Joey Comeau’s new novel Overqualified delivers an addictively humorous and dark alternative to the stone-cold task of getting employers to know you through a piece of paper.

Written in the form of cover letters, the book isn’t a typical collection of job histories and personal strengths. Using the companies he writes to as jump-off points, Comeau delves into his past with humour and love to illustrate the relationship with his brother, his insecurities, love lost, and overall ridiculous scenarios.

What starts as a calm letter to a hospital turns into an overview of working the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company. “My experience taught me about the maximum speed and force with which you could have the robot insert a new part without damaging a vehicle’s chassis,” he writes. “I feel this experience will translate almost seamlessly to transplantation services, and I think you will agree.”

Throughout, he offers suggestions to companies on how they should market and improve their products, from how Nintendo can make video games even more realistic, to introducing new holiday and greeting card ideas to Hallmark.

“Dear Gillette,” he writes. “Do you remember when you were the best a man could get? Before you decided that the best that men could get were faces as soft as baby bottoms? Before you decided that being a man meant being a woman? You need to go back to your roots, Gillette. Forget those gaudy lozenge-shaped miracles of modern technology. Bring back the straight razor. That was a product.”

It’s when the personal stories become more apparent, though, that the book reveals a special sentimentality. The main focal point is Joey’s brother Adrian, who has been hit by a drunk driver while skateboarding. In the letters, he details experiences with his brother, from childhood to adulthood, and slowly admiration and frustration seep into the pages. “He never looked first. I learned that from my younger brother. You don’t look first. You jump and you trust that your body knows what to do.”

In the final letters, Comeau begins to reminisce about his grandparents, and how they have influenced him. His grandmother teaches him Acadian French. He teaches her to pick locks, and imagines both of them pickpocketing strangers, hacking computers, and seducing anyone and everyone — all part of a plan to make the most of their lives. “Live for today, you retarded little shit,” he writes. “The end is near.”

Overqualified is a quick read, but crackles with hilarious desperation and deadpan sincerity. With these humorous letters, Comeau reveals how life is actually lived, and not just marketed.