Just finished Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris (Little, Brown and Company). Ferris's novel is set in a once-successful advertising agency experiencing decline and layoffs.
I picked it out of a pile of novels because Ferris graduated from the UC Irvine MFA program and because I loved the first page: "We were fractious and overpaid. Our mornings lacked promise. At least those of us who smoked had something to look forward to at ten-fifteen. Most of us liked most everyone, a few of us hated specific individuals, one or two people loved everyone and everything. Those who loved everyone were unanimously reviled." I wondered if he could keep up the first person plural. Turned out he could, brilliantly.
Ferris is a writer's writer. He switches away from the "we" narration for a section in the middle of the book, which builds a suspense based not on events but on the device. A writer can't help but applaud the cleverness at the end of the book when he brings around the explanation. I use the word device, but the "we" is not divisive. It could have been if the characters around the narrator were not so acutely drawn. I had great sympathy for the character, Lynn; in fact, there's a character for everyone.
Finally, Ferris knows how to work the humor and has a great and distinctive voice. For all these and other reasons it's a great book for studying craft. I recommend.
So... what are you all reading?
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