The Joy of Work

The Joy of Work by Scott Adams

The Joy of Work (1998) by Scott Adams is a two-part book, the first offering recommendations as to how office workers can find happiness at their cubicle desks and the second sharing Adams' formula for creating humor, based on his experience penning the Dilbert comic strip.^[1]

Title

The title is a comic reference to the 1972 sex manual The Joy of Sex.

Synopsis

The first part of the book explains 'how to find happiness at the expense of your co-workers', including how to deal with superiors, meetings and co-workers and how to avoid work whilst having fun; an entire chapter is devoted to office pranks. The second part is an analysis of humour and how to write funny material. Scott also writes "The third part of the book is made entirely out of invisible pages. If the book seems heavier than it looks, that's why."

The book includes a response to Norman Solomon, who attempted to depict Scott Adams as a proponent of downsizing in his 1997 book, The Trouble with Dilbert. People who were offended by certain Dilbert strips are also addressed, Adams concluding that it is the "proximity" of sensitive subjects to negative concepts that causes "people who are angry for no good reason (nuts)" to take offence.

The 'Final Postscript' in the book is a page dedicated to his cat 'Freddie', who died as the book was in its final stages. The last words in the book are "That [pet ownership], my friend, is joy".

Notes