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Then We Came to the End

By Joshua Ferris

(10)

| Paperback | 9780141027630

Book Description

They spend their days - and too many of their nights - at work. Away from friends and family, they share a stretch of stained carpet with a group of strangers they call colleagues. There's Chris Yop, clinging to his ergonomic chair; Lynn Mason, the boss, whose breast cancer everyone pretends not to Continue

They spend their days - and too many of their nights - at work. Away from friends and family, they share a stretch of stained carpet with a group of strangers they call colleagues. There's Chris Yop, clinging to his ergonomic chair; Lynn Mason, the boss, whose breast cancer everyone pretends not to talk about; Carl Garbedian, secretly taking someone else's medication; Marcia Dwyer, whose hair is stuck in the eighties; and Benny, who's just - well, just Benny. Amidst the boredom, redundancies, water cooler moments, meetings, flirtations and pure rage, life is happening, to their great surprise, all around them. Then We Came to the End is about sitting all morning next to someone you cross the road to avoid at lunch. It's the story of your life and mine.

3 Reviews

  • 5 people find this helpful

    Can someone please tell me why this book received such excellent reviews? The prose is lazy and frequently repetitive. Very little insight here that you can't find in works with similar themes--like George Saunders' short stories. Occasional interesting moments of comedy/irony, but not enough to rec ... (continue)

    Can someone please tell me why this book received such excellent reviews? The prose is lazy and frequently repetitive. Very little insight here that you can't find in works with similar themes--like George Saunders' short stories. Occasional interesting moments of comedy/irony, but not enough to recommend the book. Must admit that after about the first hundred pages I found the book so tedious I almost put it down forever.

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    ― Albion said on Jan 16, 2009 | Add your feedback

  • 3 people find this helpful

    After hearing how funny this book was I tried to read it several times. Recently picked it back up (after putting it down months ago) but quickly just gave up again - permanently this time. The long rambling pointless prose style just got to me. It's like listening to that long-winded person everyon ... (continue)

    After hearing how funny this book was I tried to read it several times. Recently picked it back up (after putting it down months ago) but quickly just gave up again - permanently this time. The long rambling pointless prose style just got to me. It's like listening to that long-winded person everyone has in their office tell what should be a brief story about what they did last night - they drone on and on and won't just get to the point, and when they finally do you forgot why you even cared. Yes, there are some very pointed and funny observations in the book, but they are buried within long passages that go nowhere and serve no purpose.

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    ― Cuzzin Todd said on Sep 1, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Loved this book. Interesting narration: first person plural! It really works. The book is spot-on for the collective conscious of people in the workplace. Why aren't there more books about the workplace? It's where we spend so much of our time. I've recommended this to many people without reservatio ... (continue)

    Loved this book. Interesting narration: first person plural! It really works. The book is spot-on for the collective conscious of people in the workplace. Why aren't there more books about the workplace? It's where we spend so much of our time. I've recommended this to many people without reservations.

    Is this helpful?

    ― Neighbors said on Jan 27, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

Book Details

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9780141027630 Paperback £7.99 £5.96 Amazon UK
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