Then We Came to the Reading of the Fantastic Debut Novel

By Marcus Gilmer in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 3, 2008 3:26PM

We were going to list a bunch of great bars you could hit up tonight to try to get laid, but we decided to leave that to Chicago's Most Popular High School Paper and, instead, focus on another worthwhile reading. We picked up a copy of Joshua Ferris' debut novel Then We Came to the End the Thursday before a weekend trip last year. By the time we touched down at O'Hare that Sunday night, we had devoured the book. We weren't the only ones who took a liking to it: it was a 2007 National Book Award Finalist and topped several year-end "best book" lists, including the New York Times and Time Magazine. Even the Tribune gushed about it, saying:

Fabulous....The emotional oscillation as employees strive to stay alive (read: employed) is played out by Ferris with the sort of exuberance and energy that marked Jay McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City," to which THEN WE CAME TO THE END might seem a Midwestern cousin.

The book focuses on a Chicago-based ad agency and the interactions, dramas, and foibles of its employees. Lit nerds (like us) will notice that Ferris employs the first-person plural perspective to great effect in the book, making it easier to understand the employees collective paranoia and perspective, while also effectively making each individual character come to life. One might be tempted to call it "The Office" in book form, but to do so would be an injustice to both of those entities as each has its own distinct voice, tone, and perspective (though both stand as solid achievements in their respective fields).

Now Ferris, a Danville, Illinois native and former Chicago resident, is coming back to town on a tour to promote the book's recent release in paperback. He'll be reading at the North Michigan Avenue Borders tonight. Fans and new readers alike might also want to check out the book's official website for, among other interesting tidbits, the official layout of the book's ad agency.

Joshua Ferris appears at Borders Bookstore, 830 N. Michigan Ave., tonight at 7 p.m.