Apathy and Other Small Victories

Well. I must admit … I have felt rather apathetic about writing this review. I know, I know, obvious joke. But the odd thing is, it’s true. And it’s not that I didn’t enjoy Apathy. I certainly did. Despite the fact that it’s one of the worst book titles I’ve ever read. Is the sequel going to be called Meh? Followed up by Not So Much and Whatevs?

The story itself is a twisted version of Office Space. The main character, Shane, is a slacker who lands a temp job he doesn’t want at the insurance company where his abusive girlfriend works. Of course, he never actually tells her that she’s abusive. That would take too much effort. Instead, he allows her to beat the crap out of him during sex. He has an odd friendship with his show more deaf dental hygienist and sleeps with his landlord’s wife once a week. By request. Of the landlord. It’s complicated. And then shit happens.

As you might guess, the main character lives a life of apathy. Or, more accurately, jaded detachment. With the exception of his seemingly sincere friendship with his deaf hygienist—despite the fact that he makes fun of her behind her back—whom he seems to really like. At points, Shane teeters on opening up to someone about himself. To admit he has feelings. Under the surface, he seems to care. But he never takes it further than a brief internal debate. He can’t seem to figure out how to express himself directly. He doesn’t have the guts to show his feelings. Instead he deflects emotions with mocking humor directed at everything and everyone around him. Most of whom are set up by Neilan as deserving to be skewered. It’s rather like how in movies, even if the hero (or anti-hero) has to kill many people to achieve his goal, they are usually set up as “bad people” in some fashion so you don’t hate the hero. So every institution and individual Shane rips into pretty much deserves it and that leaves Shane mostly sympathetic. Except for his general inertia, of course.

Beyond the title, Apathy left me feeling undecided. Ironic, no? Some elements I quite enjoyed. The main character was often hilarious but with a cynical, ironic tone that kept him at a distance. He was generally well intentioned but also an obnoxious asshole. I must call out specifically that I hated his casual use of the word “retarded.” (I do feel its okay to hate a character’s attributes even if it’s hard to tell if the author is neutral or critical. Since people are often unlikable, I prefer an author be honest than sugar coat humanity.) The book had great energy throughout but the ending fizzled. The plot was rather intriguing but also far-fetched, and I felt the whole “there’s been a murder” bit too easy. (Not a spoiler, it’s on the back cover.)

So you can see, all my reactions are Yes, but, Yes, but. Not a good technique for improv. It’s that pull and push that left me non-plussed. I am glad that I read Apathy. I’m going to call it a 3.5 with solid entertainment value and smatterings of cultural critique that resonated positively. show less

This novel, which I think is Neilan's first, is about a 28-year-old man named Shane who pretty much hates his life and has no particular liking for himself either. He has a highly dysfunctional relationship, spends his working hours sleeping in the bathroom, often fantasizes about his own accidental death, and spends a lot of time with his dentist. He also becomes sort-of friends with the dentist's deaf secretary, Marlene. And then one day Shane is awoken by a couple of detectives who want to question him about Marlene's murder, which is where the book starts. This isn't actually a mystery story though, and if it were it would be pretty bad because the ending doesn't really try to be exciting; it's just a funny book about a not very show more good person and his often offensive views of the world. A blurb by Neal Pollack describes it as follows: "If Camus and Bukowski had written A Confederacy of Dunces and combined it with the screenplay for Office Space, it would have been this book." It's weird and bitter and very funny and sometimes mean. I enjoyed it and laughed out loud a few times (mostly during scenes where Shane describes his harrowing bike rides to and from work). I feel I should mention that if this were a movie it would be rated R; to be more specific, it probably falls above average but below Chuck Palahniuk and Irvine Welsh in terms of potentially gross-out descriptiveness. I was eating nachos during one scene that made me wish I had saved the nachos for later.

