I read this book 20 some years ago and it's stuck with me ever since. The hero/anti-hero's dilemma (to sign-off on a non-functioning product and keep his job or to refuse and lose the job) is something many working engineers experience every day. How this book kept from becoming a classic is beyond me. How it has gone out of print is way beyond me.

The book has all the earmarks of being a pulpy, movie-of-the-week type novel. It's a simple, rather amusing story, and there's not much depth to it at first glance. But at second reading, it becomes more apparent to the reader that there is more to the story than meets the eye.

Joe, Al, and Willie are three men in their seventies, living in New York in the mid-80's. They are all on Social Security, and none of them work or a=have anything to do with their time but sit in the park and talk to each other and watch the world go by. They seem to be waiting for something to happen to them - for life to end, for something to change. Grossbach makes the point that waiting is not any easier for old people, though many may think it is; it is simply that old people are less vocal in their frustration. It is a story that provides excellent insight into old age.

"Terminal boredom" is how the author describes the perpetual state that the characters live in, and just when it seems that they haven't got long to live before they simply give up, an idea comes to them. They have no lives, no money, no family, and nothing to lose. Why not do something with what remains of their lives? Why not rob a bank?

Although the premise seems incredible, the story is executed with believability and grace. It goes from being a story with a silly premise to a story that could have actually happened, a story that is more about the men and their lives than it is about the robbery itself. It's a realistic, satisfying, funny book - not too lighthearted to be taken seriously, but not so serious that it weighs the reader down.

Fresh out of engineering school, Zack Zaremba quickly loses any idealistic notion of pursuing his profession as a creative activity at International Instruments. He fights gallantly against a thousand obstacles and betrayals perpetrated by bosses, bureaucrats and the system in general, as well as his own weaknesses. But through crushing disappointments and small triumphs, he learns about himself and how to live his life. Along the way you'll meet a gallery of memorable characters populating this demimonde, and laugh out loud as Grossbach deftly plays each one's foibles against the next.

Grossbach is a gifted and knowledgeable storyteller who weaves a tale rich in sensitively drawn characters, ironic twists and turns, and authentic detail. A satirical, disturbing and yet compelling glimpse into the basement below technology's ivory tower.

A Shortage of Engineers is a must-read book. If you love Dilbert, Office Space, or just plain common sense, this book will appeal to you. It strips away the thin veneer of sanity that hides the dysfunctionality that characterizes large companies, while entertaining with a love story and a rite of passage for a young engineer. Any thinking person will see deep meaning in this book, but the other 90% of the population should view it as a wake up call.

In my past life, I worked on large contracts as an engineer. Grossbach hits resounding chords, again and again. I found myself cheering at some points. At others, I nearly cried. But mostly, I laughed. Out loud. If you're tired of dealing with politics in the workplace, politics on your kid's soccer team, or any kind of nonsense, you will find A Shortage of Engineers is more documentary than fiction.

To all you dysfunctional, cut-off-from-reality CEOs out there, you really need to read this book. If only you knew what kind of waste goes on in your organization, how ridiculous it is, and how foolish it makes you look....

This is one of the best books I have ever read! I have a feeling that if everyone read it prior to voting, we'd have a far different legislative landscape. We would not have the IRS, for example. Think about it. The only purpose of the IRS is to give a group of hostile, insane, stupid people a place to go where they can make harassing phone calls and send out threatening letters. This is cheaper than building asylums for them and hiring people to take care of them. We have a few dozen IRS-inflicted deaths each year, and consider that normal.

As A Shortage of Engineers points out, lunacy is quite normal. The best thing we can do about it is laugh. And A Shortage of Engineers will have you in stitches.

Robert Grossbach's A SHORTAGE OF ENGINEERS is a tragi-comic laugh-out-loud must read for people who enjoy a good chuckle at the aburdities of bureacracy, managers who cannot manage, and parents willing to risk their seven-year-olds for the glory of a soccer game.

Fresh out of engineering college, an idealistic Zack has nothing to do for the first seven weeks of his first job with a large engineering firm. Then suddenly the rush is on to meet impossible deadlines, as he tries to work through a Kafkaesque bureaucracy with only Alice-in-Wonderland characters to help. Pitted against hypocritcal managers, insane cynical coworkers with bizarre philosophies and agendas, and nearly impossible electronic tasks, Zack manages to preserve an ideal of engineer as miracle worker.

Surpises, sex, and hilarity characterize Grossbach's latest novel. There are no shortages of comic situations, crazy but true-to-life characters, serious issues, and laughs--lots and lots of laughs. The flow diagram of an engineer asking for a date in the middle of the novel is worth the cover price alone.