The Diary of a Mad Legal Secretary by Eve Halliburton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Stephen King said that people love reading about what others do for a living because it’s so entertaining and thrilling at the same time with subject matters being closed to the real world. It gives readers a sense of realism or verity in which we all are rooted because work is what ties to us in reality where we face existential absurdities in dealing with human imperfections in conjunction with performing demands imposed on our daily tasks at work.
Hence a story of a neurotic legal secretary who has good heart but is driven to a borderline madness by witnessing the idiosyncratic characters she encounters in the office: The bumptious boss, the snobbish lawyers and their ilk, the ingratiating and ruthless HR personnel, the pitiful and sometimes cunning co-workers. Reading this story is like watching a black comedy which induces both pathos and satirical comedic relief. In fact, this diary seems to be more of a therapy journal in which the narrator purges out her hidden innermost feelings and emotions about her work and the people at it; it’s a Punch-like compendium of caricatures in word format.
Ms. Halliburton could have written this hilarious book as her memoir of a seasoned legal secretary in a prestigious Manhattan law firm. Or more likely than not, the author might have written this diary as a way of releasing her own stress and distress. For whatever reason it might be, Stephen King was right in saying that we enjoy stories of others in relation to their jobs because this book is easy to read and enjoyable, providing the reader with the kind of pleasure a Peeping Tom indulges in by peeking at what others do and feel about their work with a telescope.
Mr. Hingson is truly someone I can look up to because despite his blindness, he did not escape from reality but always tried to do whatever he could to the extent possible among. Of course, there was a great family support who always treated him as if he had been a sighted person. But still the author had to do all things by himself outside the safety of home, such as bicycling around his town as a kid against the biased complaints from the neighbors who were afraid of any damages that the blind kid would cause on a bike. But Mr. Hingson did not yield to such unfair glances and kept on going. This is just one of many episodes that manifested Mr. Hingson’s resilient and brave spirit. Eventually, he graduated from university with a summa cum laude distinction and went on to become a regional manager of a company.
Roselle was the author’s guide dog that stayed with Mr. Hingson at the time of 9/11 tragedy in the World Trade Center. The author narrated that Rosell was not alarmed but behaved normally even while they were evacuating from the building after it had been hit by the hijacked airplane. (The only thing that made Roselle agitated was thunder because according to the author, thunder ionized the air with the formation of ozone, which produced a distinctive smell of the weather condition unpleasant to her. ) In fact, Roselle was more of a partner to Mr. Hingson in tackling challenges that both of them encounter ed in daily life.
Flame, Glass and Ink are Poems, essays, and reading notes by Stefania Joori Suh 
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