Day22 - And then I came to the end

Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008: My Living Room: And Then We Came To The End

I finished this book called "And Then We Came To The End" today, it is the debut novel of writer Jonathen Ferris. I read about on gawker.com and I was immediately drawn to the book's setting in a Chicago ad agency. It took me about 6 months to get the book and actually sit down and read it. I'm very glad I did because it's now one of my favorite books, not only because of the subject matter but also because of the tone and depth.


And just look at the cover. How could you not be attracted - great art direction here:



If you click on the link here, you can get some background on the book as well as an except:

WE WERE FRACTIOUS AND overpaid. Our mornings lacked promise. At least those of us who smoked had something to look forward to at ten-fifteen. Most of us liked most everyone, a few of us hated specific individuals, one or two people loved everyone and everything. Those who loved everyone were unanimously reviled. We loved free bagels in the morning. They happened all too infrequently. Our benefits were astonishing in comprehensiveness and quality of care. Sometimes we questioned whether they were worth it. We thought moving to India might be better, or going back to nursing school. Doing something with the handicapped or working with our hands. No one ever acted on these impulses, despite their daily, sometimes hourly contractions. Instead we met in conference rooms to discuss the issues of the day.

Ordinarily jobs came in and we completed them in a timely and professional manner. Sometimes fuckups did occur. Printing errors, transposed numbers.Our business was advertising and details were important. If the third number after the second hyphen in a client's toll-free number was a six instead of an eight, and if it went to print like that, and showed up in Time magazine, no one reading the ad could call now and order today. No matter they could go to the website, we still had to eat the price of the ad. Is this boring you yet? It bored us every day.Our boredom was ongoing, a collective boredom, and it would never die because we would never die.

The basic plot of the book? Set in the turn of this century, ad agencies and corporate america started to feel the pinch from the implosion of dot.com boom. This book describes the ennui of everyday office life, creatives and lay-offs. A story that hits close to home regardin all three.

It was hard to get into the book at first, up until chapter 5, because of the narrative "we." Who is this "we?" I kept asking myself until I realized, as the character Benny describes, it is the zeitgeist of the office - the defining spirit or mood. We is "you and me" and the trick of the book is that by using "we" you become a character. It's easy to invest in their lives and personalities because they common among anyone with a day job.

The characters are well rounded and formed. They have clear personalities, without being stereotypes and I spent some of the book relating characters to people that I know. It is filled with the gossip that is present in every office. Also with the apathy that is often found there as well. He nailed it right on the head when he describes the superiority over all mankind that creatives (art directors, graphic designers, marketers, copy writers) feel when they create an ad campaign and the depression they sink to when they fail. He must have worked in an agency to get it that close.

I am so glad I stuck with it. The plot jumps back and forth over the span of a year and half for the majority with the epilogue bringing us into present day five years later. This is beautifully done. One by one co-workers are let go, planting the fear that your life will end and the question  of what will replace everything when you leave? The brilliant last paragraph binds the whole story together so neatly.

I'm sure that I'm not doing the book justice with this synopsis, so look here to find a more in depth read on it.  This is definitely a read for all my college/work friends.