REVIEW: Several People Are Typing (book) by Calvin Kasulke

Several People Are Typing is a blend of workplace comedy, science fiction, and horror. I bought my copy new.

This review includes major spoilers. 

Review:

Gerald is working on a spreadsheet of winter coats he might want to purchase when his consciousness is suddenly somehow sucked into the internal Slack channels of the marketing company he works for. He doesn't hide this from anyone and, in fact, asks for help multiple times, but most of his coworkers are convinced that this is some kind of weird bit and that Gerald is just working from home. Gerald's boss is impressed with his improved levels of productivity.

The one person who knows Gerald isn't just really committed to a weird joke is his coworker Pradeep, who reluctantly takes care of Gerald's physical body while he's not in it. As Gerald and Pradeep try to figure out how to get Gerald back into his body, several of their coworkers try to create social media posts that will somehow improve the reputation of a dog food company whose product has suddenly killed dozens of Pomeranians. They also talk about their dogs, kids, and secret office romances. 

This is a quick read that, until one particular moment, I really enjoyed. There was a weird Lovecraftian aspect to Gerald's experiences, Slackbot's emerging sentience, and that one employee who kept hearing howling everywhere. The entire book took place via Slack interactions, so readers had to infer what was happening in the physical world, and it was often a mix of horrifying and hilarious. 

This doesn't wrap up in a way that explains anything, and I probably would have been mostly okay with this (although I can't stop wondering about Lydia - what happened to her?). My biggest problem with the book was something that happened near the end. There's no way to talk about it without spoiling things, so here goes: at one point, Slackbot takes over Gerald's body. It's fascinated by real-life experiences and starts having questions about sex (prompted by the office romance it 100% knows is going on). Pradeep has developed feelings for Gerald during their interactions in this book...so he was sex with Gerald's body, currently inhabited by Slackbot. He guiltily confesses all of this to Gerald, who, rather than being understandably horrified, is just upset that he wasn't in his body when the sex happened, because he has developed reciprocal feelings for Pradeep. I think it was all meant to be sweet and funny, and I just found it deeply horrifying and gross. 

This could have been a fabulous book I'd happily have recommended to those looking for something a little different in their workplace horror-comedy. However, not even Lydia's unhinged awesomeness near the end could make up for how Kasulke handled things with Gerald, Pradeep, and Slackbot.