“Help Wanted” by Adelle Waldman

theSkimm

We’ve all seen the aisles upon aisles of inventory at a big-box store. But we don’t tend to think much about how it got there. This sophomore novel from the author of “The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.” clears that up. It focuses on the team called Movement (at a fictional store, “Town Square”) whose job it is to unload the truck in the warehouse at 4 am. When their hated boss, Meredith, is put up for a promotion, the people of Movement realize that her exit would open up a management spot for one of them — and conspire to get Meredith hired. It’s a fascinating, funny, supremely readable workplace novel that just happens to be set at a workplace that’s largely invisible to the outside world. We asked Waldman a few questions. Here’s what she had to say…

Q: “Help Wanted” originated from your own experience working at a big-box store — something you had once written down on a list of potential projects. Why was that?

Waldman: I sought out a job at a big-box store in the hope that it would inspire a novel, but without knowing for sure whether it would. I had worked a low-wage job before. I was a bagger at a grocery store, a cashier at Starbucks, and a waitress, among various other jobs. But I did those jobs after school or [while home from] college. And being young and self-involved, I mostly hung out with the other people who were, like me, on the job temporarily, as a waystation on the road to somewhere else. This was different because I went into the job wanting to be there, curious about the place and how it worked. [It didn’t take long to] realize there was a novel there. A closed big-box store in the middle of the night, with a skeleton crew of workers unloading boxes, turns out to be a very rich environment.

Q: If you had to work in a fictional workplace for six months, which would you choose and why?

Waldman: I would love to work at the bar from the sit-com “Cheers.” This probably dates me — I’m a Gen Xer. But for those who haven’t seen it, it’s a great show. And if I worked at that bar, Ted Danson would be my boss. Plus, the conversations with the regulars would be really fun.

Q: What’s the last book that kept you up way too late?

Waldman: “Big Swiss” by Jen Beagin. It’s so smart and funny and original that I just never wanted to stop reading, even when I was so tired I had to struggle to keep my eyes open.