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The Organization is Here to Support You
Welcome to the Organization.
Employees of the organization contribute to its mission to apply non-traditional methods to the non-traditional problems of today.
To ensure that all employees have the same opportunity to thrive, the organization's state-of-the-art live and work facility has all the comforts of home, plus technology that maximizes their opportunities for collaboration.
Without the organization, Clarissa Knowles would have nowhere else to go. That is, unless she can make it to Dick's house, the professor she's been talking to online. Haunted by her failed relationship with Maurice (the existentialist), and the deaths of her parents, can Clarissa shake off the values of the organization, pack up her cat - and go?
The Organization is Here to Support You is an existential bureaucratic horror satire in the tradition of Franz Kafka, J.G. Ballard, and Sayaka Murata.
Employees of the organization contribute to its mission to apply non-traditional methods to the non-traditional problems of today.
To ensure that all employees have the same opportunity to thrive, the organization's state-of-the-art live and work facility has all the comforts of home, plus technology that maximizes their opportunities for collaboration.
Without the organization, Clarissa Knowles would have nowhere else to go. That is, unless she can make it to Dick's house, the professor she's been talking to online. Haunted by her failed relationship with Maurice (the existentialist), and the deaths of her parents, can Clarissa shake off the values of the organization, pack up her cat - and go?
The Organization is Here to Support You is an existential bureaucratic horror satire in the tradition of Franz Kafka, J.G. Ballard, and Sayaka Murata.
156 pages, Paperback
Published March 15, 2025
5 people are currently reading
284 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
July 13, 2025
Very rarely does a book appear from nowhere that is tagged as existential bureaucratic horror satire, and then goes on to describe basically your everyday office reality. It's official then, my life is a horror story, and thank you, Charlene Elsby, for reminding me.
This eye opening novella revolves around Clarissa Knowles, an employee of the "organization" and her everyday life in a live and work facility. Slowly weird occurrences start creeping into her very regulated life; she receives a suggestive mail from one of her business contacts, she is dragged into the weird and unfair competition for a higher paid role in which she has no interest, reprimanding office talks...
The Organization is Here to Support You is an amusing, quite captivating little story with an ending you will never ever see coming. You just have to love everything Elsby writes.
This eye opening novella revolves around Clarissa Knowles, an employee of the "organization" and her everyday life in a live and work facility. Slowly weird occurrences start creeping into her very regulated life; she receives a suggestive mail from one of her business contacts, she is dragged into the weird and unfair competition for a higher paid role in which she has no interest, reprimanding office talks...
The Organization is Here to Support You is an amusing, quite captivating little story with an ending you will never ever see coming. You just have to love everything Elsby writes.
July 17, 2025
To Be Clarified
A review of the Weirdpunk Books eBook (March 15, 2025) released simultaneously with the paperback.
This was quite a vicious satire of corporate bureaucracy run amok and creating a dystopian world. It all starts rather mildly with 07 operative Clarissa Knowles working in her combined home/work apartment that she shares with her cat Dorian (that name hints at a possible Oscar Wilde ie. The Picture of Dorian Gray tie-in, but it doesn't go there).
Things start to go downhill as Knowles is assigned increasingly sub-par tasks while interacting with her apparently clueless supervisors and one 02 low level ambitious employee. Her one friend begins to turn from her while applying for an upgrade to an 08 position. As Knowles becomes isolated she turns to reckless video/sexting behaviour (modesty prevents me from discussing further details) and billing it as overtime.
Eventually Knowles is cornered into a situation where she feels that she has to make a break. But has the organization been manipulating her to this path all along? The reveal will clarify it all.
My thanks to GR friend inciminci whose enthusiastic review led me to this author and this book. Thank you Inci!
Trivia and Links
It isn't evident in author Charlene Elsby's GR bio or website that she is a Canadian 🍁author, but seeing the use of the word "twonie" for Canadian $2 dollar coins in this story was a giveaway.
At least one review, at Dead End Follies confirms the Canadian identity:
A review of the Weirdpunk Books eBook (March 15, 2025) released simultaneously with the paperback.
In the organization, the word “clarify” was used as a euphemism, whenever we had to correct a mistake, update something that was obsolete, or completely change our policies. Every change was labeled a clarification, and the façade that we never really altered anything in a meaningful way helped to assure everyone that the organization was a durable and resilient organization, founded on persisting principles, when in fact there were programs, policies, and people who had all been clarified out of existence.
This was quite a vicious satire of corporate bureaucracy run amok and creating a dystopian world. It all starts rather mildly with 07 operative Clarissa Knowles working in her combined home/work apartment that she shares with her cat Dorian (that name hints at a possible Oscar Wilde ie. The Picture of Dorian Gray tie-in, but it doesn't go there).
Things start to go downhill as Knowles is assigned increasingly sub-par tasks while interacting with her apparently clueless supervisors and one 02 low level ambitious employee. Her one friend begins to turn from her while applying for an upgrade to an 08 position. As Knowles becomes isolated she turns to reckless video/sexting behaviour (modesty prevents me from discussing further details) and billing it as overtime.
Eventually Knowles is cornered into a situation where she feels that she has to make a break. But has the organization been manipulating her to this path all along? The reveal will clarify it all.
My thanks to GR friend inciminci whose enthusiastic review led me to this author and this book. Thank you Inci!
Trivia and Links
It isn't evident in author Charlene Elsby's GR bio or website that she is a Canadian 🍁author, but seeing the use of the word "twonie" for Canadian $2 dollar coins in this story was a giveaway.
At least one review, at Dead End Follies confirms the Canadian identity:
Canadian author Charlene Elsby is one of a kind. She writes short, but aggressive first person novels that explore topics of identity, consciousness and whatever else happens to be on her mind.
June 23, 2025
"Because here, we are all excellent all year round, and we are all satisfactory when it comes time to measure that excellence."
This social critique of office work really works. Many of the depicted situations rang bells to me. It captures the essence of all the icky quirks you experience at work, if your job is similar to mine.
Well... Weirder 😅
The first part seemed so real that I wondered when the story would switch to the Kafkaesque part that GR friends of mine mentioned.
It came in lightly, smoothly taking presence through the story.
This is indeed what I expected when I bought this book.
The last part of the book was totally crazy and got weirder and weirder. Til the ending I didn't see coming at all ^^
This social critique of office work really works. Many of the depicted situations rang bells to me. It captures the essence of all the icky quirks you experience at work, if your job is similar to mine.
Well... Weirder 😅
The first part seemed so real that I wondered when the story would switch to the Kafkaesque part that GR friends of mine mentioned.
It came in lightly, smoothly taking presence through the story.
This is indeed what I expected when I bought this book.
The last part of the book was totally crazy and got weirder and weirder. Til the ending I didn't see coming at all ^^
March 15, 2025
Another belter
Review in Scream mag to come xx p.s buy it
Review in Scream mag to come xx p.s buy it
April 10, 2025
Weird Corporate Horror is my jam.
The Organization Is Here To Support You is a surreal, satirical takedown of corporate life, packed with bleak humor and existential dread.
Elsby captures the quiet horror of corporate minutiae, where mediocrity thrives, variety is nonexistent, and buzzwords replace genuine communication. The “organization” is an unfeeling machine, offering hollow gestures of support while thriving on adherence to policy.
This story is a quick, powerful read for anyone who’s ever smiled through the pain of a "9-5 job."
The Organization Is Here To Support You is a surreal, satirical takedown of corporate life, packed with bleak humor and existential dread.
Elsby captures the quiet horror of corporate minutiae, where mediocrity thrives, variety is nonexistent, and buzzwords replace genuine communication. The “organization” is an unfeeling machine, offering hollow gestures of support while thriving on adherence to policy.
This story is a quick, powerful read for anyone who’s ever smiled through the pain of a "9-5 job."
March 13, 2025
Charlene never disappoints to bring you into a surreal mindfuck world in whatever book she graces us with.
