100 WORDS PER MINUTE
from Poverty Law
The hook of my connection to legal work was so gentle that I never noticed when the jab actually went in, twisted, and then lodged itself resolutely for the remainder of my working years. This [was] something I can do. Not what I really wanted to do, but then, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Into that void of not knowing, something slick and promising formed itself over and around my will. And slowly, ever so slowly, it proceeded to seal my future.
from Inflections and Innuendoes
I could hear her footsteps coming down the thick, institutionally elegant carpet. It wasn’t really a sound I heard, more like a shift in air pressure,
thickening and narrowing as she swathed wide steps toward her office door, and inevitably toward me. Door closes behind her, I release a short sigh, and a little bit of spittle slides out. I wipe, then continue to type. Maybe today she’ll stay in there and leave me the hell alone.
from Noon to Six
The elevator smelled of radon or boron, something distinctly carcinogenic. The building was a relatively new high-rise, magnificently situated on the edge of landfill, overlooking The City in all its glory. When the elevator doors opened, I did not have to look too far. Directly across stood a set of monstrous mahogany doors, decorated with bold and very gold letters announcing the firm’s title. This place wasn’t on the eighteenth floor. It was the eighteenth floor. Like Alice, after popping the small pill, I slowly walked inside, feeling overwhelmed and distinctly outsized.
from The Interview
Doreen McAllister’s makeup was thick, tasteful for being tasteless, and her interview pants entirely too tight. She was not chewing gum, thank goodness, but she talked as though she had something large in her mouth, something capable of spitting forth giant loud bubbles. She appeared to be someone who never knew fear. I settled hopefully on Doreen. It might have been her gravelly voice, gritty with self-assurance and fearlessness. She answered each of my questions with a languid roll of her eyes and a clever little snap of tongue that said, “Honey, I’ve done it all, a thousand times.”
from Expendable
The stress has grown on me. I wear it casually now, like an occasional scarf. Tempers flare, intermittently, like little wild fires sparked by the wind. But they die down just as quickly. I watch the heat rise and fall and stick to my business. Shut my door if it suits me. At any given moment, something or someone, be it a printer or personality, comes unraveled. Dissent is constant but also calming in its consistency. I walk through the maze of it, cut myself on the edges, and don’t even bleed.
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Praise for 100 WORDS PER MINUTE
“Wry, witty, sometimes nasty, always insightful, 100 Words Per Minute offers a wry glimpse into what working within America's legal system is really like. 100 Words Per Minute is a singularly delectable collection, whether the stories are savored a few at a time or all at once.” Midwest Book Review, March 4, 2007
“Those who have typed and filed and maintained order in the white-collar workplace will find solace in Sara's graceful prose and witty poems. She gives voice to a crucial segment of the American economic pie: the underpaid, and undervalued "support staff." Melanie Lawrence, Fearless Reviews
“A masterpiece of workplace sociology! To begin with, Sara is an absolutely amazing writer: the poetry throughout, even in the prose, is stunningly beautiful. And the service she has provided to clerical workers and their bosses by writing "100 Words Per Minute" is immeasurable and invaluable. 100 Words contains vital information pertaining not only to the treatment of clerical workers, but the treatment of all ‘subordinates’ by their 'superiors'. I have the fantasy to airdrop them nation-wide, taking special aim, of course, at law firms, where the need is greatest.” Alice Kisch, Editor, Retired Legal Secretary
“A touching, unpretentious examination of a lifetime of law office work, from fly-by-night operations to the antiseptic aisles of corporate cubicles. Paced for the coffee break, denizens of cubicles everywhere will recognize themselves and know that they are not alone in their isolation.” Blue Collar Review
“It’s as though there had been a translucent veil that kept me from truly seeing those who worked for me. After reading this book, the veil has lifted.” Richard Duane, Attorney at Law
“Page after page, her humor and insights resonated with my twenty-five plus years in the legal secretary trenches. There’s plenty here for anyone who’s ever found themselves behind a desk, wondering how they got there.” Lisa Simpson, Litigation Secretary
“I have been a legal assistant/paralegal for over fifteen years and was excited to find a book about my life. I read it in one sitting. I loved it! I laughed a lot and cried too. Thank you for the wonderful tribute to our profession.” Shoshana Finacom, Legal Administrator
What "The Nanny Diaries" did for babysitters this book does for clerical workers. Its combination of prose and poetry perfectly captures the spirit of a person trapped in a cubicle. It cuts chillingly close to the bone…” Amazon Review
“Don’t let the size fool you -- this little stick of dynamite will blow you away. If you work for an attorney you have got to read this book.” Dee Sullivan, Paralegal, Author
“An extraordinary work indeed—a rare look inside the human heart of unrecognized labor, made visible by Sara’s forceful strokes of language.” Joseph Matthews, Author, The Lawyer Who Blew Up His Desk (Ten Speed Press, 1998)
“This is not a book that was sanitized into conventionality. It is so well written and so literary, it makes me shudder to think that you spent your life typing requests for change of venue. I feel more honored to have you as a guest on my show than most of the famous people I interview, because society doesn’t appreciate the millions of smart, hard-working office workers, and you’ve given such voice to them.” Marty Nemko – KALW Radio, June, 2006
“Sara takes her experience as paralegal and her talents as a writer, mixes them with a generous dose of ironic wit, and creates poems that breathe new life into the dusty form.” The Legal Tilt – Exploring the Legal Mind
“I've heard her read three times…always a joy…the audience loved every word. Good words put to good use are like music that you love to hear over and over, discovering something new, delighting in something old.” Anne Fox, Editor, California Writer’s Club
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