Fugitive from the Cubicle Police

Dilbert #8

by Scott Adams

A cartoon book featuring the character Dilbert and the ups and downs of life in and out of the office, from clueless management decrees to near-revolts among the cubicle dwellers. When the cubicle police outlaw plastic plants lest they attract dumb bugs, Dilbert makes a rebellious stand.

Genres: Humor, Comics, Fiction, Comic Strips, Comedy, Graphic Novels, Cartoon

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Adams was born in Windham, New York in 1957 and received his Bachelor's degree in Economics from Hartwick College in 1979.

He also studied economics and management for his 1986 MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

In recent years, Adams has been hurt with a series of debilitating health problems. Since late 2004, he has suffered from a reemergence of his focal dystonia which has affected his drawing. He can fool his brain by drawing using a graphics tablet. On December 12, 2005, Adams announced on his blog that he also suffers from spasmodic dysphonia, a condition that causes the vocal cords to behave in an abnormal manner. However, on October 24, 2006, he again blogged stating that he had recovered from this condition, although he is unsure if the recovery is permanent. He claims to have developed a method to work around the disorder and has been able to speak normally since. Also, on January 21, 2007, he posted a blog entry detailing his experiences with treatment by Dr. Morton Cooper.

Adams is also a trained hypnotist, as well as a vegetarian. (Mentioned in, "Dilbert: A Treasury of Sunday Strips 00).

He married Shelly Miles on July 22, 2006.

Reviews

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dilbert meets and begins dating his girlfriend Liz, among other classic moments.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though my comic strip compilation marathon ended two days ago, I needed to make space on my shelves, so, I thought: Why not read another Dilbert book? As usual, the humor went over my head a bit; some of it was inappropriate, which is not the way I like my comic strips. Still, there were some good moments, along with the usual great artwork. I'm not exactly the target audience, as I've never worked in an office, but I nonetheless found some--but only some--fun material here.

[Eddie B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a time of corporate mediocracy and late-stage capitalism, cartooning the truth is a revolutionary act.

[MsAprilVincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

So look: I know it's not cool to like Dilbert, or whatever, but I am currently dealing with an epic amount of administrative stupidity at my job, and reading Dilbert puts me in a calmer place ... except for the strips that seem to have come directly from my email inbox. Then I have to weep gently into my box of wine; on the plus side, the wine eventually soothes the pain, so: win-win.

[RandomReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was way ahead of its time. I can't imagine he was already mocking the basis of nowadays tech, business and marketing strategies back in the early 90s.

[Tom Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

As it is so difficult to write a review of this excellent work of fiction, I chose to borrow from a published review for another excellent book. Thus, I have taken the first two paragraphs of The Chicago Tribune's 1960 review of Harper Lee's “To Kill a Mockingbird” and simply replaced “To Kill a Mockingbird” with “Fugitive from the Cubicle Police (Dilbert #8).” So here it is, with credit to Richard Sullivan and the Chicago Tribune.*

YEARS AGO a friend of mine told me about his private test for fiction. When he was reading a novel with such pleasure and satisfaction that, about two-thirds of the way thru [sic], he found himself unconsciously slowing down, to prolong the pleasure and linger over the delight, then he knew he was reading a book which had already passed his test.
"Fugitive from the Cubicle Police (Dilbert #8)" is a first novel of such rare excellence that it will no doubt make a great many readers slow down to relish the more fully its simple distinction. It passes the test with honors.

*http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifesty...

[Mary JL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scott Adam's wrote several "Dilbert " books. I surely feel one reason they are popular is that many in the workplace can relate to the silly, ironic and unbelievable things that occur in the modern workplace.

I laugh at Dilbert and enjoyed this book and several others. But I also occasionally shook my head ruefully when some situations seemed all to real for me-----I worked 'customer service'---AKA complaint department for over 20 years.

All the Dilbert books are great fun-----read and enjoy!

Reading date not recorded.

[Dave Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great textbook on corporate culture!

[Sarah Ehinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the comic strip. My favorite of this one is Dogbert the patron saint of technology. I have printed him off and added to my workspace to ward against demons of stupidity. Fingers crossed.

[Brentman99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will give this book four stars, but that means I should go in and downgrade the one that was basically a repeat of this book.

As a person who has spent some time in a cubicle with bosses that were really good and really bad, I can relate to the comics. Some of them are quite insightful, but others fall flat. But I expect that when someone tries to make everyone laugh.

Overall, it was a great bathroom book, which is what this one became. In that particular role, it was well worth the time spent reading it.

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dilbert and his fellow prisoners of the cubicle life at work attempts to make multiple stands for their independence, sometimes assisted - or hampered - by Dogbert, only for the dimwitted hijinks of the Pointy-Haired Boss and his superiors to begin enforcing all sorts of new and drastic rules! Adams is sure to keep fans entertained with another rambunctious volume, kooky yet ever relatable in its wit and blunt honesty. Not even finding a girlfriend can keep Dilbert's spirits up for long in this rat race...

[Rex Libris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of comics from earlier in the Dilbert Saga. Some great strips were verbiage for performance evaluations that have lots of words that say nothing, and how to recover your nerdiness by buying a ham radio.

[John Majerle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Curiously, even though these strips were written 3 decades ago about the idiotic things that happen to employees of an engineering company, most of them are as true now as they were then. Coincidence? Hmm...🤔

[Abhimanyu Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, as always. Was funnier to me when I worked in a cubicle setting, some 15 years ago. It has aged pretty well.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Makes me feel better about my job.

[Marc Hutchison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I laughed. A lot.

[Vinay Mehta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dilbert. Always the wit and satire in business and engineer vs management fight. This book didn't had much of a prelude and just like many other books, a collection of comic strips put together.

[Annie Garvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was published in 1996. It's still relevant. I especially loved page 143.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to laugh a lot more than I did. Which was not at all. I got the jokes, for sure. Some of them were even amusing. But I didn’t laugh once.

[Nostri · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would probably have another star except for Adams' unfortunate views on things.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

One-liners generally as bland as working in an office.

[Shelby Rush · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't go wrong with Dilbert! Witty, relatable, perennially pertinent. Read this years ago and it holds up just fine in 2024.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

XD

[Phil Branigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious and worth keeping on your desk at work.

[David Erkale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dilbert goes through various workplace shenanigans and suffers in a humorous way.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is certainly a more polished comic strip than it was in the first volume, but it's still not as good as many of the strips I have been reading. I truly believe the art is my biggest problem; a strip like Calvin & Hobbes or Cul de Sac can have a strip that doesn't land well, but the art carries it through. Dilbert doesn't have that luxury. If the strip's humor doesn't work, it just lands with a thud.

Luckily, to be fair, there are a good amount of strips where the humor does land.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Dilbert, then buy this book!

Dilber it an office working engineer, who struggles with an incompetent boss and backstabbing, slimey employees. The humor is at times dry and childish, but hey, it's worth it!

This is a very fun book, and covers a couple of years of publications.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dilbert! It is near impossible to love every comic Scott Adams draws. Even though I've never worked in an office building I can still find humor in every frame. I especially love Catbert: Evil Director of Human Resources and all his crazy plans.

[Amber the Human · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of my comfort reading. I checked this one out from library, though, unlike the other comfort reading I've been doing lately, which is of books I already own. Oh Dilbert. Back in the day you were so absurd. I miss that. And without your signature tie, who even are you?