I was slow to get around to Joshua Ferris’ novel Then We Came to the End. I had been reluctant to read the book at first based upon the perceived “it’s The Office, but a novel!” marketing angle. The hard cover edition featured a sticky note motif that seemed to be a direct ripoff of the movie Office Space. Somehow I ignored the growing chorus of excellent reviews that the novel was collecting. Our own previous review of the book was less than stellar.

Then the novel was named a finalist for the National Book Award. When I saw that the novel had made the brackets for the Tournament of Books, I decided that I might need to read it after all. Like magic, a copy of the new paperback edition arrived in my mailbox. It was a sign.

Then We Came to the End cover

The novel tells the story of a hotshot ad agency that is on the decline.  Having lost most of its free-spending clients in the dot com bust, layoffs are around the corner - the titular “end.” The most striking feature of the novel is that is is told in the first person plural - the “collective we” rather than the “royal we’ - with the exception of one chapter that provides the back story of the boss, which is told in the third person.  I think it was a mistake to deviate from the first person plural account.  The novel works best when it is portraying the snowball effect of office gossip, crap morale, and insecurity on the herd at the water cooler.  Giving the boss’s back story from an omniscient vantage point dilutes that doubt to the disservice of the rest of the novel - says me.

Often described as a “comic” novel, I found the book to be a very serious look at corporate America.  Sure it has funny moments, but if this book is about anything it’s about Fear - with a capital “F”.  Fear of layoffs, fear of not being able to pay the mortgage, fear of not continuing to move upward, fear of being on the outside, fear of not belonging, fear of life in the modern world, fear of dying, fear of what the guy next to you might be capable of if pushed too far - you know - FEAR.  There’s plenty of fear to go around in this novel, and it speaks to what motivates us as a society.

This is damning satire.  It’s a Big Important Novel, because it reflects our times with incredible clarity.  Whether you like the “story” is almost beside the point. If you work somewhere, I recommend that you check this one out.

Reading to the bottom bonus:  My copy of the novel was free.  In keeping with my “share the love” philosophy, I’ll happily drop my gently used copy in the mail to a good home.  If you’d like a FREE copy of Then We Came to the End, leave us a note in the comments below.  I’ll pick a winner next week.