Meridian’s own Erin Ann McBride wrote a compelling, impossible-to-put-down novella called The Agency, a fictionalized memoir of her experiences in a small marketing firm headed by Medusa herself.Told from the perspective of a new, young professional hired to help manage social media exposure back when social media was new to the world.
The storytelling is flawless in this suitable-for-all-audiences tale of greed and deception; that McBride lived this experience is no surprise only because her vivid writing transports us to the agency offices as we cower in the corner hoping to avoid the fury of the lying, screaming sociopath who runs the agency.
McBride’s style is crisp and clean. The page is uncluttered by superfluous details or overwrought ruminations of the protagonist’s anguish. Anne Marie’s pain is evident not through expositive language, but via the simple telling of factspain we feel instantly. The reader instantly reacts to missed paychecks, bounced checks and rent coming due simply with the sense of either having been there or having lain awake nights worrying about going there.
The book is suitable for anyone, but should be required reading for young people, especially young women leaving home for the first time. This is a cautionary tale that evokes Wall Street excess and Silicon Valley greed in high definition clarity.
The Agency is available from Amazon.com for $1.99 as an ebook.