Overqualified is an epistolary novel by Joey Comeau.

Plot:
Joey is looking for a job. And nothing is more boring than writing cover letters. But then there’s a car accident and Joey’s brother Adrian is hurt badly. And suddenly Joey’s cover letters turn from the usual empty phrases into memories and confessions, threats and pleas.

The book is beautiful and sad and sometimes funny and the only real flaw it has is that it’s really very short.

I have a huge (mostly intellectual) crush on Joey Comeau and I’m not ashamed to admit it (I mean, I do follow him on twitter, I love his blog and I follow the fyeahjoeycomeau tumblr* and A Softer World is amazing and he’s just really, really awesome.). But it does mean that I expected a whole lot of this book. I mean, I know that guy can write, so he better. And since I expected so much, I was afraid to be disappointed – because, let’s face it, how cool and talented can one person be? Well, apparently we haven’t reached the limit yet because not only was I not disappointed, my crush might have turned into love.

His writing style is wonderful and he really knows how to shape his phrases. And he tells this really sad story, mostly by just inferring things. It really is a masterclass in saying a lot with only a little.

It’s a book I’ll gladly read again. And again. And again. Actually, I would like to learn it by heart. Or maybe get a tattoo of it in its entirety.

Summarising: I loved it.

You can get a taste of it here, btw. Though these are mostly not the same letters as in the book. (There are a couple, but they were modified for the book.)

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*that at least proves that I’m not entirely alone with this.