Work-Life Balance

by Kevin Wolf

Fraud, manipulation, crossing ethical lines, self-interest, younger generation, dishonesty, and casually ignoring serious events are only some of the themes occurring in Work-Life Balance by Aisha Franz (translated from the German by Nicholas Houde). Don’t get me wrong. With all this seeming negativity, I’m recommending this book for its almost anthropological study of half a dozen characters in their work/home environments. There are plenty of medical topics including psychotherapy, unnamed psychotropic drugs, virtual reality therapy, mental breakdowns, sexual harassment/assault, anxiety, asthma, alcoholic self-medication, and a bike accident. The characters include Dr. Sharifi (unhelpful therapist), Anita (potter making kitchen ware desiring fine art), Rex (asthmatic app coder/bike delivery guy), Sandra (sexual harasser, manipulator, ambitious), Manuel (corporate shill, sexually assaulted, manipulated). Their paths cross several times. There are funny scenes, too. Even a contrarian mention of Marie Kondo (tidying joy sparker).

There’s a deceptive introductory scene (36-37) for Rex which was drawn with colored wax pencil. Rex stands outside a steep-stepped building; squatting on the ground with back against the wall is a sad homeless person hoping for charity in his yellow hat in front of him while a woman is nearby moving in her wheelchair. Clearly that building is unwelcoming to all of them; but on the building’s outside is a partial billboard which screams inclusion with a nose-ringed black young woman laughing over the partial modern name “… ole X^2.0.” The fraud of inclusiveness seems transparent by keeping the disabled and homeless out.

Work-Life Balance revolves around therapy sessions with Dr. Sharifi, whether in person or in virtual reality; while we slowly learn that most of the characters are intertwined. Sandra works at Agileal© a place that has all the trimmings of an internet start-up (bean bag chairs, bizarro furniture, can’t wear-shoes, glassed offices, etc.) workplace. Where Manuel (in real life) smarmily sometimes speaks in texting abbreviations “IRL [44].” Manuel—in his geodesic office—gives the bad news to Rex that his sure-thing app proposal was loved but his contract will be terminated because they’ll produce his app in-house. Though getting an “… eight percent payout of the initial offer; a sort of cancellation fee … [50],” Rex after fantasizing knifing and gutting the beanbag chair leaves, has asthma attack, uses his inhaler, and plots his revenge. Manuel is sexually harassed and manipulated into having an affair with Sandra. Sandra seeks Dr. Sharifi because she wants to get unstuck at work and get a position like Manuel has.

Seeing Sharifi, Rex gets a free first virtual therapy session and hacks in for additional sessions. To start the VR therapy, one has to create their own avatar and select the session’s locale (choices: “floating creativity,” “mountain landscape,” “beach,” among others). Dr. Sharifi shows herself to not care much about her patients—often stepping away from VR sessions or distracted on her cell phone—but she’s a stickler for when a session ends and for how many sessions a person’s health benefits allow.

Anita, who seems the most independent character, is mentally abused and upset by standard art school trope of instructor belittling a student’s work (“Insane … Let me remind you only six percent of graduates will have successful art careers. And you unfortunately will not be one of them. [141]” With only the word “unfortunately” beyond the standard art instructor trope). At least in her mind (or is it?) and unspoken, during a therapy session, we see a literal fourth wall breaking when Anita smashes a lot of her pottery while also breaking panel walls.

The real or true feelings seem to come out during the interim moments when the illustrations change to a single-color wash and the reader sees what the character is really feeling and thinking wordlessly. Otherwise, the feelings are often hidden in “Kodachromic” colors and what’s spoken often hides the characters desires. One honest conversation occurs in virtual therapy, but then Dr. Sharifi wasn’t even listening … one of the faults of virtual therapy. Dr. Sharifi sometimes provides an unnamed psychotropic drug when a patient seems to get too emotionally anxious. I wouldn’t suggest Work-Life Balance for actual medical care information or advice; but as a study in the actions of some people in today’s gig economy it’s a worthy read.