Fred Thomas knows how to win. He's made President's Club ten years in a row. He's been named the best sales manager at Xerox. But what price is he paying for his success? More than a good income, Fred wants a good life.
Reading like a novel, The Force is an acutely observed nonfiction account of a year's fortunes and misfortunes in selling. We come to know this life in intimate detail as Dorsey, a superb reporter, follows the four men and three women of a driven, never-say-die Xerox sales team based in Cleveland. We see these people on nail-biting sales calls, schmoozing with customers in bars, playing golf, bickering with spouses at home, and competing with one another in the office. Midway through the year, Fred Thomas's sales reps have sold only a third of their annual goal, and in their redoubled efforts we see them even breaking out in hives during those last, desperate calls.
More than a simple business story, The Force is also about what is lost when winning is what matters most. At home with Kathy Thomas, we see the doubt, heartbreak, and hilarious absurdities that shadow the selling life. In depicting Kathy's long-suffering love for her husband, this story becomes a modern parable about the pursuit of happiness in white-collar America.
There has never been a book like The Force. Each character comes alive in these pages, and we root for them all, despite - or because of - their quirks, vulgarities, and desperation. This book celebrates the millions of unsung Americans who live by selling, whether they sell a product, a service, or just themselves. In the end, The Force is a book about us all.