244th out of 422 books
—
499 voters
e Squared
Hijinks galore among the deliriously funny ad men and women in this electronic epistolary novel
e's wickedly hilarious crew from the Miller Shanks Ad Agency is back with more office shenanigans. The staff has moved on to Meerkat360, a sleek and self-consciously hip boutique agency, where they are joined by a fresh cast of industrial-strength nutjobs. Through e-mails, text...more
e's wickedly hilarious crew from the Miller Shanks Ad Agency is back with more office shenanigans. The staff has moved on to Meerkat360, a sleek and self-consciously hip boutique agency, where they are joined by a fresh cast of industrial-strength nutjobs. Through e-mails, text...more
Paperback, 512 pages
Published
January 26th 2010
by Plume
(first published January 26th 2009)
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I read e, the previous book, quite some years ago and rather enjoyed it so when I happened across this when the local Borders was closing down the other year, I bought it without hesitation. It's not a direct sequel in that it's set in a completely different agency but it does carry on the story of some of the characters from the first book. I don't think it's necessary to have read that one before this; there are mentions of a previous agency but no real details are given and there's only reall...more
So about a year ago this book came out and I thought it looked super awesome. But I didn't read it, instead I read the first one. I'd like to say cause this was hard cover and I was waiting but it looks like this wasn't ever in hardcover here, maybe it was and I'm not looking hard enough.
Now to recap according to my first review I read E in one shot walking along the hudson river, must have been a long walk, but it sounds like something I would have done so it's probably true. This book I read...more
Now to recap according to my first review I read E in one shot walking along the hudson river, must have been a long walk, but it sounds like something I would have done so it's probably true. This book I read...more
I first tried reading e Squared last year, but didn’t find it particularly amusing, and so gave up. But, this year, I decided to give it another go; I’m glad I did, because this time, I found the novel hilarious.
e Squared is a follow-up to Matt Beaumont’s debut novel e, and its short sequel The e Before Christmas (both published 2000). It concerns a London advertising agency (sorry, I mean “thought collective”) called Meerkat360, and is told entirely through emails, instant-message and SMS conve...more
e Squared is a follow-up to Matt Beaumont’s debut novel e, and its short sequel The e Before Christmas (both published 2000). It concerns a London advertising agency (sorry, I mean “thought collective”) called Meerkat360, and is told entirely through emails, instant-message and SMS conve...more
E2 is a loose sequel to E - we pick up with some of the characters about eight years after the events of E. These characters include David Crutton (MD Extraordinaire), Liam O'Keefe (Advertising Wide Boy) and Susi Judge-Davis (Moronic and Overly-sensitive PA - who is now triple barrelled and sort of related to JP Gaultier). In this book, as well as emails, Beaumont has added in blogs, ebay entries, and text messages to show the communication between each of the characters.
The basic story (beneath...more
The basic story (beneath...more
I bought this book incidentally on the Innsbruck airport because I liked the cover. Though the flight only took an hour I was on page 100 when I left the plane in Berlin. Took only some hours more until I finished it. Very entertaining and very hard to put down.
The book mostly consists of e-mails, sms’ and private messages so you have to reconstruct the stories behind all these messages. Confusing in the beginning but it doesn’t take too long to recognize the voices and their individuality. The...more
The book mostly consists of e-mails, sms’ and private messages so you have to reconstruct the stories behind all these messages. Confusing in the beginning but it doesn’t take too long to recognize the voices and their individuality. The...more
Let me see if I can sum up how much I enjoyed this book. I parked my car on the same block as my apartment at about 10:15 PM or so. I picked up my copy of e2 and thought I'd go through a couple more pages. I actually got into my apartment at 12:30 AM, having burned through the last 240+ pages without stopping.
Did I mention that I didn't have the heat in the car on? And that here in Boston it's a nice, mellow 27 degrees right now? Didn't care. Didn't even feel it. Everytime I thought "It's gettin...more
Did I mention that I didn't have the heat in the car on? And that here in Boston it's a nice, mellow 27 degrees right now? Didn't care. Didn't even feel it. Everytime I thought "It's gettin...more
**I received this book from Amazon Vine**
This is a follow-up book to E: A Novel, which I have not read. I did feel like I lost out on some of the jokes because I did not read the first book. I would recommend reading e first to understand all of the characters and the interactions between them.
The book revolves around meerkat360, an ad agency in London. It is a compilation of all electronic communications with no other commentary. It includes emails mostly, but also texting, IMing, and voicemail...more
This is a follow-up book to E: A Novel, which I have not read. I did feel like I lost out on some of the jokes because I did not read the first book. I would recommend reading e first to understand all of the characters and the interactions between them.
The book revolves around meerkat360, an ad agency in London. It is a compilation of all electronic communications with no other commentary. It includes emails mostly, but also texting, IMing, and voicemail...more
Nov 16, 2009
Leah
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-read-2009,
for-review
e² is the sequel to Matt Beaumont’s first novel e. which was hugely successful but which I haven’t read. It’s told entirely in the format of emails, text messages, instant messages and blog posts and answers some of lifes important questions: Can threatening to jump out of a window really make you a YouTube star and lead to an appearance on BB? Can you really sell off office furniture to pay off your debts? And, the most important of all, how on Earth do you type the accents above letters?
e² is...more
e² is...more
I thought this was a funny and unique look at the loves and lives of the crazy workers at a fictitious Ad Agency, it didn't make me laugh out loud, but I did chuckle a couple of times. I haven't read the first book 'E' so I didn't know any of the characters and it took me quite a while to really get involved in their story as there were so many characters; but once I did I don't think it mattered that I hadn't read the first book.
I really liked the way the workers daily lives are told through te...more
I really liked the way the workers daily lives are told through te...more
Sophomore slumps are hard to overcome, because the sequel always has to have more characters than the original, more action than the original, more comedy than the original, more drama than the original... more, more, more! e^2 attempts to conquer this problem 2 ways: 1) by expanding on the email format of the original to now include IMs, text msgs, blogs, and news websites; and 2) not restricting itself to just the professional lives of the characters, but their personal lives as well. It mostl...more
This is the sequel to 'e' and 'The e Before Christmas' which were two novels based in an advertising agency. The story in both of these novels was told entirely through office emails and I thought they were both good fun.
In this book, Beaumont has moved some of the central characters on to a new advertising agency 'Meercat360' that describes itself as a 'Thought Collective' and has an ultra-modern and eccentric approach. Beaumont also begins to introduce more characters - the family of David Cru...more
In this book, Beaumont has moved some of the central characters on to a new advertising agency 'Meercat360' that describes itself as a 'Thought Collective' and has an ultra-modern and eccentric approach. Beaumont also begins to introduce more characters - the family of David Cru...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Going in to "E Squared," I had no idea it was a sequel to an earlier novel.
Thankfully, the novel is accessible enough that you don't have to have read the first book to enjoy this one, but I have a feeling a few of the jokes might have been funnier if I'd read the first one.
Told through the use of blogs, e-mails and other on-line communications, "E Squared" tells the story of Meerkat360, an advertising agency that is full of fascinating people and interesting personalities. Matt Beaumont is abl...more
Thankfully, the novel is accessible enough that you don't have to have read the first book to enjoy this one, but I have a feeling a few of the jokes might have been funnier if I'd read the first one.
Told through the use of blogs, e-mails and other on-line communications, "E Squared" tells the story of Meerkat360, an advertising agency that is full of fascinating people and interesting personalities. Matt Beaumont is abl...more
Bitching about the boss, trying to hook up with the office hottie, watercooler gossip, mad clients, madder colleagues and the maddest workplace of them all - E Squared pulls you into the surreal corporate soap opera of life at ad agency Meerkat360.
