Reviewed on Richard & Judy on Wednesday 13 February 2008.
A convincing portrayal of office life which draws the reader in as if they are part of the workforce, the narrative being told in the first-person plural so that the reader feels they are part of the “we” as the author writes. Sad and funny this is a great comment on office politics and the relationships between colleagues wondering whether they will be the next expendable member of the team.
Winner of the Hemingway Foundation / PEN Award, this debut novel is "as funny as The Office, as sad as an abandoned stapler . . . that rare comedy that feels blisteringly urgent." (TIME)
No one knows us in quite the same way as the men and women who sit beside us in department meetings and crowd the office refrigerator with their labeled yogurts. Every office is a family of sorts, and the Chicago ad agency depicted in Joshua Ferris's exuberantly acclaimed first novel is family at its best and worst, coping with a business downturn in the time-honored way: through gossip, elaborate pranks, and increasingly frequent coffee breaks.
With a demon's eye for the details that make life worth noticing, Joshua Ferris tells an emotionally true and funny story about survival in life's strangest environment-the one we pretend is normal five days a week.
One of the Best Books of the Year Boston Globe * Christian Science Monitor * New York Magazine * New York Times Book Review * St. Louis Post-Dispatch * Time magazine * Salon
