on a sexual fantasy. This idea would install “lightning rods” at offices to prevent sexual harassment.

Overall I thought the story was boring and repetitive. I found myself rolling my eyes quite frequently.

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mauveandrosysky
Lightning Rods | Helen Dewitt
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Pickpick

This quirky, outrageous workplace satire was written in 2009, but feels especially relevant in the #MeToo era. It‘s definitely a book that makes you cringe, as does most satire that‘s all too plausible. DeWitt‘s writing is fresh and hilarious, reminding me of George Saunders and David Foster Wallace. The plot, unfortunately, does become redundant. But I‘m glad to have DeWitt on my radar now, and will definitely continue seeking out her writing.

Lindy I was too embarrassed to recommend this to patrons when I worked at the library, even though I thought it was brilliant. It‘s pretty out there. 6y
mauveandrosysky @Lindy ha! I don‘t blame you. 6y
36 likes1 stack add3 comments
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CherylDeFranceschi
Lightning Rods | Helen Dewitt
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merelybookish Such a great cover! And cute birdies in the background. 🙂 7y
RealLifeReading I've had this on my tbr list! How is it? 7y
CherylDeFranceschi @RealLifeReading It was ok. Weird, creepy and funny-ish. But The Last Samurai is so much better! 7y
77 likes3 comments