14 Years of Loyal Service in a Fabric-Covered Box

Dilbert #33

by Scott Adams

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse - here comes a thieving Idea Squirrel, a Carbicle, and plans for making plans in the thirty-third Dilbert collection.

Anyone who works in a fabric-covered box can relate to Dilbert.
Since 1989, Dilbert has been the touchstone of office humor for people all over the world. As long as there are corrupt businesses, inept bosses and downright loathsome co-workers, there is plenty to chuckle at.

Convinced your co-worker is a demon?
That your boss is incompetent?
That your dog is out to get you?

Dilbert believes you - and this book proves it!

“Once every decade, America is gifted with an angst-ridden anti-hero, a Nietzschean nebbish, an us-against-the-universe every person around whom our insecurities collect like iron shavings to a magnet. Charlie Chaplin. Dagwood Bumstead. Charlie Brown. Cathy. Now, Dilbert.” —The Miami Herald

Genres: Humor, Comics, Comic Strips, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Graphic Novels, Cartoon

128 pages, Nook

First published October 20, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Scott Adams was a defining voice of the American white-collar experience who transitioned from a prominent cartoonist into a polarizing political commentator. After earning an MBA from UC Berkeley and spending years in management at Pacific Bell, Adams launched the comic strip Dilbert in 1989. The strip’s sharp satire of corporate bureaucracy and the "Dilbert Principle"—the idea that incompetent employees are promoted to management to minimize their damage—resonated globally, eventually appearing in 2,000 newspapers and winning the prestigious Reuben Award. Beyond the funny pages, Adams explored philosophy and persuasion in works like God's Debris and Win Bigly, the latter of which analyzed Donald Trump’s rhetorical strategies during the 2016 election. His career took a dramatic turn during the mid-2010s as he shifted focus to his daily "Real Coffee" livestream, where he combined his background in hypnosis and corporate strategy to comment on the "culture wars." This period of independent commentary culminated in 2023 when he reacted to a poll regarding racial tensions with a series of inflammatory remarks. Labeling Black Americans a "hate group" and advocating for racial segregation, Adams faced immediate and widespread repercussions; hundreds of newspapers dropped his strip, and his publisher canceled his upcoming projects. Undeterred, he moved his work to the subscription-based platform Locals, rebranding his comic as Dilbert Reborn. In his final years, he faced severe health challenges, including stage IV prostate cancer and vocal cord issues, yet he remained a prolific presence on social media. He eventually announced the end of his hand-drawn work due to focal dystonia but continued to direct the strip's vision. Adams’s legacy remains a complex study in the power of branding, the evolution of digital influence, and the volatile intersection of creative genius and political provocation in the modern era.

Reviews

[Katrine Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

All too real with a laugh

Dilbert may be a genius. Clearly Scott Adams will never lack for fodder to mock. However reading two of his books back to back felt redundant. I'll come back to him in a while I suspect.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Dilbert so this collection of daily comics couldn't really disappoint. "14 Years of Loyal Service in a Fabric-Covered Box", which is an awesome title, is just the three panels of Monday through Saturday comics, along with the larger Sunday comic, put into book form. The comics span Scott Adams' work from late 2008 to the summer of 2009. Anyone who has ever read Dilbert knows what to expect: witty, sardonic office humor. Due to the economic collapse of those few years, Scott Adams infused mostly economic humor into Dilbert's office; layoffs, downsizing, and unemployment are topics explored in every panel. The reason I didn't go 5 stars was because I know Scott Adams has more inventive material, although reading Dilbert is pure bliss. Having every comic involve the economy does get repetitive so that's my big criticism. Even though the best jokes here did involve the office workers doing anything to keep their jobs, the material does feel a little monotonous in the moment. I look forward to checking out a few more of these collections this year. It seems that Scott Adams may be my "most read author" this year, but that's not a bad thing!

