Discontent

A Novel

By: Beatriz Serrano, Mara Faye Lethem - translator

Narrated by: Emer Kenny

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE • From a dazzling new international voice, an audacious, darkly funny novel about a young woman whose carefully crafted office persona threatens to crack when she’s forced to attend her company’s annual retreat

"A wry work of spectacular wit. . . . Beatriz Serrano writes with a caustic flare for detail, exploring the small humiliations of the everyday corporate office with charm and utter hilarity. Absolutely brilliant." —Danya Kukafka, author of Notes on an Execution

On the surface, Marisa's life looks enviable. She lives in a beautiful apartment in the center of Madrid, she has a hot neighbor who is always around to sleep with her, and she’s quickly risen through the ranks at a successful advertising agency. And yet she’s drowning in a dark hole of existential dread induced by the banality of corporate life. Marisa hates her job and everyone at it. She spends her working hours locked in her office hiding from her coworkers, bingeing YouTube videos, and getting high on tranquilizers. When she has the time, she escapes to her favorite museum where she contemplates the meaning of life while staring at Hieronymus Bosch paintings, or trying to get hit by a car so she can go on disability.

But Marisa's dubious success, which is largely built on lies and work she's stolen from other people, is in danger of being exposed when she's forced to go on her company’s team-building retreat. Isolated in the Segovia forests, haunted by the deeply buried memory of a former coworker, and surrounded by psychopathic bosses, overzealous coworkers, flirty retreat staff, and an excess of drugs, Marisa finds herself acting on her wildest impulses and is pushed to the brink of a complete spiral.

My guess is that this is a burn out office worker that finally quit to fulfill her dreams and I’m here for it!

I was expecting more of a story. But I actually appreciate the way it ends

Cynical; filled with Dark Humor and Corporate Lingo

Liked the book. I think it's a solid 4/5. Anyone working in corporate can identify themselves with various sections of the book.

I loved this book!

It was the perfect combination of smart harsh and funny. Wished it had been longer.

I’d hoped for more originality

The protagonist is unlikeable and the plot is contrived. However there are some fun workplace observations and some interesting relationship insights that make this an entertaining enough listen.