| May ’09 |
| 27 |
| 7:00 pm |
Dear Sirs or Madams . . . “I wrote a series of letters, many of which appear in the book, and sent them to real companies. I really sent them, and I never got one response, until one day the police came to my door. They’d been called by the HR department of a company that received one of the letters.”
Joey Comeau’s startling new novel Overqualified (ECW Press), is told through job application cover letters. But these letters have very little to do with finding work. Joey’s anger and hopes and fears become the focus — he tells jokes when he should be outlining his relevant job experience; he tells stories about his childhood when he should be talking about his education. Over the course of this series of letters, a narrative emerges. The reader comes to know Joey through confessions of family secrets and embarrassing sexual experiences. And there’s been a terrible car accident involving Joey’s younger brother. Overqualified is a funny, unhinged, and angry book — but it’s hopeful, too.
Joey Comeau writes the comic A Softer World, which appeared recently in The Guardian has been profiled in Rolling Stone, and which Publishers Weekly called, “subtle and dramatic.” He is the author of a previous novel, Lockpick Pornography, and a collection of short stories, It’s Too Late to Say I’m Sorry.
