Reviews

Vincent and Alice and Alice by Shane Jones

oshepard314's review against another edition

2.5

I know this was supposed to be commentary on society or something, but I was mostly bored and confused. 

purrfectpages's review against another edition

3.0

This was a strange book that although it had a lot of potential, somehow fell short of what it was trying to achieve. Equal parts sad and humorous, this story read like a sci fi version of Office Space. What if you had the chance to live your perfect life all the while really living in the mundane? With many great one liners and insights sprinkled throughout I held out hoping the story would pan out, but instead it fell flat for me.

taurustorus's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

poodlydoo72's review against another edition

3.0

Randomly picked this up and the library... a strange little book about office life and figuring out love issues. I liked the first half more than the second.

dlrogna's review against another edition

funny sad medium-paced

3.5

mattburris's review against another edition

5.0

Quirky and sad and very funny. I enjoyed it a lot.

alanfederman's review

3.0

This was a quirky book in every sense of the word - I felt a little off-balance while reading it. It is the story of Vincent, stuck in a mind-numbing, soul-crushing "office" job (working for the State) and the author included every archetypal office character known to humankind in this book. In an attempt to break his boredom, but not risk his generous retirement package, Vincent participates in PER, and experiment to boost productivity while providing images of life happiness all around him (some real, some not). When reality and unreality converge things get tricky. It was an enjoyable read and yes, a good read, but alas, not a great read.

rebeccahussey's review

Vincent is a state worker waiting out his years until retirement. That retirement will be incredibly generous, so of course he has to stick with it, but the job is meaningless and is making him miserable. So is the fact that he and his wife Alice are divorcing. Into this sad situation comes Dorian Blood, a man with a proposal to change Vincent’s life: Vincent will get to live his ideal life while becoming wildly productive at this job. All he has to do is go through a training and let Dorian and his mysterious PER program take over his reality. What could go wrong? This novel is wonderful at capturing office life, even if your office life isn’t as dire as Vincent’s. It also captures a world slightly worse than ours, but one that is still recognizable and scary. It’s an entertaining, funny, provoking read about the nature of reality and the meaning of life.
https://bookriot.com/2019/07/05/july-indie-press-books/