Set in a corporate workplace theme (Severance anyone?) we meet a FMC who struggles with a broken ex relationship, and a job she has basically groomed herself in enjoying. It deals with workplace anxiety, misogyny, and psychological horrors that actually hits close to home for many (me). My enjoyability of this book came from the relatability to the slew of mindfucks that appeared on the pages. No moment was dull.
Can’t say more without spoiling but just do yourself a favor and read it!!
The writing was great as always - never disappoints - can’t wait for the next one.
Set in a corporate workplace theme (Severance anyone?) we meet a FMC who struggles with a broken ex relationship, and a job she has basically groomed herself in enjoying. It deals with workplace anxiety, misogyny, and psychological horrors that actually hits close to home for many (me). My enjoyability of this book came from the relatability to the slew of mindfucks that appeared on the pages. No moment was dull.
Can’t say more without spoiling but just do yourself a favor and read it!!
The writing was great as always - never disappoints - can’t wait for the next one.
August 23, 2025
“As long as what you’re doing is a reaction to them, even a reaction against, they’ve got you.”
“It’s so strange how much of our lives resolve around the people around us staying alive. Given how squishy the human body is, how pro it is to glitches, it seems an unreasonable standard to expect everyone we know to stay alive all the time. That’s why, at the organization, we are all replaceable. There’s always some else who’s doing the same thing as we do, who knows all the same things, who could step in and perform our tasks the moment it’s confirmed we’re dead. To me, the thought was incredibly freeing. It’s so much pressure, trying to stay alive for everyone else’s sake. What if I didn’t want to? Now, thanks to the organization’s built in human resource redundancies, I could offer myself anytime I choose, without having to worry about how anyone would get on without me. What a luxury.”
“It’s so strange how much of our lives resolve around the people around us staying alive. Given how squishy the human body is, how pro it is to glitches, it seems an unreasonable standard to expect everyone we know to stay alive all the time. That’s why, at the organization, we are all replaceable. There’s always some else who’s doing the same thing as we do, who knows all the same things, who could step in and perform our tasks the moment it’s confirmed we’re dead. To me, the thought was incredibly freeing. It’s so much pressure, trying to stay alive for everyone else’s sake. What if I didn’t want to? Now, thanks to the organization’s built in human resource redundancies, I could offer myself anytime I choose, without having to worry about how anyone would get on without me. What a luxury.”
April 18, 2025
Charlene Elsby’s latest book reminds of Franz Kafka’s The Trial and Thomas Ligotti’s My Work is Not Yet Done with a dash of Severance. An absurd, dark, and cloying look at office life and how it consumes you.
This book is so well done and captures the woes of office culture perfectly. Office people are known as another “species” hinting at a hierarchy that treats people as other. A corporate caste system…
The way people can live rent-free in your head is accurately depicted here. People at work, the narrator’s ex Maurice, etc. take up a crazy amount of mental real estate. She’s never truly present at work and her daily tasks don’t seem to be that significant in the whole scheme of things either.
The Organization is Here to Support You is such a funny title because they don’t support anyone in any way. Quite the opposite. I didn’t think it was possible, but this has become my favorite Elsby book.
This book is so well done and captures the woes of office culture perfectly. Office people are known as another “species” hinting at a hierarchy that treats people as other. A corporate caste system…
The way people can live rent-free in your head is accurately depicted here. People at work, the narrator’s ex Maurice, etc. take up a crazy amount of mental real estate. She’s never truly present at work and her daily tasks don’t seem to be that significant in the whole scheme of things either.
The Organization is Here to Support You is such a funny title because they don’t support anyone in any way. Quite the opposite. I didn’t think it was possible, but this has become my favorite Elsby book.
February 26, 2025
The Organization Is Here to Support You feels like a fever dream of redundant monotony—intentionally so. The author masterfully captures and exaggerates the corporate world’s suffocating, politically correct facade, where performative support masks deep-seated dysfunction. The misogyny is painfully on point, especially in the way mediocre men keep failing upward, securing positions they have no business holding. It’s both absurd and all too real. Looking forward to reading what they put out next.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
March 25, 2025
“It was the framework that lead us ultimately to a singularity - the destruction of limits by the destruction of choice by the destruction of the agent - death.”
An eerie and humorous journey into the insidious nature of contemporary work force. Now that corporations have fully integrated themselves into every facet of our lives, does freedom and individuality actually exist? Has it ever? It’s cool to see an author do something completely different than their previous works, but still retain their signature style. A different kind of vulnerability.
An eerie and humorous journey into the insidious nature of contemporary work force. Now that corporations have fully integrated themselves into every facet of our lives, does freedom and individuality actually exist? Has it ever? It’s cool to see an author do something completely different than their previous works, but still retain their signature style. A different kind of vulnerability.
March 2, 2025
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
---
From:
The Organization, dept of Public Interaction & Media Out Reach
---
The Following Written Media Review has been deemed Satisfactory, and Cleared for Public Viewing.
This is in accordance with The Organization's PI Policy -[include link to Policy]. If you have would like to learn more about The Organization, please contact Public Interaction Consultant CHARLENE ELSBY. [link to consultant contact page]
At The Organization We Strive Support Research. If you or your Academic Institution would benefit from our Services, please contact us at [Insert Link].
Thank your interest,
[Insert Signature]
[Insert Dept Info]
The Organization
---
Fresh out of recently reading Charlene Elsby's excellent collection of short stories RED FLAGS I was very excited to get an opportunity to read her forthcoming novella The Organization is Here to Support You . If you have also read some of the author's previous writing, and think you have a notion of what you are jumping into...well you're going to be mistaken.
You see, I wasn't prepared to have sensory flashbacks. It's considered best practices for many authors of Horror to include Trigger Warnings, if you delve into some of the meaty regions Horror Lit, you know exactly what I am referring to. Elsby's book does not come with any such warnings attached.
So it was much to my surprise, when very early into reading this book, I felt familiar sensations of anxiety, tension, and something I can only say feels adjacent to claustrophobia. Readers who have at any point existed in the White Collar office Spaces, Retail Management, or Academia know exactly the cocktail of sensations I am referring to. It is that every day shot glass dose of the kind of bureaucratic Hellscape Kafka wrote about.
Once the flood of old feelings born of Capitalism induced Trauma wore off, I settled down to reading what I can only describe as a Crushingly Dark and Incredibly funny Satire of Large Scale Corporate Bureaucracy. The meetings, the wording of the emails, the extensive debates over complete nonsense, It felt so familiar, and completely ridiculous.
What makes Elsby's Book so funny, is also what makes it truly horrific. The Organization and its offices could be existing right now in any number of innocuous office buildings in cities around the globe. We the readers are led to read this as a Dystopian Near Future, scenario. Yet, again, all it takes is a moment to pause next to any benign monolithic professional building to have you thinking. Gazing at the frosted over privacy windows, the ground floor dark, windows papered over. Could "Office Workers" be looking back at you?
---
From:
The Organization, dept of Public Interaction & Media Out Reach
---
The Following Written Media Review has been deemed Satisfactory, and Cleared for Public Viewing.
This is in accordance with The Organization's PI Policy -[include link to Policy]. If you have would like to learn more about The Organization, please contact Public Interaction Consultant CHARLENE ELSBY. [link to consultant contact page]
At The Organization We Strive Support Research. If you or your Academic Institution would benefit from our Services, please contact us at [Insert Link].
Thank your interest,
[Insert Signature]
[Insert Dept Info]
The Organization
---
Fresh out of recently reading Charlene Elsby's excellent collection of short stories RED FLAGS I was very excited to get an opportunity to read her forthcoming novella The Organization is Here to Support You . If you have also read some of the author's previous writing, and think you have a notion of what you are jumping into...well you're going to be mistaken.
You see, I wasn't prepared to have sensory flashbacks. It's considered best practices for many authors of Horror to include Trigger Warnings, if you delve into some of the meaty regions Horror Lit, you know exactly what I am referring to. Elsby's book does not come with any such warnings attached.
