Microserfs

Microserfs is about a group of young Microsoft employees who seem to spend all their waking hours working, holed away in their offices staring at computer screens. Matthew Perry, of television's Friends, does a remarkable job of bringing this abridged audiobook version humorously and heartbreakingly to life. In the beginning, he appropriately uses the sarcastic voice for which he is so well known, but as the story reveals the darker side of protagonist Dan's frantic world, Perry drops the attitude and uses a much more understanding tone. Dan, not yet 30, but already facing burnout, realizes he has no life and begins keeping a journal in an attempt to sort through his personal and professional plight. Halfway through the story (read as journal entries), Dan and a group of like-minded cohorts quit their jobs, pack their bags, and set out to start up their own company in Silicon Valley. This audiobook is an often hilarious foray into the risks and the rewards of the high-tech world. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes)