There seems to be no shortage of business at the Tank, a high-profile
firm in Copenhagen. There are meetings to attend, memos to write,
colleagues to undermine. But when the Tank's nefarious CEO announces a
round of downsizing, everyone becomes exponentially more concerned about
... whatever it is they're doing. Not since Joshua Ferris's Then We Came to the End has there been such a savvy satire of contemporary work culture, and the distorting effects it can have on our lives.
these imperiled company men and women out into the autumn days and
nights of Copenhagen, Thomas E. Kennedy traces the ripple effects of the
news at the Tank as it impacts spouses, children, and lovers. Top
executive Frederick Breathwaite is frantically trying to ensure a stable
future for his son, while the boy's greatest fear is that his future
might resemble his father's absurd present. Harald Jaeger is estranged
from his wife and daughters but pursuing desperate passions for other
women (including the Tank's married CFO). And while he's lost in amorous
fantasies, he has managed to catch the CEO's eye-as a possible
replacement for Breathwaite.
Sharp, funny, but remarkably tender, Falling Sideways is the
second book in Kennedy's virtuoso Copenhagen Quartet, and a book that
will continue to build his reputation as one of America's most versatile
literary novelists.