So it was much to my surprise, when very early into reading this book, I felt familiar sensations of anxiety, tension, and something I can only say feels adjacent to claustrophobia. Readers who have at any point existed in the White Collar office Spaces, Retail Management, or Academia know exactly the cocktail of sensations I am referring to. It is that every day shot glass dose of the kind of bureaucratic Hellscape Kafka wrote about.
Once the flood of old feelings born of Capitalism induced Trauma wore off, I settled down to reading what I can only describe as a Crushingly Dark and Incredibly funny Satire of Large Scale Corporate Bureaucracy. The meetings, the wording of the emails, the extensive debates over complete nonsense, It felt so familiar, and completely ridiculous.
What makes Elsby's Book so funny, is also what makes it truly horrific. The Organization and its offices could be existing right now in any number of innocuous office buildings in cities around the globe. We the readers are led to read this as a Dystopian Near Future, scenario. Yet, again, all it takes is a moment to pause next to any benign monolithic professional building to have you thinking. Gazing at the frosted over privacy windows, the ground floor dark, windows papered over. Could "Office Workers" be looking back at you?
March 15, 2025
(I finally got my thoughts together… kinda.)
THE ORGANIZATION IS HERE TO SUPPORT YOU
By: Charlene Elsby
Release: 3/15/25
Page count: 158
KU: TBD Hoopla: TBD
Synopsis: Clarissa Knowles is more than a cog in the corporate wheel; she’s an O7 and is liked by her co-workers — that is until she receives an email that will change her life forever.
First line: “I look at the light on my top left monitoring, breathing.”
Favorite line: “More work gets you more work, for the same pay.”
Thoughts: Brilliant. Pure brilliance. But I still can’t tell you exactly why I loved it. Maybe the honesty of office politics? The all too relatable loneliness and contentment of allowing oneself to be average? Or the garbage way people get ahead in life and the job? How easy it is for one wrong move to make you the office pariah?
With haunting realness and pitch black satire, Elsby crafts a modern day classic. Be prepared to contemplate this novella for a while - schedule it as an overtime meeting like Clarissa would.
Rating: 6/5
Other recommendations: BEDLAM, VIOLENT FACULTIES
THE ORGANIZATION IS HERE TO SUPPORT YOU
By: Charlene Elsby
Release: 3/15/25
Page count: 158
KU: TBD Hoopla: TBD
Synopsis: Clarissa Knowles is more than a cog in the corporate wheel; she’s an O7 and is liked by her co-workers — that is until she receives an email that will change her life forever.
First line: “I look at the light on my top left monitoring, breathing.”
Favorite line: “More work gets you more work, for the same pay.”
Thoughts: Brilliant. Pure brilliance. But I still can’t tell you exactly why I loved it. Maybe the honesty of office politics? The all too relatable loneliness and contentment of allowing oneself to be average? Or the garbage way people get ahead in life and the job? How easy it is for one wrong move to make you the office pariah?
With haunting realness and pitch black satire, Elsby crafts a modern day classic. Be prepared to contemplate this novella for a while - schedule it as an overtime meeting like Clarissa would.
Rating: 6/5
Other recommendations: BEDLAM, VIOLENT FACULTIES
March 12, 2025
This might be my favorite Elsby yet.
While it is still solipsistic, it's probably her less solipsistic effort yet and it addresses the schizophrenia of corporate rules and relationship applied to a life that doesn't really have anything else going on. How it formats interactions, thoughts and eventually the mind. Elsby also explores this idea of a corporation-as-a-legal-person that has become popular in series like Severance.
It's at the same time more sardonic and vulnerable of a novel. Very different and I love when my favorite authors try different ideas and approaches.
While it is still solipsistic, it's probably her less solipsistic effort yet and it addresses the schizophrenia of corporate rules and relationship applied to a life that doesn't really have anything else going on. How it formats interactions, thoughts and eventually the mind. Elsby also explores this idea of a corporation-as-a-legal-person that has become popular in series like Severance.
It's at the same time more sardonic and vulnerable of a novel. Very different and I love when my favorite authors try different ideas and approaches.
April 2, 2025
The previous book I read from Charlene Elsby was Violent Faculties which immediately made me a fan of her dark and engaging writing style. With this being more of an absurdist horror comedy, it definitely felt different from the extremely unsettling (but still funny) philosophy-professor-turned-psycho-killer story. Two out of two great books I’ve read from her, them’s some pretty good stats, I reckon!
As someone who has bounced around through various corporations for well over a decade, I certainly appreciate a corporate satire. In our late-stage capitalist hellscape, everywhere you turn, it’s hard to escape the feeling of being a cog in the human suffering machine. Is there a solution to the crushing despair of existence in these soul-sucking work environments? Probably, but I’m not smart enough to sort it out! While I wait for a cyberpunk messiah to fix all our economic/social/technological woes, I’m happy to read stories cleverly mocking the stuff that’s ruining all of our lives!
In the nightmarishly Orwellian office environment of THE ORGANIZATION, the protagonist Clarissa is just another cog mostly content with her function in life. Her home is fused with her workplace (reminiscent of Amazon’s dystopian idea to have employees live and sleep onsite) and she spends her days engaging in heavily regulated conversations with her coworkers and sending out a stream of utterly meaningless emails. The coworkers all felt like different people I’ve met in previous jobs. Especially Devin. There’s ALWAYS a Devin! Anyways, the strange journey our protagonist goes on is funny, freaky, and sad. Those are three characteristics of storytelling I tend to enjoy!
If I ever get tired of my current gig, I’ll have to see if THE ORGANIZATION has any openings. I bet I could be a satisfactory member of the team!
As someone who has bounced around through various corporations for well over a decade, I certainly appreciate a corporate satire. In our late-stage capitalist hellscape, everywhere you turn, it’s hard to escape the feeling of being a cog in the human suffering machine. Is there a solution to the crushing despair of existence in these soul-sucking work environments? Probably, but I’m not smart enough to sort it out! While I wait for a cyberpunk messiah to fix all our economic/social/technological woes, I’m happy to read stories cleverly mocking the stuff that’s ruining all of our lives!
In the nightmarishly Orwellian office environment of THE ORGANIZATION, the protagonist Clarissa is just another cog mostly content with her function in life. Her home is fused with her workplace (reminiscent of Amazon’s dystopian idea to have employees live and sleep onsite) and she spends her days engaging in heavily regulated conversations with her coworkers and sending out a stream of utterly meaningless emails. The coworkers all felt like different people I’ve met in previous jobs. Especially Devin. There’s ALWAYS a Devin! Anyways, the strange journey our protagonist goes on is funny, freaky, and sad. Those are three characteristics of storytelling I tend to enjoy!
If I ever get tired of my current gig, I’ll have to see if THE ORGANIZATION has any openings. I bet I could be a satisfactory member of the team!
March 8, 2025
Charlene Elsby’s The Organization is Here to Support You is not your average horror novel. It’s not about monsters (unless you count the soulless specter of corporate bureaucracy), there’s no haunted house (though cubicles are certainly their own kind of purgatory), and the killer isn’t hiding behind the door (because they’re sitting at a desk, sending you a performance review email). Instead, Elsby crafts a Kafkaesque nightmare with a razor-sharp satirical edge, tackling the existential terror of workplace conformity and the crushing weight of institutional absurdity.
Charlene Elsby has carved out a niche for herself in the realm of philosophical horror, often intertwining existential musings with deeply unsettling narratives. A Ph.D. in philosophy, she brings an academic precision to her storytelling, ensuring that every narrative thread drips with intellectual dread. If Sartre had been forced to attend daily Zoom meetings and submit quarterly reports on nothing, he might have written something like this. Elsby’s work often explores identity, perception, and the dehumanizing mechanisms of modern life, and The Organization is Here to Support You is no exception.
