21 Dog Years : Doing Time @ Amazon.com Scott Manning November 28, 2002

Author: Mike Daisey

See it on Amazon

Mike Daisey has a unique story to tell. Having joined the ranks of Amazon in the height of the dotcom boom, he spent two years working in three different departments just trying to keep from getting fired and going insane. From reading his book, it doesn't seem like either destination would be a far trip for him.

It was hard to find a decent job when all Mike Daisey had to his name was an aesthetics major. That's right, aesthetics. Working temp jobs and passing the time at caf's in Seattle had certainly lost its flair when Amazon came calling for him. Since Amazon was looking for "non-normal" people, Daisey fit the description perfectly. The result is this book chronicling Daisey's experience at one of the biggest dotcom's during the late Nineties.

An honest slacker
I've met a lot of slackers in my life. I went to school with them, I've worked with them, I've cleaned up after them, and, hell, at times, I've even been considered one of them. The rarest trait to find amongst slackers is an honest perspective about their lack of initiative and desire to get out of as much work as possible. Daisey is different though. He says very plainly that he had determined at a young age not to work an honest day in his life.

Understand that there is plenty of sarcasm mixed in with Daisey's honesty; it's just sometimes hard to figure out where the honesty stops and the sarcasm begins, or where the two merge.

Daisey's sarcasm overwhelms the book at times especially when, at the end of almost every chapter, there is a fake email from him to Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon. These emails have stalker-like tone to them that remind me of Eminem's Stan. Honesty or sarcasm? I think both, but mostly sarcasm... I think.

Customer Service to Editorial to Business Development
Getting caught up in the excitement of the Internet boom, Daisey started working hard and even worked overtime. Both were new concepts to him, but the excitement of the company was too much to handle. The excitement started to wear off as the role of a customer service rep quickly lost its appeal. He found ways to fool his supervisors and look like he's working hard.

Daisey eventually got transferred to Editorial where he flaked out on writing nearly 50 toy reviews. This leads to possibly the funniest part of the book where Daisey and his wife try to hide in their home from an Amazon temp coming to collect the unreviewed toys. I dropped the book laughing hysterically as Daisey and the wife argued with each under the covers of their bed while the temp was banging on the door demanding that they give up the toys. There are plenty more incidents like this in the book that kept me reading.

After that fiasco, Daisey was transferred to Business Development. There, he wasn't quite sure what he or anyone else was doing, but they were all doing it very efficiently and with great determination.

Down-to-Earth perspective
Daisey, like virtually everyone else, was entranced by the concept of making millions from the Internet. Looking back at everything with a clear vision mixed with a smartass attitude, Daisey gives a down-to-earth perspective as to why everyone got caught up in the nonsense. It wasn't just the outrageous numbers and prospects; it was the marvelous PowerPoint presentations and greed that kept everyone in a state of denial and blind hope.

With that said the author does not believe his book is not meant to give any kind of tips for successful business nor is it going to give you the points to avoid so you don't fall like Amazon did (Amazon's stock peaked at over $100 a share and are now around $24 a share). He says very plainly that "you bought the wrong book", if that's what you're looking for.

I'd say if you're just looking to get a fresh perspective on the dotcom era and how Amazon was operated at the time along with some good humor, you will enjoy this book. I sure did.

Related links:
Mike Daisey's website
More book reviews on Scottmanning.com