Help Wanted

Adelle Waldman uses a line from George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda (“What makes life dreary is the want of motive”) as an epigraph. What conflict does this quote suggest is at the heart of Help Wanted? What might Waldman be suggesting about striving and strivers?

How does Waldman begin generating suspense in the first paragraph of Help Wanted? How do “the time clocks”—watched by Town Square’s top bosses, Meredith and Team Movement—function in chapter 1 and throughout this novel? How does urgency, both real and exaggerated, affect the mood in store #1512 and the momentum of Help Wanted overall?

Waldman brilliantly makes use of the objective correlative, listing merchandise Team Movement begins unloading and scanning each morning at 4 a.m. What emotions and ideas came to your mind in chapter 1 when Nicole falls “into a steady, almost somnambulant rhythm,” scanning “a cordless vacuum cleaner, an infant car seat, several packages of paper towels fused together with shrink-wrap, a box containing tubs of protein powder” (p. 4), and so on? What might these items tell us about Town Square’s customer base, big-box stores, and American values?

Meredith makes her “grand entrance” at the end of chapter 1 and the start of chapter 2. What was your first impression of her? How does Waldman convey the chasm between Meredith and Team Movement? Can Meredith rightly be described as “a villain” in this story?

Town Square’s annual reports include photographs of the store manager (“Big Will”) “smiling kindly” while helping “a disabled veteran in a wheelchair retrieve a roll of paper towels from an upper shelf” and “looking cheerful but respectful” while fastening “a cardboard menorah to the top of a Hanukkah display” (p. 27). What is the effect of these details? In your opinion, is Town Square a “principled” big-box store? What do you think makes a store “ethical”? What, if anything, does a company like Town Square owe its employees and community?

How has Town Square changed since 2003? Why do you think the store slowly rolled back employee benefits? To what extent do you think the rollbacks were inevitable and necessary? How does Town Square’s founding story and history influence Team Movement and heighten the conflict in Help Wanted?

The last sentence of chapter 5 is, “It was time for the roaches . . . to scatter” (p. 53). Why do you think Waldman chose “roaches” as a metaphor here? Whose perspective does she capture? Did you laugh? Why or why not?

Why does Milo, the “best thrower” (p. 78) on Team Movement, resent his current position? Why does Val believe she’s entitled to Meredith’s job? Why does Diego believe he’s as likely to be promoted as Val? Can anyone on Team Movement really discern what it takes to climb Town Square’s corporate ladder?

When Callie joins Team Movement, Little Will hands her a box cutter and jokes, “Hold on to it—it’s the only thing Town Square will ever give you” (p. 61). Why do you suppose Little Will thinks this is funny? What does his “joke” reveal about the culture of Town Square? Does there seem to be a tier in Town Square’s corporate structure where this kind of cynicism vanishes? Have you personally observed or experienced skepticism within a large company? How did you respond?

What motivates each of Team Movement’s members? Who on the team most desires professional validation? Who longs to be better understood and loved? Who wants a second chance in life? Who feels enormous pressure to take care of loved ones at home? Who views Town Square as a temporary gig? Who clings to the job as a chance at a better life?

Big Will has tried to impress upon Meredith that “in a city like Potterstown, finding people willing to work as an executive manager, for $80K or $85K, [isn’t] exactly a challenge,” but finding “good, reliable rank-and-file workers [is] a different story.” What do you suppose is happening in the labor market that Big Will is alluding to, and are there parallels in real cities across the United States? Why can’t Meredith see “what the trouble really look[s] like” (p. 100)? Why is Big Will loyal to Meredith even after realizing she lacks foresight, tact, and good judgment?

Diego doesn’t think telling people from corporate the truth about Meredith is a good idea. He says to Nicole, “I think . . . it’ll feel real good at first. . . . [But] I want you to think about what happens next. What I think is you’ll wake up a few days later and realize nothing is different.” Why exactly does Diego believe that complaining about Meredith is a losing game? Why does Nicole think otherwise but agrees to stay mum about Meredith’s actions? What would you do in Nicole’s position?

Meredith recommends Travis for a promotion. She tells Big Will, “I know he hasn’t been here long, but Travis is high-energy. He has the right attitude” (p. 173). What else do you think is behind Meredith’s interest in promoting Travis? Do you think Meredith’s behavior is unique? Or is Meredith a recognizable “type” in any bureaucracy?

Several of Team Movement’s members express ideas about race and racism. How does Diego discuss “musical chairs” as an analogy for wealth distribution among white and Black Americans? Why does Raymond identify with Black people? Who on the team sees Raymond as a person of color? Who, on the other hand, thinks Raymond is “playing the race card”? How much does race figure into friendships and sympathies on Team Movement and into decisions made by Town Square’s management?

Val’s job in the “pro-Mer plan” is to mess up Anita’s tables right before corporate reps come into the store to evaluate merchandise displays. Why does Val have second thoughts about sabotaging Anita? What difference does Nicole’s encouraging nod make at the last minute? What does Val’s moment of decision reveal? How might you describe Val’s eventual sweep of Anita’s tables? An act of desperation? Solidarity? Something else?

During a meeting at Texas Roadhouse, Big Will elicits support from Katherine, “the highest-ranking person at the table.” How does Katherine rationalize Big Will’s delay in expressing concerns about Meredith? Describe Katherine’s approach to managing employees at Town Square. Why does she extol the “well-crafted carrot” (pp. 246–47)? Have you ever observed a manager using praise to encourage and, at the same time, humble an employee?

How does store #1512 change after corporate leaves and Anita becomes store manager? What does Val realize about Big Will? How does Diego cope with feeling “stuck on a treadmill” (p. 259)? How does Milo’s departure affect morning unloads? Why is Meredith overcome with regret? What has the team lost? What might they hope to reclaim?

Waldman leans into absurdity and humor, and yet Help Wanted can also be read as a serious moral inquiry into the lives of low-wage workers. What exactly are the functions of absurdity and humor in this novel? How does farce help Waldman movingly and memorably interrogate the effects of late capitalism?

Joshua Ferris praised Help Wanted for portraying “the tragic heroes of the gig economy.” To what extent are low-wage, retail workers “tragic heroes” in this day and age? How has the “gig economy” changed American labor? How hopeful do you feel about “work” and today’s retail industry? Where should we go from here?