Clarissa works for The Organization, a soulless entity that runs on arbitrary policies and relentless conformity. Every aspect of her life is dictated by work: from the way she interacts with her colleagues to the mandated performance reviews that strip her of any individuality. Promotions mean alienation, and the only real freedom is the illusion of control over small things—like whether she logs in at exactly 8:30 AM. When an email from an academic, Dr. Dick Richards (yes, really), arrives with a cryptic and sexually charged message, the cracks in Clarissa’s carefully structured reality begin to widen. The further she delves into the mystery of the message, the more she is forced to confront the crushing futility of her existence, her lack of autonomy, and whether The Organization is really as supportive as it claims to be. Spoiler: It isn’t.
This novel is a meditation on control. The Organization dictates every aspect of its employees’ lives, stripping them of agency while pretending to offer structure and support. Sound familiar? That’s because Elsby has built a horror story out of late-stage capitalism, the kind where HR emails read like cult indoctrination, and the illusion of choice is more stifling than outright oppression. Clarissa’s growing obsession with Dick Richards isn’t just about sexual repression (though it’s definitely also about that); it’s a desperate attempt to reclaim a sense of self. When a rogue email—something that isn’t pre-approved by the Organization’s rigid structure—forces her to respond in a way that isn’t dictated by policy, she starts to unravel. It’s the digital equivalent of finding a handwritten note in a world that only communicates via corporate memos.
Elsby uses sleep and dreaming as another core symbol. Clarissa’s descent into paranoia is marked by increasingly intrusive dreams, suggesting that even unconscious thought isn’t free from institutional control. As she reflects,
"Freedom is being assured that every moment before eight thirty is my own time, and they won’t have any of it.”
Even time outside of work becomes a battleground.
Elsby’s writing is hypnotic. Her prose is dry, sharp, and unrelenting, mirroring the monotony of corporate existence but never succumbing to it. The novel thrives on repetition—endless emails, performance evaluations, and hollow workplace interactions—until the reader, much like Clarissa, begins to wonder if escape is even possible. There’s humor here, too, but it’s the kind that makes you laugh while reconsidering all your life choices. It’s pitch-black, corporate satire at its finest, the kind of book that makes you want to quit your job and move to a cabin, except you realize that even cabins probably have Wi-Fi and a login system now. Consider how Clarissa describes her superiors:
"The upper-ups start turning off their cameras, now that the meeting is underway. They express, sometimes, that they don’t want to interfere with the proceedings, only observe… I suspect, but would absolutely neither hint nor aim to demonstrate, that none of that is occurring.”
Elsby’s cutting wit spares no one.
One of Elsby’s greatest strengths is her ability to turn the mundane into the monstrous. There are no supernatural forces at play here—just the crushing weight of bureaucratic nonsense. The horror comes from the realization that this world isn’t some distant dystopia. It’s already here.
The book is also deeply unsettling in its ambiguity. The Organization is all-consuming, but it’s never fully explained. Its demands and rules shift constantly, with no real logic behind them, mirroring the surreal nightmare of working in an uncaring system where “policy” is just another word for “because we said so.” As Clarissa notes,
“It is against every rule of decency to differentiate between us, and especially if that differentiation is an attempt to distinguish a better from a worse.”
This relentless flattening of individuality is what makes The Organization feel both ridiculous and terrifying.
If The Organization is Here to Support You has a weakness, it’s that it might be too effective. The book’s oppressive atmosphere is so well-crafted that reading it feels like getting stuck in a particularly bleak workday with no lunch break. Some readers might find the repetition grating, though that’s also kind of the point. It’s not a horror novel you read for fun; it’s one you read to feel seen—and then possibly to spiral into existential dread.
Additionally, while the novel thrives in its philosophical bleakness, some might crave a more tangible climax. The mystery surrounding Dick Richards is compelling, but ultimately secondary to the novel’s larger existential crisis. If you’re looking for traditional plot resolution, you won’t find it here—but that’s probably the point.
Elsby has written a horror novel that doesn’t need ghosts, demons, or eldritch horrors to be terrifying. The real nightmare is already here: in our inboxes, in our Zoom meetings, in our “collaborative work environments.” The Organization is Here to Support You is a chilling, razor-sharp critique of modern employment culture, wrapped in prose that cuts like a paper shredder set to ‘high.’ It’s a must-read—fuck the billionaires.
Charlene Elsby has carved out a niche for herself in the realm of philosophical horror, often intertwining existential musings with deeply unsettling narratives. A Ph.D. in philosophy, she brings an academic precision to her storytelling, ensuring that every narrative thread drips with intellectual dread. If Sartre had been forced to attend daily Zoom meetings and submit quarterly reports on nothing, he might have written something like this. Elsby’s work often explores identity, perception, and the dehumanizing mechanisms of modern life, and The Organization is Here to Support You is no exception.
Clarissa works for The Organization, a soulless entity that runs on arbitrary policies and relentless conformity. Every aspect of her life is dictated by work: from the way she interacts with her colleagues to the mandated performance reviews that strip her of any individuality. Promotions mean alienation, and the only real freedom is the illusion of control over small things—like whether she logs in at exactly 8:30 AM. When an email from an academic, Dr. Dick Richards (yes, really), arrives with a cryptic and sexually charged message, the cracks in Clarissa’s carefully structured reality begin to widen. The further she delves into the mystery of the message, the more she is forced to confront the crushing futility of her existence, her lack of autonomy, and whether The Organization is really as supportive as it claims to be. Spoiler: It isn’t.
This novel is a meditation on control. The Organization dictates every aspect of its employees’ lives, stripping them of agency while pretending to offer structure and support. Sound familiar? That’s because Elsby has built a horror story out of late-stage capitalism, the kind where HR emails read like cult indoctrination, and the illusion of choice is more stifling than outright oppression. Clarissa’s growing obsession with Dick Richards isn’t just about sexual repression (though it’s definitely also about that); it’s a desperate attempt to reclaim a sense of self. When a rogue email—something that isn’t pre-approved by the Organization’s rigid structure—forces her to respond in a way that isn’t dictated by policy, she starts to unravel. It’s the digital equivalent of finding a handwritten note in a world that only communicates via corporate memos.
Elsby uses sleep and dreaming as another core symbol. Clarissa’s descent into paranoia is marked by increasingly intrusive dreams, suggesting that even unconscious thought isn’t free from institutional control. As she reflects,
"Freedom is being assured that every moment before eight thirty is my own time, and they won’t have any of it.”
Even time outside of work becomes a battleground.
Elsby’s writing is hypnotic. Her prose is dry, sharp, and unrelenting, mirroring the monotony of corporate existence but never succumbing to it. The novel thrives on repetition—endless emails, performance evaluations, and hollow workplace interactions—until the reader, much like Clarissa, begins to wonder if escape is even possible. There’s humor here, too, but it’s the kind that makes you laugh while reconsidering all your life choices. It’s pitch-black, corporate satire at its finest, the kind of book that makes you want to quit your job and move to a cabin, except you realize that even cabins probably have Wi-Fi and a login system now. Consider how Clarissa describes her superiors:
"The upper-ups start turning off their cameras, now that the meeting is underway. They express, sometimes, that they don’t want to interfere with the proceedings, only observe… I suspect, but would absolutely neither hint nor aim to demonstrate, that none of that is occurring.”
Elsby’s cutting wit spares no one.
One of Elsby’s greatest strengths is her ability to turn the mundane into the monstrous. There are no supernatural forces at play here—just the crushing weight of bureaucratic nonsense. The horror comes from the realization that this world isn’t some distant dystopia. It’s already here.
The book is also deeply unsettling in its ambiguity. The Organization is all-consuming, but it’s never fully explained. Its demands and rules shift constantly, with no real logic behind them, mirroring the surreal nightmare of working in an uncaring system where “policy” is just another word for “because we said so.” As Clarissa notes,
“It is against every rule of decency to differentiate between us, and especially if that differentiation is an attempt to distinguish a better from a worse.”
This relentless flattening of individuality is what makes The Organization feel both ridiculous and terrifying.