[Shoy L Mohr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always Funny, Painfully Accurate

Scott Adams consistently describes the typical office in a typical business. In hell. If you're lucky. And smart. And brave. Unfortunately, few of us get to be lucky enough to be in Adams' type of office, but we can recognize aspects and cringeworthy dialogues enough to make all of his books relatable and hilarious.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never too much Dilbert

This is a nice collection of Dilbert clips that show the pains of working in Corporate America. Only those who don't can't see the truth behind the humor. The rest of us know you just can't make this stuff up. But as usual, Scott Adams takes a glimmer of truth and brings us the truly outrageous. Classic Dilbert. Easy to navigate in Kindle format.

[SheLove2Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read one of these, but I picked it up free on Amazon Prime. I think for me it held more meaning when I worked in the corporate sector, but still amusing.

[SKP · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Dilbert comics, so I always love the collections, no matter how many I read. Funny, but too much truth to ignore for anyone who has worked in a corporate office of any sort. Some of the scenarios ring true for the years I worked in libraries even, although more fitting to the few office jobs I had in between. Love Dilbert, Dogbert, Catbert, Wally, Asok, Alice, Carol, the many Teds, and all the rest. The pointy-haired boss? I just love to hate him! Unfortunately, he reminds me of some bosses I’ve had over the years —clueless and overpaid. I still have a number of Dilbert books waiting to be read.

[Jimyanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Typical hilarious Dilbert book. If you've read and enjoyed Dilbert before, you'll love this one. If you have read Dilbert and not been amused before, I can't imagine why not, but you won't like this one any better. If you've never read Dilbert before, give it a try. I expect that you'll love it, especially if you work for a living, and ESPECIALLY if you do so in an office.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, very enjoyable.

[Leandro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta vez Dilbert me deprimió.
Crisis, sueldos bajos, sin aumentos en el horizonte.
Los chistes son buenos, pero ahora como que estoy en ellos.

[Wendelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

"my cubicle destroyed my illusion of free will"

[CW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of Dilbert comic strips

Great collection of Dilbert comic strips! Images are crisp and easily zoomable on Kindle. Great for light night time reading.

[Miss Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[RKanimalkingdom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Little bit disappointed with this one. Not as funny

[Richard Trentman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dilbert is awesome!!

Love reading the witty corporate satire. Always so funny, current and and spot on. Miss it in the daily papers.

[Cat Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of the Dilbert comics, and this collection was as funny as ever.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Office Humor!

Dilbert is so funny because it comes so close to the truth! (Sarcasm intended, but only slightly!!!) This is a must read.

[Geoffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ploughed through this one today.

[Eric Braun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Old Dilbert

Great humor about business centered around the recession with the satire and insight only Dilbert could offer. Great read for anyone!

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection ups the snark level - it was clearly written during or after the 2008 recession, and there are a lot of strips dedicated financial disasters and responses. Dilbert's always fun, and always disturbingly close to corporate reality, so seeing the employees have a higher than average number of strips where they get the upper hand is nice. The CEOs still rule the world, but their throne is trembling.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scott Adams doesn't break new ground making fun of corporate America circa 2008 financial collapse.

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all might have started out like Calvin with a great view of life. But after hitting the workforce we all somewhat become Dilbert. Everyone knows someone like one of the characters in the strips. Highly recommended

[Deborah Lynch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure if I wasn't in the right frame of mind for this or it was just that some of the content, while amusing, was a little too depressing and realistic. Some laughs but not one of the best for me.

[Duane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dilbert is truly the best comic strip out there dealing with everyday insanity we call "work". Laugh out loud humor is what you'll get from this book!

[Britt, Book Habitue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always love Dilbert books. :)

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical Dilbert. Post Dilbert 2.0.

[Jaye Latts · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was funny, but I guess I don't relate to the corporate, cubicle scene. Still some occasional flashes of brilliance.

[Rex Libris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world illuminated in the Dilbert strips really does exist. I lived it at Career Education.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has worked in a fabric-covered box for a number of years, I could identify (SADLY) with quite a few of the cartoons in this book.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious look at work life in a large corporation. Highly relatable with plenty of laughs!

[Samori Augusto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but not great

Funny in some places, but really just rehashing old jokes. Maybe if he focused on creating more and longer arcs for each character.