Help Wanted takes place in a large chain "big-box" store in upstate New York, and shifts focus between the employees of its "Movement" (aka Logistics) team as they race to complete their repetitive tasks in the early hours of the morning, snark about their awful middle-manager Meredith, and eventually plot to attempt to have her replaced.

The novel is a realistic depiction of the sad state of the world of late capitalist employment, with the rank and file team members employed on an hourly basis, with their bosses strategically ensuring they work just few enough hours to miss out on key benefits, and leaving many needing to work a second job to survive. In this sense, it's a timely book in that it shines a light on the reality of life for huge numbers of normal people across the world in 2024. It manages to squeeze in a few pointed remarks that highlight (the unnamed) Amazon's role in driving down workers' rights at other employers like this one, which again is accurate and worthy of attention from fiction.

Unfortunately, beyond this overall nobility of purpose, I didn't get much else from this one. Its characters were believable, but thinly drawn and hard to care about (over and above the basic grimness of their situation). The writing felt laboured and overly expository, with an excess of telling rather than showing, and far too much left to uninspiring dialogue. Its central plot amounted to little more than everyday office politics, familiar to almost everyone no doubt but lacking both fresh insight and humour.

It had its moments, and certain characters worked better than most, such as the genuinely awful boss Meredith, and the socially stunted but ultimately sympathetic geek Milo. But for me, the subject matter (worthy as it is) needed to be treated with more teeth - either sharper humour or more vicious critique. As it is, the book presents the workers' status quo as sad and inevitable, but lacks any meaningful insight as to what might be done to break the cycle.

(4/10)

I enjoyed Waldman's writing style and the almost anti-found family vibes this book portrayed. Rather than all the employees pulling together, it felt like they were very much looking out for themselves. I thought Waldman did a great job of portraying a diverse range of characters, and appreciated how each chapter brought a different perspective, but overall the plot felt too slow/sparse to hold my interest, and I was always waiting for something else to happen.

"Help Wanted" by Adelle Waldman is both a book where very little happens yet so much happens too. The plot is seemingly simple: a vacancy opens up in a department store and 2 people are interviewed for the position. However, it is much more than this, it is about the employees who work at the department store, who can barely afford to work there but equally barely afford not to work there. Waldman paints a depressing picture of capitalist society in the online retail store and zero hours contract era. Yet there is hope, if a vacancy opens up then this leads to other opportunities for others to move up. Just like life!

A wise and kind-hearted study of human folly and the interplay of power and emotions in a retail workplace—and also a quietly searing indictment of late stage capitalism. I loved the characters and the writing was so well observed and precise. Another brilliant book by Adelle Waldman!

Any fans of the sitcom "Superstore" will love this book, I certainly did! It follows the various people who work at Movement at "Town Square" a fictional big box store. When the manager of the store is getting promoted, a lot of internal politics start happening to see who will be the one getting up in the ladder for a life changing move up in life!

Taking aim at the ubiquitous online store which has made itself indispensable to so many consumers while never naming it, Help Wanted is set in the logistics section of a branch of Town Square, a department store, in a small New York town which has seen better days. Big Will, the store’s popular manager, has done the best he can in Pottersdown but is both thrilled and relieved when he’s promoted to run another branch. The staff are all agog, not least Meredith, the loathed manager of Movement, who is convinced Big Will’s job is her’s for the asking. Movement’s in turmoil at the prospect of Meredith’s promotion, horrified at the idea of her running the store but when Val hears that senior management plan to wrap up the appointment speedily, asking the logistics staff what they think of Meredith’s management style, she hits on a risky solution.
Adelle Waldman’s empathetic novel engages our sympathy for the hard-pressed Movement staff on minimum wage with no benefits or medical insurance, exploring the consequences of twenty-first century consumerism and its appetite for ever cheaper goods in an entertaining and engaging way while smartly bringing its readers up short now and again.

I found it a bit slow to begin with, and it took me a while to get to know the characters, but it was lovely and original. It reminded me of the TV show "Superstore", and I found it touching and funny at the same time.

A good book but not for me. I also think there is a time and place for this book and I just didn't read it at the right time.

I’ve been waiting years for Adelle Waldman’s follow-up to The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P, and this did not disappoint. While it’s quite different in structure and theme, the writing style is so distinct and familiar and I was so happy to have it back in my life. Each character is so well drawn and specific that I was never disappointed in a perspective switch, which I think that be a risk in a multi-POV novel like this. It’s funny but never mean, and I never felt like it was anything but empathetic toward its characters, even if they made poor choices or behaved badly. Highly recommended for any fellow fans of Waldman or the TV show Superstore!

Well written, a great ensemble of characters. The employees of a warehouse struggle and deal with corporate politics while attempting to replace a manager. It reveals the appalling labour practices in the US and the fail of capitalism and consumerism. A must read.

***advance review copy received from NetGalley in return for an honest review***
I really enjoyed this book. It reads almost like a Fredrik Backman novel, which is no bad thing at all - well developed and well rounded characters whose lives and interests cross and influence each other.
There’s a lot covered in this very deftly; which just goes to show that a skilful author can create a very real character without going into pages and pages of detail.
A definite recommend that I’ll be thinking about for a while.