The entire novel is in the form of blogposts, chats, text messages and emails. Surprisingly, the novel format doesn't hurt the reader at all and within minutes you are drawn into the lives of the Meerkat360 staff (and some others). Anyone who has ever...more
The entire novel is in the form of blogposts, chats, text messages and emails. Surprisingly, the novel format doesn't hurt the reader at all and within minutes you are drawn into the lives of the Meerkat360 staff (and some others). Anyone who has ever...more
Man, I just treated myself to reading a few pages before sleep and it ended! Where will I get my laughs and inspiration to write better emails now?
Seriously though, book is amazing - witty, funny, smart and just addictive to read. It's composed in epistolary genre of new generation - collection of emails, IMs, texts and blog posts (I guess twitter and facebook haven't really take off back then yet), and it turns out it's more than enough to have distinctive characters, descrive all possible even...more
Seriously though, book is amazing - witty, funny, smart and just addictive to read. It's composed in epistolary genre of new generation - collection of emails, IMs, texts and blog posts (I guess twitter and facebook haven't really take off back then yet), and it turns out it's more than enough to have distinctive characters, descrive all possible even...more
I love books about ad agencies, since I, y'know, work in one. And I thought the original "e" was excellent. It was witty, it was a clever premise. Most of all, it managed to use the new medium of email to really drive characters and plot. I was ecstatic to hear about a sequel. many of our old pals from Miller Shanks are here, only now...they're at an ad agency that makes Crispin, Porter + Bogusky look positively staid & boring. And now, it's not just email, but texts, IM's and YouTube upload...more
Having skewered advertising and film in his earlier books, Beaumont now turns his attention to irritatingly trendy creative startups and expands the 'told through email' to include texts, tweets, blogs and so on. Some of our favorite characters from 'e' make an appearance (yay!) and again there's a genuine story to keep things moving along (not a given in a comedy). Everything builds to a suitably apocalyptic conclusion and once again the format doesn't feel like it's forced: Beaumont's genius i...more
Interesting format for a novel - all emails, IMs, blog posts. I've been casting about, trying to find novels that tell stories in novel ways. With the online format, that's what this novel does. The story is immediate and makes it feel as though you are reading personal correspondence. It took me a while to keep track of all the characters - some were definitely easier to follow than others - but the book reads fairly fast. There's a lot of white space due to the formatting, so the 400+ pages fl...more
A very entertaining modern day episotlary novel, using e-mails, IMs, and blog posts/comments. It's a comedy, and it doesn't seem to have much to say other than office life is ridiculous and should be laughed at. And laugh I did. But before you pick up a copy, ask yourself about your tolerance for jokes you don't get. Between the book being a sequel, and the British pop culture references, there were a few things in here I just had to let pass. That doesn't bother me (there's a lot that escapes m...more
Oh man, was this a riot! I loved e so very much and wasn't sure the sequel would come close to the brilliance of that first novel, but I am so glad to be proven wrong. e2 is just as brilliant and funny and I was so into the story that I had to read it in one sitting.
Set all in email and text, e2 is the hilarious story of goings-on at Meerkat360, a London advertising company. Some of the characters from the first novel are back in action and there are plenty of new, even crazier, people. I can't...more
Set all in email and text, e2 is the hilarious story of goings-on at Meerkat360, a London advertising company. Some of the characters from the first novel are back in action and there are plenty of new, even crazier, people. I can't...more
Oh oh oh, I have just finished reading this book and i want to read it again. The book has some great characters from the last book. must warn you though that you shouldn't read this while drinking in an public area because you are bound to spill your drink on someone because you were laughing so much.
I love this book so much, I love the way people email each other about everything - and the receptionist is so funny. and Harvey Harvey and the Nigerian Heiress, hahaha. Please read this book, I p...more
I love this book so much, I love the way people email each other about everything - and the receptionist is so funny. and Harvey Harvey and the Nigerian Heiress, hahaha. Please read this book, I p...more
Really enjoed this book. Talk about an environment that has no concept of the politically correct!!! Hilarious!
