Flocker brings the mocking humor from his Metrosexual Guide to Style
and its follow-ups to the workplace, but the effect is like throwing a fresh coat of paint on a rundown old car. Much of his advice is exactly what you'd find in any other handbook to the corporate environment, like the chestnut about dressing for the job one level higher than your current position, while still maintaining your individual sense of style. Even worse are the passages that haven't been fresh since the mid-1990s, like a list of warning signs for e-mail addiction or making fun of "action item" and other corporate buzzwords. When Flocker does venture into original territory, his anti-corporate humor is stuck on the level of juvenile pranks. He recommends messing with your co-workers' heads by moving things on their desks when they aren't looking or interrupting meetings with silly questions. There's also a slew of wacky new vocabulary terms culled from the Internet, several of which actually have very little to do with the workplace. Marginal illustrations liven things up, but even they aren't as entertaining as reading a Dilbert collection—which would better equip readers for office politics as well. (Nov. 30)
