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50 Book Challenge #1: Then We Came to the End

By "Milbarge" and "Fitz-Hume"

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. (Amazon, B&N, Powell's) I'll admit I was dubious. This book got rave reviews, but I thought, It's about an advertising agency in the early days of the dot-com bust, circa 2001. Wouldn't that seem dated? And it's written in the first-person plural. Wouldn't that seem gimmicky?

Well, I got over it. Once you get used to the "we" narration, it makes sense. Everyone who has worked in a cube knows the hive mind that can develop. We know something about the boss, but can't place where we first heard it. We like Benny, we don't trust Karen, we think Marcia's haircut is out of style, and we think Jim is an idiot. That kind of thing. Ferris makes it work. We begin to feel the anxieties and confusion and desperation and think, No wonder everyone who works there seems a little (or a lot) crazy in his or her own way.

It's a funny book, but sometimes funny in an almost painful way because it can feel so real: "Heh -- yeah, we were just like that at my old office." It jumps around in time a bit, and that seems real, too: we still talk about Tom even after he got fired, so it's okay that we read about the firing first and then get more character development. We know pretty well the people who sat in our offices before we got there because we never stop hearing stories about them.

The book would have been a little disappointing if it had been nothing but that kind of knowing, cynical satire. But it really comes together in the last quarter or so, so it's worth hanging in for. I closed the book with a big smile on my face. I found it to be a very, very satisfying read. I thought Then We Came to the End would be a funny title to start the 50 Book Challenge with -- O the irony! -- but now I'm a little worried it will be the best of the bunch, right out of the gate. I certainly recommend it.

(collected 50 Book Challenge reviews)

Full post as published by Begging the Question on January 10, 2008 (boomark / email).