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I didn't have much hope for WHO MOVED MY SOAP? The CEO's Guide to Surviving in Prison. At first blush it seemed that Andy Borowitz was playing to a limited audience, constructing a kind of lampoon of the bestselling WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? while skewering white-collar criminals. Nothing really much to laugh at. But that's why we read the books. And WHO MOVED MY SOAP? turns out to be interesting, well-done, and very funny.
WHO MOVED MY SOAP? is intended as a satirical guide for the CEO who finds himself going to prison. It is written in the voice of a convicted CEO who has survived prison and is now sharing his expertise with others who find themselves in similar straits. By "prison," Borowitz is not referring to the minimum security facilities where inmates spend their day tending to well-manicured lawns or reading in spotless libraries in between trips to the salad bar and conjugal visits from the Mrs. No, Borowitz is talking "prison" here, Oz territory, where the issue of "Who moved my soap?" can become quite important.
Admittedly, it does take Borowitz a few pages to get things moving. Given that WHO MOVED MY SOAP? is less than 100 pages in length, he does not have many to squander. Accordingly the first third of WHO MOVED MY SOAP? is more of a warm-up than anything else, with Borowitz putting a tongue-in-cheek positive spin on the executive going to prison.
It is in the second third of the book, however, that Borowitz really begins to shine. His chapter dealing with prison slang is...well, it's a riot, but it really serves to get the blood moving for the chapter dealing with meals. "Prison Food: Don't Pick Up the Check" begins with a hilarious --- and, let's face it --- an accurate comparison between prison mess halls and five-star restaurants. Borowitz really takes off though when he reviews the mess halls of various prisons, Zagat-style. Anyone familiar with that particular guide will be howling at Borowitz's viciously accurate send-up of it.
This is followed by a chapter entitled "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Prisoners," which is yet another parody within a parody, containing recommendations to "Be Proactive," "Think Win/Win," and the all-important "Sharpen Your Saw." There is also a chapter dealing with "Prison Cell Feng Shui," which includes such commonsense but often-overlooked suggestions as "(a)rrange your bunk so that you face the bars, not away from them." Borowitz concludes with chapters dealing with that up-and-coming problem of female CEOs in prison and those all-important exit strategies, including the planning and execution of what is known as fence parole.
Borowitz has a breezy, conversational writing style and if he has an occasional tendency to reach too quickly for the obvious joke he is also quite capable of formulating an insightful, original jibe and exploiting it to its fullest potential. I'm not entirely sure who, or where, the audience is for WHO MOVED MY SOAP?, but it certainly deserves one.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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