The Sum of His Syndromes by K.B. Dixon is about a young man, David, who is having a life crisis.  From the job that he hates to the girl that he is dating, he just can’t seem to figure out how to make his life work. So, he writes his thoughts down in the bathroom and goes to therapy in some attempt to figure it all out.

The Sum of his Syndromes is told in small rants from David. The book is full of the everyday trappings of life that seem to be pulling David down into his hole of despair. Between David’s own confessions about his  insecurities with his budding relationship with Kate, he recounts tales of co-workers. All the while, trying to make some sense of the life that he is presented with.

While David seems to be a bit of a worrier, the tales that he tells are only too familiar to us everyday folks, especially if you work in an office. David’s ingof office talk, while interesting, makes David feel only more stuck as he tries to figure out why he’s not happy in his cube. For the most part, he just wants to be left alone, but he finds himself hearing all of these conversations and he just wants out. That is when he finds the bathroom.

Here is a couple of David’s observations about his co-workers:

Michell Sheets shares a cubicle with Jill Kaufman. Largish, exuberant, poorly educated-she was once bitten by a snake.

Mitchell likes to look tough. It cuts down on the number of time he actually has to be tough.

Glen Orloff is obsessed with his lawn. He is forever telling us how he get it to stay so green.

While the book is really about David trying to figure out his relationship with Kate, I mostly enjoyed his observations about working in an office and the people in it. I work in an office and being with same people everyday can become a bit monotonous. I love the people that I work with; however, if anyone would overhear the conversation that I had, I probably would sound just like these boring souls in David’s office.

I enjoyed reading The Sum of His Syndromes because I could relate to David and his ironical look at office life had me smiling as I read through the book. At the end, David makes a decision and that decision is one that we all have to face at some point in our lives. We just hope that we make the right one.

Book Source: Received from the publisher

The Sum of His Syndromes by K.B. Dixon was written as a part of the Fall Into Reading Challenge hosted by Callapidder Days. To see what other challenges that I’m participating in, see my Reading Challenges page.

Related Reading

• Book Review: Paint It Black
• Movie Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• An Unlikely Stripper