then we came to the end by joshua ferris

The story is narrated by 'we'-the omniscient, first person plural of the staff collective, but this is far from a happy, cohesive community. All are ruled over by the iron fist of their boss, Lynn Mason, and her right-hand man, the antisocial Joe Pope. Pudgy-faced, devoutly Catholic Amber is pregnant as the result of an affair with a married co-worker who wants her to have an abortion. Roland, the impoverished security guard, walks his rounds all day on aching feet. There is upbeat Karen Woo, reclusive Frank Brizzolera, quiet Hank Neary, bitter Tom Mota, and disaffected Don Blattner. The story is set within an ailing Chicago ad agency staffed by 'creatives' who are either terribly bored, incredibly stressed, or both. The economic boom of the 1990s is fading, and thanks to the dot-com bubble burst, a recession is imminent. The contemporary story follows the quirky employees of a failing advertising agency as they play pranks, have affairs, and spread gossip in an attempt to distract from the question on everyone's mind: who will be laid off next? In 2010, Ferris was named to the New Yorker's list of '20 Under 40' writers his work has also won several awards, including the Barnes and Noble Discover Award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the International Dylan Thomas Prize. This review is available to non-members for a limited time.Then We Came to the End (2007) is the debut novel of Joshua Ferris.

To describe Then We Came To The End as 'wildly funny', or to suggest that it will resonate with anyone who's ever worked in an office (as some reviewers do) seems to be over-egging things, and also does a disservice to a book that has more to offer than just a good laugh, in that it serves up a, sometimes profound, insider's view of a particular time, place and culture - and not just the funny parts, but the dull and stupid bits as well, not to mention the sad and downright strange. Knowing I was supposed to be laughing but finding myself not was like watching one of those over-eager sitcoms where the laugh track punctuates the actors' most banal lines, killing whatever residue of humor might have been found. That is not to say that it is necessarily a bad book but that the gushing reviews on the cover, and in many places in the media, telling me that this was a wildly funny book acted as something of a cold shower to my enjoyment. Speaking personally (and let's face it, all reviews are nothing more nor less than one person's opinion, even when written in the third party under the banner of a renowned newspaper!) I found Then We Came To The End a difficult read (despite having spent a decade working in a large ad agency).

Then we came to the end by joshua ferris