If The Organization is Here to Support You has a weakness, it’s that it might be too effective. The book’s oppressive atmosphere is so well-crafted that reading it feels like getting stuck in a particularly bleak workday with no lunch break. Some readers might find the repetition grating, though that’s also kind of the point. It’s not a horror novel you read for fun; it’s one you read to feel seen—and then possibly to spiral into existential dread.
Additionally, while the novel thrives in its philosophical bleakness, some might crave a more tangible climax. The mystery surrounding Dick Richards is compelling, but ultimately secondary to the novel’s larger existential crisis. If you’re looking for traditional plot resolution, you won’t find it here—but that’s probably the point.
Elsby has written a horror novel that doesn’t need ghosts, demons, or eldritch horrors to be terrifying. The real nightmare is already here: in our inboxes, in our Zoom meetings, in our “collaborative work environments.” The Organization is Here to Support You is a chilling, razor-sharp critique of modern employment culture, wrapped in prose that cuts like a paper shredder set to ‘high.’ It’s a must-read—fuck the billionaires.
March 10, 2025
Our protagonist Clarissa Knowles works at The Organization (or if you’re like me, The Organisation), responding to email inquiries regarding research funding. One night an odd message comes through from Dick Richards, an associate professor; “I propOSE we fill those HOLES, babyyyyyyyyyyyyy.”
This loose thread presents a disruption in the ordinary drudge of work life and the emotional toil of her personal life, and an opportunity for a sense of freedom..?
Beneath the facade (and dark comedy) of home-office drama and bureaucratic bullshittery lies the tale of a Kafkaesque (yet positively Elsby-esque) hero, a fractured (non)individual yearning for freedom, for relief, for love, for greater dispersion, for death.
But who is Dick Richards?
Elsby defies genre and tropes, there is no narrative typical to her work- what is typical are characters that are well drawn out, sympathetic, pitifully exposed in their own minds- yet The Organization will have you thrown for a loop in the way it plays out.
I can’t say anymore without risking spoilers, but this was a weird one and I loved it. As always, I’m excited to see what Charlene Elsby cooks up next.
—————————
“What if I could have reacted differently, when I had discovered Maurice's infidelity? What if I had decided at the time, that it wasn't a big deal at all, that it was, in fact, as Maurice had argued, quite fine? What if I weren't the person I am, and the person I could have been didn't fuck everything up, until we ended up here, in the state that we're in?”
LMAO if this ain’t me right now (March 2025)
—————————
This loose thread presents a disruption in the ordinary drudge of work life and the emotional toil of her personal life, and an opportunity for a sense of freedom..?
Beneath the facade (and dark comedy) of home-office drama and bureaucratic bullshittery lies the tale of a Kafkaesque (yet positively Elsby-esque) hero, a fractured (non)individual yearning for freedom, for relief, for love, for greater dispersion, for death.
But who is Dick Richards?
Elsby defies genre and tropes, there is no narrative typical to her work- what is typical are characters that are well drawn out, sympathetic, pitifully exposed in their own minds- yet The Organization will have you thrown for a loop in the way it plays out.
I can’t say anymore without risking spoilers, but this was a weird one and I loved it. As always, I’m excited to see what Charlene Elsby cooks up next.
—————————
“What if I could have reacted differently, when I had discovered Maurice's infidelity? What if I had decided at the time, that it wasn't a big deal at all, that it was, in fact, as Maurice had argued, quite fine? What if I weren't the person I am, and the person I could have been didn't fuck everything up, until we ended up here, in the state that we're in?”
LMAO if this ain’t me right now (March 2025)
—————————
March 19, 2025
This was my first read by Charlene Elsby and I really enjoyed it! I went in blind (so glad I did) and truly had no idea what I was in for! I thought I knew what was going on and then towards the end I was surprised!! I will be reading more by this author for sure.
March 7, 2025
Review coming, but for now I’ll just say WOW!
April 24, 2025
The absurdity of bureaucracy only underscores the corporate nightmare we live in
Have you ever started dreaming of SOPs?
Have you analyzed the difference in sign-offs? Do you know the difference between "Best" "Kind Regards", "Best Regards", "Best Wishes", "Regards", "Thank You", "Warmest", "Thanks", "Thanks in Advance", "Sincerely", or worse NOTHING?
I represented my team in an inspection and had to listen to inspector speak to me at length that while digital signatures with names reflected in text were acceptable, the industry standard for digital signatures would have an actual photo representation of the signature and we should update our protocols accordingly to be in best practice.
I am serious-the hilarity of the only thing just highlights the nightmare.
It's really funny, until you realize this is your life.
Thank you Charlene Elsby, for delivering one for us.
The Organization is Here to Support You is entertaining. It is a gut punch. It is a deep, unsettling philosophical exploration.
What is freedom?
This question is the main focus of the text. When I left my last position in a fit of rage, our Business Director told me to reconsider and that "financial security is freedom".
I was thinking about this and our protagonist when they say-"At least now I can walk down the hall and buy a Diet Coke, if I want one-whenever I want one."
Poverty is a prison. Maybe freedom is not being rich but being able to go to the super market buy what you want for dinner without checking your bank account first.
But....maybe we're just trading one prison for another. Despite the humor of the text, it feels like there is no hope of escaping the crushing weight of capital. I certainly though a lot about The Trial, especially in the shadow Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? while reading. Bureaucracy exerts control with it's depersonalization. There is no direct antagonist. There is no Wizard of Oz.
There is just the structure and you. How do you fight a structure? How do you find a way out? Can you even get out alive.
I laughed and hooted and hollered while reading this, but I'm swimming with the dread afterwards.
Amazingly executed and layered. Another great piece from Elsby.
From downtown, all net. As they might say.
A+++++
I received a review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Have you ever started dreaming of SOPs?
Have you analyzed the difference in sign-offs? Do you know the difference between "Best" "Kind Regards", "Best Regards", "Best Wishes", "Regards", "Thank You", "Warmest", "Thanks", "Thanks in Advance", "Sincerely", or worse NOTHING?
I represented my team in an inspection and had to listen to inspector speak to me at length that while digital signatures with names reflected in text were acceptable, the industry standard for digital signatures would have an actual photo representation of the signature and we should update our protocols accordingly to be in best practice.
I am serious-the hilarity of the only thing just highlights the nightmare.
It's really funny, until you realize this is your life.
Thank you Charlene Elsby, for delivering one for us.
The Organization is Here to Support You is entertaining. It is a gut punch. It is a deep, unsettling philosophical exploration.
What is freedom?
This question is the main focus of the text. When I left my last position in a fit of rage, our Business Director told me to reconsider and that "financial security is freedom".
I was thinking about this and our protagonist when they say-"At least now I can walk down the hall and buy a Diet Coke, if I want one-whenever I want one."
Poverty is a prison. Maybe freedom is not being rich but being able to go to the super market buy what you want for dinner without checking your bank account first.
But....maybe we're just trading one prison for another. Despite the humor of the text, it feels like there is no hope of escaping the crushing weight of capital. I certainly though a lot about The Trial, especially in the shadow Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? while reading. Bureaucracy exerts control with it's depersonalization. There is no direct antagonist. There is no Wizard of Oz.
There is just the structure and you. How do you fight a structure? How do you find a way out? Can you even get out alive.
I laughed and hooted and hollered while reading this, but I'm swimming with the dread afterwards.
Amazingly executed and layered. Another great piece from Elsby.
From downtown, all net. As they might say.
A+++++
I received a review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
March 7, 2025
I received an advance reader copy of The Organization is Here to Support You and chose to leave a review voluntarily. I want to thank BookSirens for allowing me to read it ahead of its release on March 15th of this year!
The Organization is Here to Support You is a dystopian horror story that focuses on Clarissa Knowles. Clarissa works for the organization, and she does her job satisfactorily, just as all its employees are expected to do. She enjoys her work and the benefits it provides: a secure paycheck, a roof over her head, structure, stability, and reliability. However, after receiving an email she struggles to respond to, her stable corporate life gets turned upside down.
