Bartleby

i would prefer not to write a review at this time

–

edit: i find myself thinking about this story way too often. somehow melville was both ahead of his time and precisely in it with this one - published only a few years after the communist manifesto, “bartleby” hits the nail re: managerial capitalism and the experience of its professional class. to be fair, i read this at the tail end of an english major, just before i entered my own little corner of the white-collar workforce. and okay, maybe i write these reviews when i'm putting off work. i could unpack that, but i would prefer not to