Freedom's Just Another Word for People Finding Out You're Useless

Dilbert #32

by Scott Adams

No office can function without a little humor and craziness. Adams turns mundane office issues into excruciatingly funny office moments.

In Freedom's Just Another Word for People Finding Out You're Useless, fans get a hilarious collection of great Dilbert strips that are anything but useless. From office politics and reams of red tape, to mayhem due to new technologies and, of course, the crazy cast of co-workers, Dilbert gets it done.

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

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 21, 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

[Glire · Rating 1 out of 5]

2016 Reading Challenge #24: A book with a protagonist who has your occupation.

Dilbert es un ingeniero que trabaja en un complejo de oficinas. Me too.

Dilbert cree que el internet es más interesante que las personas de la vida real. Me too.

Dilbert tiene algunas tiras buenas y muy acertadas.



(No lo nieguen, Recursos Humanos, todos sabemos cuanto aman hacer esos anuncios de trabajo tipo: Se busca profesional no mayor de 25 años, con mínimo 15 años de experiencia)

Y, a pesar de todo eso, no me sentí identificada, no me hizo sonreír y no me gustó. Tarde dos meses leyendo este libro de apenas 120 páginas de tiras cómicas. DOS MESES. Y tuve que forzarme a terminarlo.

¡Dilbert puede ser tan pesado y aburrido!

...me too.

[Miss Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Remo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Segundo libro de Dilbert que leo, y último, presiento, por una temporada. La necesidad de hacer el chiste en tres viñetas hace que muchas veces esté todo traído por los pelos, cosa que nunca noté con Garfield o Calvin&Hobbes, por poner dos de mis favoritos.

Los temas son los de siempre: RRHH inhumanos, consultores con mucho morro, jefes incompetentes, y la insoportable levedad del ser de los que realmente hacen el trabajo. Eso y mucha mala leche por parte del autor.

No me convence Dilbert, a pesar de que unas pocas tiras sí me arrancaran una sonrisa.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dilbert is always amusing. Ian fought me for this one, but I won, and I got to read it first since I'm still taller than he is.

[Sean Goh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way of the Wally:

Only an idiot finishes a project before the deadline. The less time you give people to nitpick, the more time you have to pretend you're overworked.

Winners keep their jobs but stop caring about the quality of their work. I have no stress, free coffee, and get paid too.
-Doesn't this make you a worthless leech on society?
I'm pretty sure the winner in that example is the leech.

I need you to attend a meeting for your boss while he is on vacation. I plan to bully you into making decisions that are bad for your department.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another solid entry in the Dilbert series, immediately following the previous volume I just happened to read, This is the Part Where You Pretend to Add Value.

I still have no idea why Scott Adams would riff off the lyrics of Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" for the title of this collection: "Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose". It does come directly from one of the strips, part of the "Way of Wally" gags.

Some of the strips that made me laugh, especially based on my current job:

[Jimyanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy Dilbert books, you definitely won't want to miss this one. If you don't, why the (blank) not? They're hilarious. This one is composed almost entirely of strips that bear at least some relevance to the title and overall theme, which can best be summed up as, "Never let anyone know how competent you are; they'll just expect more of you." Otherwise known as "The Way of the Wally".

[SKP · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m slowly working my way through as many Dilbert collections as I can access either via Kindle or my library eBooks. So far, I’ve not been disappointed. I think anyone who has worked in an office setting of any sort with a variety of co-workers, bosses they could live without, cubicles, and office politics can relate to Dilbert. Lots of laughter.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes me feel better about being retired

All color strips. A lot of wally. Dilbert is such a cubicle worker. I almost ended up in a cubicle. I actually ended up making more as a small machine operator.

[Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The comics are funny but I wish the author revealed more about what they actually do and work toward in the office.

[Scott Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic Dilbert. Some of the jokes didn’t age well. Others still very much apply.

[Jeff J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful.

[The_J · Rating 5 out of 5]

The joy of comic strips in the hands of a master . . . laugh away office bitterness.

[Michael Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

More quips for the office

I look to Dilbert to put me in the frame of mind to deliver some of his stunning lines in meetings and with "colleagues". I'd prefer to use Alice's skills but insubordination and sarcasm is harder to fire than slapping the morons silly.

[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

[Niffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if I'm getting worn down in my old age, or if after awhile the jokes just get stale, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as I've enjoyed other Dilbert books in the past. It still rings true, but somehow it just felt a little stale.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adams has learned to print in color so that people can't photocopy his comics. Also, he doesn't have to be funny anymore. It's like printing money.

[Duane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dilbert has always been one of my favorite comic strips, but this book seems not up to his usual standards. It does have a few funny strips, but overall, it seemed to lack his usual wit and humor.

[Shayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Filler read, but Dilbert is always good for a laugh when you're a cubicle dweller.

[Ash Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

love comics

[Teresa Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny as ever. And all the references to bosses and management are so acurate that it's frightening.

[Bob Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

It makes me laugh. As I read it, I could see this happening in any work setting. So have a good laugh and say thank god I don't work there or maybe I do and just haven't noticed before.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dilbert ... Business as usual

As usual, I find Dilbert hauntingly true, but amazingly funny. Another solid additional to the Dilbert library. A good read for Dilbert fans.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical Dilbert brilliance post Dilbert 2.0.

[Cindy May]

some pretty good stuff - classic Dilbert!