PS--The American Sign Language letters for "apathy" are spelled out under the letters of the title, but the sign that's supposed to be a "P" is actually a "D" or something resembling it. I can't tell if that was an accident or an intentional nod to the title and theme of the book. show less

I'm utterly perplexed why there is so much buzz over Joshua Ferris' 'Then We Came to An End'. Apathy an Other Small Victories is everything that people say Ferris' book is and more. It's a painfully smart and funny look at the lives people find themselves entangled in. A biting satire which spares no one, that skewers corporate life, relationships and just how silly we all really are. A quick and enjoyable read this book will change the way you think about spending a little too much time in th...more I'm utterly perplexed why there is so much buzz over Joshua Ferris' 'Then We Came to An End'. Apathy an Other Small Victories is everything that people say Ferris' book is and more. It's a painfully smart and funny look at the lives people show more find themselves entangled in. A biting satire which spares no one, that skewers corporate life, relationships and just how silly we all really are. A quick and enjoyable read this book will change the way you think about spending a little too much time in the company bathroom. show less

Despite being a decent, quick and easy read, this book is let down by a hazy plotline and the lack of even a single likeable character. Many of the laughs generated come from the protagonist's narration as he riffs on the despair of office and cubicle life and the depressing mundanity of our ordinary lives. However, the plotline is merely there to provide an excuse for riffing on these topics, and as such is never developed enough to warrant the reader's sustained interest. Similarly, none of the characters had much to recommend them, so that by the end of the book I really didn't care who lived and who died. But, I suppose, maybe it was the intention of the author for us not to care anyway. The book is called Apathy after all. But it show more makes it hard to write a review without stimulation, and makes the book rather forgettable. show less

Take the movie "Office Space," add some Max Barry, a dash of cheap beer and a bucket full of salt (there's a reason for that), and you have some great material. Still, you're probably not quite pinpointing Apathy. This book has a number of laugh-out-loud parts. For me, they were tempered by the constant question I had in my head as I read... "Am I too, this much of an ass?"

Not a question I'm willing to delve into deeply. But the book is definitely worth delving into. As another reviewer noted, it destroys "Then We Came to an End." If you liked that book - you are Stink! (sorry, another reference from Apathy!)

I don't want to get flagged, but one of the testimonies on the cover is by Neal Pollack, and he makes a reference to this being as if Camus and Bukowski got together and wrote a combination of [A Confederacy of Dunces] and the [Office Space] screenplay.

That's just about it. It's Lewis Black and Christopher Moore writing [Crime and Punishment]. It's Ron White writing a combination of [Fight Club], [Catcher in the Rye]. and [Inherent Vice]. There were parts - sentences - where I burst out laughing, suddenly and uncontrollably, in little spurts, before I gathered myself together. I was on a crowded airplane at the time. I had it at 3 1/2 stars, but that elicitation of uncontrolled laughter is an extreme rarity for me, and worth another show more 1/2 star.

The plot is a bit choppy and like some of the novels mentioned above, the jokes can get a bit tedious. But if, at 14, you thought [Mad Magazine] was the most sophisticated literature in the world, you will love this short, fast-paced farce.

And I don't think you have to be an angsty. sociopathic do-nothing, self-centered, alcoholic, beta male, witty, under-achiever to enjoy it, either.

(But it may probably help). show less

I enjoyed reading this book to the point where I had tears from laughing so hard. The humor is cynical, irreverent, and politically incorrect. If the humor works for you it makes this book a great read. There's nothing terribly profound going on here beyond the wit and well, apathy. So if the humor as written by Paul Neilan isn't your cup of tea then you should probably save yourself some grief and walk away from the book. If his humor does click for you and if you're familiar with Portland, OR at all - this book will have you spitting your coffee in laughter. I think the book fell apart a bit towards the end, but the humor throughout more than compensated for it's shortcomings. If you're a driven type A person there's a good chance show more you'll find the book stupidly offensive, but hey that's what us type B's are here for. This book is fried gold comedy folks.

I've seen it described as juvenile and sophomoric and appealing to "undiscerning lads". This may be true, but I will point out I'm a middle aged woman and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Quick read. show less