Book Review of Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman

Name of Book: Help Wanted

Author: Adelle Waldman

ISBN: 978-1-324-02044-8

Publisher: W.W Norton 

Type of book: New York, lowest rung, dying town, 2010s, relationships, microcosm, world of its own, competition, breaking out things, tact, politics 

Year it was published: 2024 

Summary:

In Help Wanted, Adelle Waldman brings her unparalleled wit and knack for social observation to the world of work.

At a big-box store in a small town in upstate New York, the members of Team Movement clock in every morning at 3:55. Under the eye of a self-absorbed and barely competent boss, they empty the day’s truck of merchandise, stock the shelves, and scatter before customers arrive. When a golden opportunity for a promotion presents itself, the diverse members of Movement―among them a comedy-obsessed oddball who acts half his age, a young woman clinging to her “cool kid” status from high school, a college football hopeful trying to find a new path―band together and set a just-so-crazy-it-might-work plot into motion. A darkly comic workplace caper that explores the aches and uses of solidarity, Help Wanted is a deeply human portrait of people trying, against increasingly long odds, to make a living.

Characters:

The novel didn't really have a central or main character, but instead all of the characters were secondary. First is Big Will, store manager who is young, charismatic and graduated from college at the wrong time during recession. He has a fiancée in Connecticut whom he hopes to go back to. Meredith is the barely competent boss who is alienating, lacks tact and subtlety and who desires to become a store manager. Little Will is the Group Manager who comes from a failed small business and who is very likable by everyone. Nicole is best described as a tough woman who is dealing with a baby as well as a fiancé. Ruby is talented at breaking things out and when it comes to clothes putting them where they should be. She and Meredith don't get along. Diego is the ladies' man who has deal with a bipolar girlfriend and her son and often feels insecure about his origins. Val is a lot tougher than Nicole and is very conscious and experienced. She has a wife and a child. Milo worked the longest and is best described as narcissistic, someone who can't see fault within himself. He wants to matter and has two daughters whom he takes care of. Joyce is a grandmotherly type who often thinks that things were better in the past. Travis is one of the newest members and happened to be in jail but is looking to turn his life around. Raymond is good friends with Milo and also takes care of family, including a newborn baby. Callie is the newest member, a divorced woman who is taking care of her baby. 

Theme:

Who says working in lower rungs is a boring experience?

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative omniscient from what seems to be everyone's point of view. I should mention that quite a few times the author does switch points of view in mid paragraph which might make it a bit of a jarring read. Few things I did notice is that while outside life is often alluded to, most of it happened backstage without the reader being a witness to it. One of the characters checking out houses? Backstage. The store, otherwise known as Town Square has this feeling of a microcosm, its own world that doesn't let non workers through. The novel had a very big potential in terms of story and characters as well as the all too modern feel of the haves versus the have-nots, but I definitely felt there was something missing from the story, which I'm not quite sure what it might have been. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Adelle Waldman is the author of the novels, Help Wanted, coming from W.W. Norton in March of 2024, and The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., which was published by Henry Holt in 2013 and was named one of that year’s best books by The New Yorker, The Economist, The New Republic, NPR, Slate, Bookforum, The Guardian and others. She lives in New York's Hudson Valley with her husband and daughter.

Opinion:

Can I just say how much of an amazing read this book was? As someone who lives in Texas I loved seeing an all too human representation of people I might have known and seen around where I live. The politics as well as a representation of the store as its own world also adds a lot to fascination as to why the author has decided to write it the way she did. One of the things that I should mention is that its an atypical story that focuses a lot on everyday and it feel a bit unfinished because there is some tantalizing evidence of a possible continuation. I do feel that more characters should have been a lot more utilized than they were, but aside from that, I definitely loved analyzing the story as well as possible message that was sent through it. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)