I read this one in just one sitting. I opened it, started reading, prepared to put it down…but then failed to walk away from it. I was completely blown away by Elsby’s writing, insight, and overall talent as an author. The book is beautifully robotic and monotonous in the way it reflects on the life of a corporate employee, perfectly encapsulating that feeling of sitting behind a desk, nodding along to a boring lecture or meeting, watching the clock tick closer and closer to quitting time. And yet, I wasn’t bored for a single second.
Clarissa was written so beautifully. She has incredible personal insight into her situation that develops over the course of the book, and the jarring disconnect of her duality—realizing her job is so important while also knowing she is so easily replaceable—resonated deeply with me as someone who has worked as a cog in the corporate machine. Elsby’s brilliant creation of the organization and its clinical, impersonal method of operation turns the bureaucracy behind a large-scale business into a chilling caricature that feels way too close to reality in this day and age.
I was truly left unsettled by The Organization is Here to Support You. As I read, I found myself growing more and more anxious as the plot built toward its climax, leaving me unable to rest until it was over. The only thing that has ever made me feel similarly was the first time I watched Ari Aster’s Midsommar.
I truly believe The Organization is Here to Support You is a must-read—horrifying, dystopian, robotic, and clinical. Five stars from me. Charlene Elsby is an expert in her craft, and I plan on reading more of her work very soon.
The Organization is Here to Support You is a dystopian horror story that focuses on Clarissa Knowles. Clarissa works for the organization, and she does her job satisfactorily, just as all its employees are expected to do. She enjoys her work and the benefits it provides: a secure paycheck, a roof over her head, structure, stability, and reliability. However, after receiving an email she struggles to respond to, her stable corporate life gets turned upside down.
I read this one in just one sitting. I opened it, started reading, prepared to put it down…but then failed to walk away from it. I was completely blown away by Elsby’s writing, insight, and overall talent as an author. The book is beautifully robotic and monotonous in the way it reflects on the life of a corporate employee, perfectly encapsulating that feeling of sitting behind a desk, nodding along to a boring lecture or meeting, watching the clock tick closer and closer to quitting time. And yet, I wasn’t bored for a single second.
Clarissa was written so beautifully. She has incredible personal insight into her situation that develops over the course of the book, and the jarring disconnect of her duality—realizing her job is so important while also knowing she is so easily replaceable—resonated deeply with me as someone who has worked as a cog in the corporate machine. Elsby’s brilliant creation of the organization and its clinical, impersonal method of operation turns the bureaucracy behind a large-scale business into a chilling caricature that feels way too close to reality in this day and age.
I was truly left unsettled by The Organization is Here to Support You. As I read, I found myself growing more and more anxious as the plot built toward its climax, leaving me unable to rest until it was over. The only thing that has ever made me feel similarly was the first time I watched Ari Aster’s Midsommar.
I truly believe The Organization is Here to Support You is a must-read—horrifying, dystopian, robotic, and clinical. Five stars from me. Charlene Elsby is an expert in her craft, and I plan on reading more of her work very soon.
March 15, 2025
With the popularity of Severance, it feels like we could be entering a renaissance of media looking into the dark side of corporate work culture. It's an area that's ripe for the picking for horror authors or those interested in the surreal, Kafka-esque nature of the environment. Policies that discourage free thought, adherence to methods that make no sense for the sake of consistency & the greater good, and the concept of diminishing your individuality to become a better spoke on the ever-turning wheel are all fertile ground for weird fiction to harvest from. If we are entering a golden age of stories approaching this subject, the likes of The Organization Is Here To Support You will be vital for it.
The story follows Clarissa, and her pet cat, navigating life as a level 7 employee of the Organization. Careful to not work too quickly or too slowly, to not get to meetings early or stay behind too late (without submitting the required overtime request), her day-to-day routine is everything. Really, seeing as her apartment, where she works from home, is company-owned and within the Organization, what else is there to do, where else to go? The monotony is at once a prison and a saviour for her. When Clarissa receives an email out of the ordinary, however, she starts to obsess over it and begins to think again if things that exist outside of her workplace—and, perhaps, to think finally of escape.
There's not much else that can be said about the plot without dipping into spoiler territory, and it'd be a shame to ruin any of the reveals here. It's a short, quick read, coming in at novella length, and I would advise anyone to go in as blind as possible. Elsby expertly uses corporate monotony and repetition to frustrate us and make us empathise all the more with Clarissa—and to make reveals and changes all the more impactful towards the end.
Overall I thought this was a very well-written, entertaining story that had some unexpected twists and dryly hilarious insights into the regimented world of being a cog in the gear of a massive corporation. Considering it clocks in at ~150 pages, there's a lot of world-building here, both explicitly and more subtly, made in passing comments by different characters. It's an impressive novella, and to my shame, my first read of Elsby's—after enjoying this book so much, I can safely say it won't be the last.
The story follows Clarissa, and her pet cat, navigating life as a level 7 employee of the Organization. Careful to not work too quickly or too slowly, to not get to meetings early or stay behind too late (without submitting the required overtime request), her day-to-day routine is everything. Really, seeing as her apartment, where she works from home, is company-owned and within the Organization, what else is there to do, where else to go? The monotony is at once a prison and a saviour for her. When Clarissa receives an email out of the ordinary, however, she starts to obsess over it and begins to think again if things that exist outside of her workplace—and, perhaps, to think finally of escape.
There's not much else that can be said about the plot without dipping into spoiler territory, and it'd be a shame to ruin any of the reveals here. It's a short, quick read, coming in at novella length, and I would advise anyone to go in as blind as possible. Elsby expertly uses corporate monotony and repetition to frustrate us and make us empathise all the more with Clarissa—and to make reveals and changes all the more impactful towards the end.
Overall I thought this was a very well-written, entertaining story that had some unexpected twists and dryly hilarious insights into the regimented world of being a cog in the gear of a massive corporation. Considering it clocks in at ~150 pages, there's a lot of world-building here, both explicitly and more subtly, made in passing comments by different characters. It's an impressive novella, and to my shame, my first read of Elsby's—after enjoying this book so much, I can safely say it won't be the last.
March 30, 2025
I haven’t watched the second season of the TV show Severance yet. I will, just haven’t gotten to it yet. The first season was good: acting good, visually interesting, intriguing, and the show grappled with the way labor shapes our identity in the 21st century through its central metaphor of a literal separation of work and personal lives.
But one thing that kind of bothered me about Severance was that I never got the impression anyone on the show had actually ever worked a real office job. I’m sure they had, but the show existed in a speculative wonderland that seemed more inspired by popular ideas of an office—outdated ideas, at that—not a real office; therefore, the show never really explores emotional and existential concerns experienced by office workers.
“The Organization is Here to Support You” by Charlene Elsby is also a dark, dystopian workplace satire, but its exaggerated, titular organization feels like a creation by someone who understands the real psychological shackles of contemporary, white-ish collar workplaces. The main character Clarissa is not an apathetic rebel, but someone who is fully invested in the mindset of a mid-level professional trying to find meaning and take advantage of their corporate/nonprofit job.
Her worldview so perfectly articulates how petty disputes over procedure can escalate into a life-or-death crisis; how mediocrity is promoted; how having everything provided for you will never be enough if that “everything” does not also include one’s autonomy. Clarissa relates the office politics with obsessive detail. I wondered sometimes if she was not actually human. One gets the sense reading this that there’s a bigger world to build outside of Clarissa’s intentionally mundane story, but the reader can only speculate.
This is my stream of consciousness review of this book. I’m definitely gonna reread this. It was really funny and insightful overall. I’d also love to talk to someone about the wild ending!
Purchased directly from Weirdpunk books, and I recommend you do the same!
But one thing that kind of bothered me about Severance was that I never got the impression anyone on the show had actually ever worked a real office job. I’m sure they had, but the show existed in a speculative wonderland that seemed more inspired by popular ideas of an office—outdated ideas, at that—not a real office; therefore, the show never really explores emotional and existential concerns experienced by office workers.
