Matt Beaumont - e and e2

02 Sep 2013

I was given these books as a recommendation by my brother-in-law. Sometimes this can be a curse because tastes differ and someone’s idea of humour may not match your own. Nevertheless I though I’d give them a fair crack.

E (ISBN 0-00-710068-X)

The novel of liars, lunch and lost knickers.

Consisting entirely of e-mails, E spends a few weeks in the company of Miller Shanks, an advertising agency embarking upon the quest to land Coca-Cola, the account they would sell their collective grandmothers in a car boot sale to acquire. This is one pitch that nobody will ever forget …

I was a bit sceptical at first but once I got into this book I couldn’t put it down. It doesn’t sound that interesting but the way it’s structured and the dialogue between the characters is brilliant and so true to life. At 342 pages it’s quite long but I had finished it in no time which is a good sign that I enjoyed it. No office stereotype was spared in the making of this book.

E2 (ISBN 978-0-552-77565-6)

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the office

Told entirely via emails, texts, webchats and blogs, the long-awaited follow up to E is a savagely funny insight into the heats, minds and inboxes of the world’s most engagingly dysfunctional ad agency

I feel this sequel was a bit too ambitious. Set in another ad agency, Meerkat360, some of the familiar faces from the first book were carried forward. But for me the story meandered from the logical path followed by the first book and in the end descended into farce. Despite this it was good read and at 509 pages even longer than the first book.