Managers, offices, the daily grind, rows of computer screens, crap coffee machines ... a fair number of contemporary poets have been swift to pen their thoughts on the typical working conditions of modern life, but a new pamphlet I recently received, The Manager , is, I think, a novel and original take on the 9-5 world that most of us inhabit. As its title suggests, it centres on the shifting persona of "the manager", in a sequence that moves from the serious to the irreverant and from the depressing to the uplifting with surprising ease. A few excerpts to pique your interest: The manager has proverbs on the wall about being a good man and he reads them at times of intense isolation when his office has become a cell and the laughter in the next room is a barrier he has not the skill to clear. (Manager #1: Mantra) The manager burns, he burns with the heat of an example others will follow: a new kind of leader. (Manager #5: Health & Safety Incident) The manager's eyes
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