The Break Room: A Story of Self-Reliance by Kyle Hannon

The Break Room: A Story of Self-Reliance is a novel by Kyle Hannon. It's about a preening individualist named Mitchell Person who starts a construction company, a bootstrap operation, in a seedy part of town. Person isn't a wealthy man. He strikes out on his own not because he easily can afford to, but because he insists on living up to his ideals. He gives up the security of a union construction job because it's beneath him to be petty, dishonest, and slothful like everyone else in the (fictional) Associated Council of Carpenters.

Avowedly, Person is driven by self-interest in everything he does, like some Ayn Rand hero. It's all about him. Over time, his business brings revitalization to a neighborhood down on its luck, but Person explicitly disclaims being motivated by, or taking satisfaction in, the idea of helping others. There's not an altruistic bone in his body.

Person sees himself as a craftsman, a creator, not as a working stiff who needs the protection of a union; as his own man, not as a lamb to be shepherded by government hacks or sleazy politicians. (Even if you sympathize with his point of view, you may find him laughably smug.) He can't stand working with—much less for—people who do not share his commitment to excellence. Time after time, he comes up against mediocrity-defending, dependency-fostering forces. Time after time, he refuses to relent to them, even when it costs him.

The Break Room is not high literature, nor does it need to be. Plainly, its characters are shallow political stereotypes. A blurb on the back cover of the edition I read (1995, Filibuster Press, Elkhart, Indiana) claims the novel "captures the changing American spirt demonstrated during the 1994 Election"—of course referring to the Republican takeover of Congress via the Contract with America. So take The Break Room for what it is: a conservative propaganda piece. I took it as such and still pleasantly made my way through it.

Make no mistake: as a work of fiction, The Break Room is weak. But if you're interested in the issues that Mr. Hannon explores—self-reliance vs. dependency, individualism vs. collectivism—and if you can stay off your literary high horse for a while, you may enjoy this book as I did. Mr. Hannon is an astute political observer, and The Break Room both challenges assumptions and entertains.