Would have given it 5-stars except for one thing- a couple of the characters were based in Dubai and the Author showed a typically Western lack of respect and understanding for Islam and Arab culture, which kind of detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
Then again, the book is all about a TOTAL lack of P.C., what could have I expected!
Did I mention that I read it in a day? It's THAT go...more
Would have given it 5-stars except for one thing- a couple of the characters were based in Dubai and the Author showed a typically Western lack of respect and understanding for Islam and Arab culture, which kind of detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
Then again, the book is all about a TOTAL lack of P.C., what could have I expected!
Did I mention that I read it in a day? It's THAT go...more
I very much enjoyed e. and the e. before christmas but this one nearly but didn't quite engage. Decided not to spend any more time with it. Given that this is the second Matt Beaumont book I've given up on I won't be trying any more
The remnants of the crew from Miller Shanks London are back with Meerkat360, a new cutting edge ad agency.
The humor is just as cutting as the two previous books, but there is a darker edge, with Liam's gambling addiction and his attempts to get Lorraine back.
But, Beaumont also successfully integrates different technologies such as IM and SMS to help shape the narrative.
I also enjoyed how he skewers the new generation of corporate mumbo jumbo.
Great success.
The humor is just as cutting as the two previous books, but there is a darker edge, with Liam's gambling addiction and his attempts to get Lorraine back.
But, Beaumont also successfully integrates different technologies such as IM and SMS to help shape the narrative.
I also enjoyed how he skewers the new generation of corporate mumbo jumbo.
Great success.
I loved e and the sequel does not disappoint. Yes it's silly, and a bit absurd, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. The characters are instantly recognisable, there's even an element of pathos introduced into Liam's chracter, who in e was just another vacuous wideboy who was riding the wave of the boom. Loved, loved, loved the return of Simon Horne, the funniest character ever. His star's sudden (and ironic) ascent was a stroke of genius.
The first one was ground-breaking, I'd never read anything like it. I enjoyed the follow-up a lot, though with the addition of txt msgs, and blog entries and IMs I had a tricky time keeping all the characters straight (since they all have screennames, etc in addition to their regular names). The author tries to make it easy but I suppose I'm a little slow on this!
The ending felt a little forced, but overall it was funny and light and made for very nice "commute" reading.
The ending felt a little forced, but overall it was funny and light and made for very nice "commute" reading.
What a laugh. In the world of advertising you follow the e-mails being sent between co workers. The ad agency is trying to land a new Coke campaign while trying to manage a few others that are drawing to a close. The characters can probably be found in every large office setup, maybe not to the extremes of this lot, but they are all there, from the idiots in management to the party animals that do the work and the cleaning staff that use the equipment after hours.
If you want some light hearted e...more
If you want some light hearted e...more
e. & e squared (which was supposed to be e2 but it took on a life of its own due to the 2 being little) are the funniest 2 books I have ever read, by far. I have read e. over a bunch of times, but the 2nd one is a monster so not got around to re reading that. And its nothing to do with drugs. e. stands for 'email'. Give them a read!!!!
I forgot how much I truly enjoyed e and e: a Christmas story. This one definately brought it all back. I'd forgotten how much of a bastard DC was and how screwed up his family life was. I completed this in one sitting to the shock of my fiancée. Taking sneak peeks into people's emails always gives me kind of a cheap thrill :)
Yet another scathing send-up of the British advertising world. Following the epistolary format of its predecessors, "e" and "The e Before Christmas," "e Squared" delivers similar characters and similar humor, but this novel shows pretty clearly that the joke is wearing thin. Attempts to add a few serious elements along with the drug-addled sex jokes don't work terribly well. Nevertheless, the novel does have its bright spots, the most notable involving clueless ersatz Francophone Simon Horne, wh...more
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updated Feb 24, 2011 03:23am