The first point to make is that ‘Fired!’ is an American book produced for the American market, so the vast majority of the ‘celebrity’ contributors will probably be unfamiliar to an international audience (come to that, I’m not sure how familiar they are to an American audience either). Now, this doesn’t matter too much if the stories are entertaining enough; but, besides that, some of the references were inevitably lost on this British reviewer, making it harder to engage with the book. Here’s an example from Andy Borowitz: ‘I’m sure everyone remembers the cultural phenomenon that was ‘The Facts of Life‘.’ Nope, sorry, not me. (To be fair, Borowitz does explain the idea behind this sitcom – which, I later discovered, was never broadcast on terrestrial television in the UK.) Of course, this is not a criticism; it’s just one of those things.

But there are other aspects of ‘Fired!’ that make it harder to enjoy; and that I think are legitimate criticisms. Most of the contributors are actors, writers and comedians, which removes entire spheres of employment from the book’s coverage, and leads to a feeling of repetition: towards the end, my heart sank upon realising here was yet another anecdote about a struggling stand-up comic (there may be far fewer such anecdotes than I imagine, but this was the way it felt). Linked to this is a certain homogeneity of style: I couldn’t tell whether the essays are reproduced as they were written by the named contributors, or whether they were written by Gurwitch based on her interviews with people. And, when everyone is talking about the same subject, you really need a variety of voices. Maybe there’s something about working in showbiz that leads people to write in similar styles, I don’t know; but I do know that it was often quite hard to tell these stories apart.

Which is not to say that ‘Fired!’ doesn’t have its moments; some of its entries are highly amusing. Here are some of my personal highlights: Ian Gomez being told he was fired by his boss’s ten-year-old son. The astonishing lengths to which Elizabeth Warner goes to get out of jury duty. Lori Gottlieb’s account of the dot-com startup she once worked for, a company that ‘unhired’ people rather than firing them. Jack Merrill taking such an interest in the company he temped for that they thought he was a spy from the competition. Tim Allen being told he was too popular. Jessica van der Valk putting on a British accent to get a job in films (it worked; your reviewer wonders how broad Yorkshire would fare: ‘ey up lad/lass, asta gorra job goin?’). Tate Donovan losing his part in a movie, only to find it was being filmed outside his apartment building. Unfortunately, though, I found most of the anecdotes… a bit ho-hum. I was also left unsure just what this book wanted to be. The essays are arranged into several chapters according to ‘categories’ of firing, but these seem quite arbitrary – some could fit happily in multiple categories, and a number would seem more appropriate in a different one. This doesn’t really build up a portrait of ‘being fired’ in the way I think Gurwitch intended.

I get the feeling ‘Fired!’ would like to make a wider point about the world of work – for example, some of the ‘fired facts’ sprinkled between anecdotes have more to do with being in work than being fired from it – but, if my feeling is correct, that side of the book isn’t developed enough; if my feeling’s wrong, then those aspects just dilute the book’s focus.

And some contributors observe things about being fired, mostly along the lines of it brings new possibilities; but there are balancing observations that it’s no fun. All true enough, but hardly revelatory. ‘Fired!’ doesn’t really succeed in saying much about the experience, the phenomenon of being fired – if, indeed, it wants to say anything at all.

Maybe the book just intends to be funny; and it achieves this only patchily. In summary: yeah, it’s kinda fun in places, but it doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression. And when you’ve finished, there’s always another book to read, which might just be one you’ll be talking about for years. But I doubt ‘Fired!’ will be that sort of book.

David Hebblethwaite lives out in the wilds of Yorkshire, where he attempts to make a dent in his collection of unread books. You can read more of David's reviews at his review blog.

© 2007 Laura Hird All rights reserved.