“The Organization is Here to Support You” by Charlene Elsby is also a dark, dystopian workplace satire, but its exaggerated, titular organization feels like a creation by someone who understands the real psychological shackles of contemporary, white-ish collar workplaces. The main character Clarissa is not an apathetic rebel, but someone who is fully invested in the mindset of a mid-level professional trying to find meaning and take advantage of their corporate/nonprofit job.
Her worldview so perfectly articulates how petty disputes over procedure can escalate into a life-or-death crisis; how mediocrity is promoted; how having everything provided for you will never be enough if that “everything” does not also include one’s autonomy. Clarissa relates the office politics with obsessive detail. I wondered sometimes if she was not actually human. One gets the sense reading this that there’s a bigger world to build outside of Clarissa’s intentionally mundane story, but the reader can only speculate.
This is my stream of consciousness review of this book. I’m definitely gonna reread this. It was really funny and insightful overall. I’d also love to talk to someone about the wild ending!
Purchased directly from Weirdpunk books, and I recommend you do the same!
March 1, 2025
QOTD: Who's an author you have only recently discovered? For me, it's certainly Charlene Elsby, and I am now in need of her entire backlog. You can read my full review of this one at fanfiaddict.com, the link is in my bio and "2025 reviews," highlight.
"A bureaucratic fever dream - Kafka by way of HR policy, “The Organization Is Here To Support You,” by Charlene Elsby is a surreal exposé of corporate malaise, dysfunction and corruption. Having found “Violent Faculties,” by this author to be truly sensational last month, I had to get my greedy hands on this one, and, whilst more than anything depressed by it, I was far from disappointed. A beige and clinical dystopian that can be read in a sitting or two, Elsby’s latest manages to distill drudgery. If you’ve ever found yourself nodding through a seminar, smiling whilst mediocrity is promoted, or lost in jargon-loaded, passive-aggressive email chains that feel like they may well outlive you “The Organization Is Here To Support You,” is ultimately a (pretty extreme) reminder that sometimes the only thing worse than losing your job is keeping it. Sterile, bleak and existential, this one is out from Weird Punk Books on March 15th, and I will be grabbing a copy.
We follow Clarissa Knowles who is a level 07 for the organization. Her role entails responding to queries made by those who receive funding from the organization, referring to manuals and policies, and essentially just slowly dissolving into corporate oblivion. Having left her ex and home to take this job, essentially all that she has aside from a few civil workplace friendships, are her cat, a PhD that she doesn’t use, and a headset that she had to fight tooth and nail for. Despite the obvious mundanity and repetitive nature of her day to day to life, she’s content. Right?"
"A bureaucratic fever dream - Kafka by way of HR policy, “The Organization Is Here To Support You,” by Charlene Elsby is a surreal exposé of corporate malaise, dysfunction and corruption. Having found “Violent Faculties,” by this author to be truly sensational last month, I had to get my greedy hands on this one, and, whilst more than anything depressed by it, I was far from disappointed. A beige and clinical dystopian that can be read in a sitting or two, Elsby’s latest manages to distill drudgery. If you’ve ever found yourself nodding through a seminar, smiling whilst mediocrity is promoted, or lost in jargon-loaded, passive-aggressive email chains that feel like they may well outlive you “The Organization Is Here To Support You,” is ultimately a (pretty extreme) reminder that sometimes the only thing worse than losing your job is keeping it. Sterile, bleak and existential, this one is out from Weird Punk Books on March 15th, and I will be grabbing a copy.
We follow Clarissa Knowles who is a level 07 for the organization. Her role entails responding to queries made by those who receive funding from the organization, referring to manuals and policies, and essentially just slowly dissolving into corporate oblivion. Having left her ex and home to take this job, essentially all that she has aside from a few civil workplace friendships, are her cat, a PhD that she doesn’t use, and a headset that she had to fight tooth and nail for. Despite the obvious mundanity and repetitive nature of her day to day to life, she’s content. Right?"
March 5, 2025
I received an E-ARC of “The Organization is Here to Support You” for review through Book Sirens, and then I happily accepted a physical copy from Charlene Elsby herself because I want my library to include as much of her work as possible.
“Having everything you need, I told him. That’s freedom,” our protagonist Clarissa explains why working for a soulless, cold organization is acceptable and even favourable. Except our protagonist is not just Clarissa, for many of us readers working office jobs, she is us too. We do what we’re told. We get jobs that pluck out our individuality so we can pay our bills and afford capitalism. This is what makes this story so poignant, darkly comical, and very depressing.
I felt horrified and amused by how much I could relate to Clarissa and the circumstances surrounding her corporate grind. The commentary on how if you turn on your monitor, there could be something to do that simply couldn’t wait until the next day. Man, I’ve done that. That sharp needle of obligation has succeeded in entering my own system. Clarissa convinces herself that her desires and the desires of the organization have become one and the same after years of servitude, and yeah, I get it. Reading this book, I had to take a step back and look at how easy it is to become malleable to our mostly invisible overlords. It encouraged me to try to remember who I am and what I want for myself in life. It pressed me to understand that as long as I’m human, my own desires should never fully align with the desires of a corporate entity.
An interpretation of the current zeitgeist where working from home has made our home our work, combined with an inability to turn off (thinking of the TV show “Severance” here), this novella really makes you question where your loyalties lie.
“Having everything you need, I told him. That’s freedom,” our protagonist Clarissa explains why working for a soulless, cold organization is acceptable and even favourable. Except our protagonist is not just Clarissa, for many of us readers working office jobs, she is us too. We do what we’re told. We get jobs that pluck out our individuality so we can pay our bills and afford capitalism. This is what makes this story so poignant, darkly comical, and very depressing.
I felt horrified and amused by how much I could relate to Clarissa and the circumstances surrounding her corporate grind. The commentary on how if you turn on your monitor, there could be something to do that simply couldn’t wait until the next day. Man, I’ve done that. That sharp needle of obligation has succeeded in entering my own system. Clarissa convinces herself that her desires and the desires of the organization have become one and the same after years of servitude, and yeah, I get it. Reading this book, I had to take a step back and look at how easy it is to become malleable to our mostly invisible overlords. It encouraged me to try to remember who I am and what I want for myself in life. It pressed me to understand that as long as I’m human, my own desires should never fully align with the desires of a corporate entity.
An interpretation of the current zeitgeist where working from home has made our home our work, combined with an inability to turn off (thinking of the TV show “Severance” here), this novella really makes you question where your loyalties lie.
March 9, 2025
I grabbed this off of Book Sirens in exchange for a honest review, so lets get that part out of the way.
I really liked it, I am totally into the oddest horror lately, give me something mind bendy and twisty.
Living somewhere that has managed to find a way to, uh maximize the collaboration of their employees, and that to me sounds like hell.
I love a good old work together, but all the time? Hell, I prefer organic collaborations honestly.
But thankfully Clarissa is starting to think something is a little wonky with things, without the "Organization" she'd be nothing, have nothing, but staying in it, what is she really ?
So the fight between what you know, and what you need starts, and we can all relate to that one.
I too used to be a corporate yes woman, and it was awful, this really hit home for me, and it was so real. The sunk cost fallacy way of thinking is real, and I really understand the way Clarissa was torn, and worried and afraid, to do something along, and different.
When your brainwashed/indoctrinated, its a hard program to fight..
This horror, scifi, fictional world built, is absolutely well done, and I found myself falling into the scenes so many times, being Clarissa.
Absolutely check this out if you are into the whole Severance thing, I would say hey, this is or isn't the same, but do we really know what's going on in Severance lol
I really liked it, I am totally into the oddest horror lately, give me something mind bendy and twisty.
Living somewhere that has managed to find a way to, uh maximize the collaboration of their employees, and that to me sounds like hell.
I love a good old work together, but all the time? Hell, I prefer organic collaborations honestly.
But thankfully Clarissa is starting to think something is a little wonky with things, without the "Organization" she'd be nothing, have nothing, but staying in it, what is she really ?
