e Squared by Matt Beaumont

An entertaining follow-up to e, Beaumont's debut novel from 2000, e Squared didn't quite capture me the way the first one did. I liked it - I liked it a lot - but it felt too outrageous. As much as I liked the many electronic ways through which Beaumont moved the story along (including emails, texts, and eBay postings), there seemed to be less focus this time on the office side of things. It has been several years since I read e, so maybe that one was the same way. The thing from e Squared that stands out the most, the thing I liked the most, is the staffer who was always away at some conference or retreat, and therefore always had a different out-of-office email reply. Those never failed to make me smile, and I wish I'd jotted a few of them down to share here now.

e Squared on BookCrossing.

a tarantula dressed as a stewardess

From: Bill Geddes
To: Kazu Makino
Sent: 5 January 2009, 11.59
Subject: Re: Don

His fear of flying is matched only by his terror of spiders. He has a recurring nightmare about flying long haul and being served chicken/beef by a tarantula dressed as a stewardess.

-- e Squared by Matt Beaumont