The Joy of Work

Dilbert devotees should enjoy Adams's compendium of advice on office life, subterfuge and pranks. Take his grid that identifies boss types along the axes of capable/incompetent and harmless/evil: with a boss who is both capable and harmless, be sure to delegate upward. Other handy tips: don't return phone calls (if you do, you'll seem accessible and underworked); present overly complicated diagrams with made-up letters (explain when asked: ""Some ideas are too big for the alphabet""). Loyal readers have contributed some Adams's suggested office pranks, as well as choice bits like the coinage of the term ""multishirking,"" or doing two nonwork activities at once. Sure, some bits are too silly to be funny (start a phone-sex biz from your cubicle?), and others could use some Dave Barry-style zing. But this book shines with Adams's real advice on creating humor and his hilarious tale of appearing as an expert consultant (aka Mebert) who convinced his clients to put their mission statement to music. As usual, this fourth Dilbert book--timed to arrive with the UPN animated series this fall--is punctuated throughout by hilarious and apropos Dilbert strips. Author tour. (Oct.)