Temporary

By: Hilary Leichter

Narrated by: Carly Robins

Length: 5 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

In Temporary, a young woman’s workplace is the size of the world. She fills increasingly bizarre placements in search of steadiness, connection, and something, at last, to call her own. Whether it’s shining an endless closet of shoes, swabbing the deck of a pirate ship, assisting an assassin, or filling in for the Chairman of the Board, for the mythical Temporary, “there is nothing more personal than doing your job.”

This riveting quest, at once hilarious and profound, will resonate with anyone who has ever done their best at work, even when the work is only temporary.

©2020 Hilary Leichter (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Leichter’s funny, absurdist debut cleverly explores a capitalist society taken to a dreamlike extreme…. Her cutting, hilarious critique of the American dream will appeal to fans of Italo Calvino.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A young temp searches for permanence in Leichter’s whimsically surreal fable of late-stage capitalism…. Clever and strange and, in the end, unexpectedly hopeful, less a biting gig-economy satire than a wistful 21st-century myth. A dreamy meditation on how we construct who we are.” —Kirkus

"[Carly] Robins's inflections evoke the perky perfection of a woman who is making incredible connections between the nature of work and life, all amid the story's magical realism. Robins's narration makes this audiobook a delightful experience worthy of multiple listens." —AudioFile Magazine

I expected to like it, but I ended up loving it.

I read an excerpt of this book on Lithub and immediately fell in love with the prose. I didn't expect the plot to be so compelling--who would think a temp job could translate to pirates, childrearing, dirigibles and murder?--but I had to finish this in one sitting, because every second left me wanting more. I also cried at the beautiful ending, which tied the story up in a way that left me smiling for days. This book will sit within me for a long time.

There were some audio issues that didn't sit well, but those were easily gotten around turning down the volume.

It's worth your time for the creativity, humor, and the expert writing.

Brilliant

Liz
Clever language, incredible transitions from one descriptions of the essence of one temporary job after another. Wonderfully inter-woven characters.
Loved it!

Cheerful, thoughtful, unique

This book is impossible to really classify. It skirts the line of fantasy, absurdist humor, fable, and almost feels like poetry at times. But having finished it, I think I would say that it's the rarest of all book genres in that it's literary fiction that isn't a misery party focused on horrible people. If you want something upbeat, full of meaning and metaphor, then this is the perfect book for you. It's an excellent salve to the horrible timeline we are currently living in.

Like someone's mixed up dream

Couldn't finish. It's like a young Asian girl had a strange dream and wrote a book about it. Really tried to finish; made it about halfway but wasn't looking forward to listening to more. I have enjoyed animated Asian children's films like Howl's Castle. Some parts do seem dreamlike but this was much more disjointed and wierd.

A book of fantasy? A story that rambles. Not worth listening to

Too odd for me. The narrator kept me listening to the book. The story was very strange. A disappointment and a waste of time.

Save Your Money

I could only get through 3 chapters. This book has so many metaphors and similes that I could barely tell when the author was using a metaphor or trying to establish a story line.
The narrator did not help clarify the story plot.
I returned the book.