Bookmonger: The 21st century landscape of American business

“The Business” by Stephanie Lenox

“American Spin” by Patricia Vaccarino

Those of us who began our working lives in the last century have seen manifold and often perplexing changes in the workplace. Two new books by Northwest writers describe and guide us through the 21st century landscape of American business.

First, there’s a poetry collection called “The Business,” which features the incisive and sometimes wickedly funny work of Oregon poet Stephanie Lenox.

Now a creative writing teacher at Willamette University, Lenox once worked as a secretary, and credits a co-worker for sneaking into her cubicle one day and whispering, “You should write about this.”

Indeed, when it comes to capturing what it’s like to live in the age of the cubicle, these poems deliver in full. Everyone who has ever had turf wars concerning the office refrigerator or angst over the copy machine’s mysterious workings or doubts over the worth of their work will find exquisite articulation of their anxieties in these poems.

For epigraphs, Lenox uses notes taped to the office equipment by irate co-workers: “Your mother doesn’t work here” at the office sink, “Ice cubes don’t make themselves” on the office fridge, and so on. These set the tone for poems that are at once snarky and soul-searching.

Lenox considers office machines, roller chairs, and the petty theft of office supplies. She captures the thump and thud of the stapler, the guffaw of the hated co-worker, and the accountant’s perfume.

The collection includes a variety of poetic forms, but the poem titled “Teamwork” is the pièce de résistance. This is a list poem, and it starts out with some of the group-motivating exhortations you might hear in any business: “Let’s make this the best day ever.” “Let’s really make it shine.” “Let’s make it a team effort.” But then the list gets more admonitory: “Let’s not see that happen again.” “Let’s not clutter our desks with too many picture frames.”

And as the lines become even darker and more surreal throughout this six-page poem, you’ll suspect that they’ve all really been said at some point. Any of you who have toiled in the workplace could probably supply some doozies of your own.

Isn’t it a joy to learn you’ve been living such a poetic life?

Many folks dream of busting out of that kind of drone-like work environment and going into business for themselves. But that, too, has its own challenges, some of which are enumerated in Patricia Vaccarino’s new book, “American Spin.”

A Seattle-based public relations professional, Vaccarino believes that the deck is stacked against the small business entrepreneur, and she wants to help demystify the process.

At a brisk clip, this opinionated spin doctor reveals how well-moneyed companies have shaped how you think about not only products and companies, but also issues and people. She lets you in on the latest best practices (and some of the down-and-dirty tactics) of P.R. so you can employ them yourself.

“American Spin” could have been passed by the copyeditor one more time, but it is a lively read.

This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Bookmonger: The 21st century landscape of American business."