For those who don't already read enough e-mail (E. (A Novel) - Matt Beaumont)

Member Name: Clayeree

Product:	E. (A Novel) - Matt Beaumont
Date:	12/09/09 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very very funny

Disadvantages: No real story

This is a very funny and inventive novel which tells the story of fictional advertising agency, Miller Shanks, during the run-up to their pitch for the Coca Cola account. When this book was first published in 2000, there was apparently much speculation in the advertising world as to who the characters were based on. You have to pity these individuals if they do exist because the characters in this book are a bizarre bunch of people ranging from completely inept to pretty unlikeable.

There is no real story to the book, instead it is pretty much just a catalogue of mishaps and misadventures: the CEO accidentally copies all of his emails to the Helsinki office of Miller Shanks, the breast implants of a model explode on a flight to Mauritius for a shoot, and so on.

The unusual thing about this story is that it is told entirely by the emails sent between various workers in the company. Because of this I found it difficult at first to keep track of all the characters. However once you have got your head around who is who, this format works very well because you get to see the same events from the perspective of several different characters.

The other reason this book works so well is because it is so funny. The way in which it is written prevents the reader from becoming attached to the characters but since the jokes come thick and fast, the book never becomes boring.

The author has taken the opportunity presented by the format of the book to expose the backstabbing that goes on within the ad agency and this makes the book even more interesting. The novel exploits the fact that most people will be able to recognise the people they work with as characters in this book although the characters here are more exaggerated which adds to the humour.

Although this book does not have an especially inventive or captivating story, its characters more than make up for this and the chance to observe their actions without knowing what they are thinking makes a refreshing change. This is an extremely humourous and enjoyable novel and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read something different but which covers familiar ground.

A sequel to this book, entitled 'e squared' was published earlier this year. I have not yet read this but hope to get my hands on it soon as it seems to have had some good reviews. There was also an earlier and shorter sequel published in 2000 called 'The e before Christmas'.

Summary: If you are looking for something humourous and different, this may be it