Then We Came To The End - Joshua Ferris

I read this book in Jan. 2008. It was a fast read and I loved it. I'd heard good reviews of the book, but when I read a summary of it, I knew I had to read it. Being in the advertising industry, it's always interesting to read other perspectives of it. And Joshua Ferris' take was right on. Anyone who has ever worked in an agency will be able to relate to nearly every story and every character stereotype in the book.

One of my favorite things about this book was the clever and unique use of the first-person plural narration, using "we" for everything. I've never read a book that used this point-of-view (in fact, I had to do a little researching to find out exactly what it was called!) and I thought it was interesting, how everything came from the collective perspective, and the narrator was not the center of any story, yet he was a part of all of them. I've read other reviews where this particular point-of-view criticized as confusing, but I personally loved it.

As far as plot goes, it's not overly developed... the stories are more about the banalities of everyday life, the mundane office tasks, things everyone can relate to regardless of career path. There is a plot though, and it varies from touching to suspenseful to laugh-out-loud funny.

Some of the awards this book has received:
Best Books of 2007: Amazon Top 100 Editors' Pick, a Top 10 fiction choice for Time magazine, and one of the 10 Best Books in the New York Times Book Review.