Then We Came to the End - Joshua Ferris

I had heard that “Then it Came to the End” is a funny book about people in an ad agency during a period of layoffs. How interesting can that really be?? It seemed more like the premise of a sitcom. The book actually turned out to be better than I first had anticipated, maybe a 7. It took a while to get into because of the little information that is given about the characters. I found it hard to care for them or about them for the longest while. Ferris writes the book in a first person plural perspective (we), which is an important tool for the feel of the story and definitely for how the book ends. However, partway through the book, he switches to first person singular to relate the story of the nebulous boss Lynn and her illness. From then on the characters seem to have more clarity. They—Tom who writes deranged emails, Genevieve who is stunningly beautiful, Benny who is liked by all, Karen Woo who is disliked by all, Old Brizz who is the old smoker pitied by all, and many more—are all crazy in some way but normal at the same time just like most of us. It is as if they are all stereotypes rather than real people, and maybe that is exactly why I found it difficult to care for them at first. They are all stuck in their jobs needing the paycheck but probably wanting to leave. Whenever somebody actually leaves their job, one guy always remarks while toasting, “So good luck, and fuck you for leaving, you prick!“