21 Dog Years - book review
Friday, November 17th, 2006A very apt book to kick off the tigmoo bookclub, this is at once a very illuminating peek into the world of working for a dotcom, and a hilarious satire. Stand-up comedian and story-teller Mike Daisey spent three years (21 dog years) working at Amazon in the US during the early days, and wrote up his experiences.
The memoir well captures the enthusiasm, bordering on obsession, of the headquarters staff - even those like Mike exiled to Customer Services. It must have been a rollercoaster ride - big projects, massive staff parties and a social life totally revolving around the firm, dogs in the office and mass idolisation of CEO “Jeff”, and his brave new vision for the retail industry. Only towards the end of Mike’s time there, when the organisation grows far too large to feel like a family (or treat each other like one), and staff are becoming burned out from keeping up with the company’s long hours culture, does the shine start to come off the party.
It also explains partly why Amazon management chose to portray the GPMU’s organising attempt at their UK branch as a roar of the dinosaurs - something totally irrelevant to the shiny new future of fully-engaged working - miles away from a sense of alienation with your work and company.
Mike is a fantastic performer and if you get the chance to see one of his shows (I think I managed to see his only ever performance this side of the pond though!) you should jump at it.
Buy “21 Dog Years” now at Amazon.co.uk here.
(Buying from Amazon? WTF? No, I’ve not lost my marbles, click here to find out more about the tigmoo bookclub).
