This novel is humorous and raunchy. Some of the jokes are so sly you don’t quite know whether she really means them to be funny at all. The protagonist, Joe, has had an unsuccessful career as a salesman- both trying to sell Encyclopedia Brittanica’s and Electrolux vacuum cleaners. He fantasizes while he masturbates everyday after work in his trailer. And that’s what leads him to his great innovation. He thinks of all the companies that have had problems with over-eager, go-getter-type salesmen, who inevitably get the firm into trouble with sexual harassment suits. The companies want to keep the sales, while avoiding expensive litigation. Therefore, Joe starts up a company, Lightening Rods, which is a temp firm that hires personal assistants who on the side offer anonymous sex in the handicap bathroom stall. The path is initially rocky, but eventually rewarding. On the way to success, Joe ends up inventing toilets that go up and down to help out dwarfs, as well as toilet seats that expand and contract to help the obese and the skinny. One of his personal assistant hires goes on to become a Supreme Court Justice, while two others have successful careers in business. The book is complete farce, but with a thin veneer of social commentary. The story moves along at a brisk pace and Joe’s side thoughts are worth the read in and of themselves. DeWitt has a knack for portraying characters who should seem ludicrous in a highly realistic light. No matter how farcical, she does not skimp on developing their personalities and quirks to make them human. She says she developed the idea of a lightening rod when she got repeatedly fucked in the ass by the publishing industry during the travails of her first novel. This is revenge at its humorous best. This is no “Last Samurai”, but it is an entertaining read.
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