Reason for Leaving: Job Stories

By John Manderino

In the last column of a job application, there's that tricky question: Reason for Leaving. John Manderino has apparently had to puzzle over that one often and long. His answers are collected here in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 089733499X
• ISBN13: 9780897334990
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• Length: 179 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Great dialogue

I got some great laughs. I loved the journey through various jobs. His use of dialogue is excellent. If you enjoy this, you will enjoy Plainsong by Kent Haruf or visa versa.

A new fan of John Manderino

My local bookseller -- the estimable Chris Bowe at Longfellow Books in Portland, Maine -- recommended this book by an author I hadn't heard of. What a delightful surprise! This light, good-hearted coming-of-age story told through a unique structure of employment mishaps (from delivery boy, age 12, to writer, age 30) is a constant pleasure, and contains the funniest, sharpest dialogue I've read in years. It's not a novel, however, despite what the cover says; it's a series of linked vignettes, and every single one of them sparkles. I LOVE this guy's prose--clean, clean, clean, with a musical flow: not a single thud in the entire book. What a shame that gems like this (small press, probably a short print run, no publicity) don't get to shine in a marketplace fogged over with subpar bestsellers.

A Joy

This book is marvelous, funny, touching, engaging, and just a hoot! Something for everyone.