Regarding the flatness of the characters: as I was reading, I found myself most interested in how the characters related to each other, in how they interacted with one another, but I didn't really identify with any of them. They really were quite two-dimensional, but I think that's probably because we're only seeing…

@Farmer John: Hmmm… interesting. But I'm not entirely convinced that the people who are excluded from "us" is part of "them." I never really got the feeling that Joe Pope was part of any external group—he was just obviously not part of "us."

I much preferred the parts of the book that had very little plot, because they were so focused on the relationships between people. The big plot moments (the paintball gun episode, for example) struck me as hokey and false, while the endless discussions of the totem pole were much more engrossing and relevant.

I would say that "they" is upper management and the clients—whoever is making the decisions that get handed down to "us."

I agree completely—part of the reason I identified so strongly with the smaller, more real tragedies was because they were believable. Those things actually happen in real life. The clown suit/paint ball gun episode strained my willing suspension of disbelief too much, and brought the book perilously close to a…

@redpunker and Farmer John: I had a real problem with the final sentence. I know what Ferris was going for, but I thought he was a little heavy-handed in his "breaking the 4th wall" effort. I was ALREADY part of the story. Having the POV deliberately point AT me rather than include me was startling and not entirely…