So the fight between what you know, and what you need starts, and we can all relate to that one.
I too used to be a corporate yes woman, and it was awful, this really hit home for me, and it was so real. The sunk cost fallacy way of thinking is real, and I really understand the way Clarissa was torn, and worried and afraid, to do something along, and different.
When your brainwashed/indoctrinated, its a hard program to fight..
This horror, scifi, fictional world built, is absolutely well done, and I found myself falling into the scenes so many times, being Clarissa.
Absolutely check this out if you are into the whole Severance thing, I would say hey, this is or isn't the same, but do we really know what's going on in Severance lol
April 30, 2025
I am a huge fan of Kafka and Ballard and this book scratched that same itch in my brain. This story is a surreal, satirical examination of isolation, bureaucracy, and technology. Clarissa Knowles works for the organization, answering queries about programs and using non-traditional solutions to mitigate non-traditional problems. I was instantly hooked on the premise as I have personal experience with the bleak horror of bureaucracy. If you’ve been there, you know. The author’s language can be both vague and sharp, and the situations that arise for Clarissa are both surreal and completely believable. Certain situations made me laugh, others made me gasp, and still others gave me a deep sense of disquiet. I probably will never look at office workers the same way again. I plan to re-read this a second time and I will be buying a physical copy when I can! I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a blend of existentialism, satire, horror, and surrealism. I can’t wait to read more by this author!
*Thanks to Charlene Elsby (Author), Weirdpunk Books (Publisher), and Book Sirens (ARC Platform)*
**I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.**
*Thanks to Charlene Elsby (Author), Weirdpunk Books (Publisher), and Book Sirens (ARC Platform)*
**I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.**
August 17, 2025
The Organization is Here to Support You is a clever story about bureaucracy at it's finest; which is to say, a corporate rat race ending in a nightmare.
I did think it was really interesting how Charlene captured what it's like to work for big business and how you start to lose yourself in the chase for the betterment of the organization. Her society where corporate has found a way for people to be constantly at work but not always at work was written well, though it didn't hit me nearly as hard as it could have since working from home has become somewhat of the norm the last several years.
Where I kind of fell off this book was Clarissa's interactions with Mr. Dick Richards. The addition of an online sex tryst felt a bit random to me and took me out of the story a lot. Then everything really spiraled from there, and it was hard for me to stay invested in what was going on.
Maybe I just didn't catch all of the nuances in the story that I was supposed to, but I was left with a lot of confusion and questions, especially after that ending.
This book just didn't hit for me, though I can see where others would really enjoy it!
I did think it was really interesting how Charlene captured what it's like to work for big business and how you start to lose yourself in the chase for the betterment of the organization. Her society where corporate has found a way for people to be constantly at work but not always at work was written well, though it didn't hit me nearly as hard as it could have since working from home has become somewhat of the norm the last several years.
Where I kind of fell off this book was Clarissa's interactions with Mr. Dick Richards. The addition of an online sex tryst felt a bit random to me and took me out of the story a lot. Then everything really spiraled from there, and it was hard for me to stay invested in what was going on.
Maybe I just didn't catch all of the nuances in the story that I was supposed to, but I was left with a lot of confusion and questions, especially after that ending.
This book just didn't hit for me, though I can see where others would really enjoy it!
February 19, 2025
In The Organization is Here to Support You, Charlene Elsby crafts a darkly comedic and surreal tale that probes the absurdities and horrors lurking within modern bureaucracies.
Drawing inspiration from literary luminaries like Franz Kafka, J.G. Ballard, and Sayaka Murata, Elsby deftly weaves together elements of existential dread, biting satire, and the mundane realities of office life.
The narrative follows Clarissa Knowles journey through a labyrinthine corporate landscape, where the lines between individual identity and organizational conformity become increasingly blurred with each passing page.
Elsby's prose is sharp and incisive, capturing the soul-crushing banality of bureaucratic processes while simultaneously evoking a sense of creeping unease.
Through its Kafkaesque lens, The Organization is Here to Support You offers a thought-provoking commentary on the dehumanizing effects of corporate culture and the struggle to maintain one's identity in the face of an all-consuming, faceless entity.
Drawing inspiration from literary luminaries like Franz Kafka, J.G. Ballard, and Sayaka Murata, Elsby deftly weaves together elements of existential dread, biting satire, and the mundane realities of office life.
The narrative follows Clarissa Knowles journey through a labyrinthine corporate landscape, where the lines between individual identity and organizational conformity become increasingly blurred with each passing page.
Elsby's prose is sharp and incisive, capturing the soul-crushing banality of bureaucratic processes while simultaneously evoking a sense of creeping unease.
Through its Kafkaesque lens, The Organization is Here to Support You offers a thought-provoking commentary on the dehumanizing effects of corporate culture and the struggle to maintain one's identity in the face of an all-consuming, faceless entity.
April 25, 2025
Charlene Elsby has done it again! “The Organization is Here To Support You” is a thought-provoking, satirical, and sardonic piece that contains many elements that ring true for any of us that have been cogs in the wheel of capitalism (some of the realest horror lies in the experience of having a Devin in the workplace- iykyk).
This is the second work of hers that I’ve read (the first being Violent Faculties) and her background and academic writing style really makes for an interesting voice, so she’s become a must-read author for me. This book is great for anyone that has ever agonized over microaggressions in the workplace or participated in the standard psychological warfare that can occur in employee communications.
*spoilers below*
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As an aside, I am glad Dorian the cat survives. I can take human suffering, but not animal suffering. LOL.
This is the second work of hers that I’ve read (the first being Violent Faculties) and her background and academic writing style really makes for an interesting voice, so she’s become a must-read author for me. This book is great for anyone that has ever agonized over microaggressions in the workplace or participated in the standard psychological warfare that can occur in employee communications.
*spoilers below*
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As an aside, I am glad Dorian the cat survives. I can take human suffering, but not animal suffering. LOL.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2025
Fun, strange read. The cover is what initially caught my attention and I saw a review that mentioned Severance and I was sold. This is another brand new author but Elsby has a really solid voice. It took me a chapter or so to connect with the prose, but once it grabs you it’s quite the ride.
The Organization is Here to Support You follows Clarissa in her incredibly monotonous life. She is fully integrated into this organization whose goal is never totally clear (in a very mysterious and important kind of way). Clarissa has long since learned that being over productive only leads to additional work, so being satisfactory is the goal. Clarissa’s life entirely revolves around her work (and Dorian, her cat) and when she receives a strange email inquiry her existence is shaken.
Again, there is very little action in this one and it’s difficult to even classify the genre. It’s darkly funny at times and also bizarre yet relatable? Having worked for the US Postal Service I can absolutely confirm that all of the seasoned carriers would tell you to aim for mediocre as anything further will just be rewarded with more work. This was a dope read and incredibly strange. While Clarissa never gets to hear any defiant jazz, I can see why this could be mentioned alongside Severance. It has that same bizarre element where you know something darker is lurking under the surface. Recommend to readers of weird fiction that is lite on gore but heavy on absurdity.
The Organization is Here to Support You follows Clarissa in her incredibly monotonous life. She is fully integrated into this organization whose goal is never totally clear (in a very mysterious and important kind of way). Clarissa has long since learned that being over productive only leads to additional work, so being satisfactory is the goal. Clarissa’s life entirely revolves around her work (and Dorian, her cat) and when she receives a strange email inquiry her existence is shaken.
Again, there is very little action in this one and it’s difficult to even classify the genre. It’s darkly funny at times and also bizarre yet relatable? Having worked for the US Postal Service I can absolutely confirm that all of the seasoned carriers would tell you to aim for mediocre as anything further will just be rewarded with more work. This was a dope read and incredibly strange. While Clarissa never gets to hear any defiant jazz, I can see why this could be mentioned alongside Severance. It has that same bizarre element where you know something darker is lurking under the surface. Recommend to readers of weird fiction that is lite on gore but heavy on absurdity.
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