Upside Down Dog
October 17th, 2008I like the new site upsidedowndogs.com. It’s what it says it is. Here is my dog, upside down. Enjoy.
Upside Down Dog
Book Review: “Then We Came to the End” by Joshua Ferris
September 17th, 2008
I can’t dislike a novel with this first sentence: “We were fractious and overpaid.” I can’t ignore a theme that seems ripped right from my own experience. Did Mr. Ferris follow me around in 2001 and watch my youthful tech entitlement fall disillusioned around me as the economy floundered and the world changed forever? Or–I hope this is closer to reality–is my experience part of a broader sadness that can be captured perfectly in a riotous novel written, to capture our togetherness on this sinking ship, in the first person plural?
Ferris captures the churlish, back-biting and smug hubris of the late 90s boom perfectly. Office workers aren’t just the obvious constructs of water-cooler herds signing TPS reports, but those who think they’re different and invincible: spurting forced absurdity and juvenile cleverness in that assertive way that means “nothing could possibly go wrong.” Of course it did go wrong and we all got numbed, lonely and old very fast.
What Ferris does here that other satirical novels do not is spotlight the panicky futility that crept up on us very quickly. His characters aren’t whimsical pastiches of quirks (although they are certainly quirky in ways that you’d both expect and not expect), but deeply faulted, tormented individuals. Office politics take on the ominous feeling of life-or-death struggles. In some ways they are; characters spin dark fantasies about how when they get laid off they’ll slowly lose all of their possessions, their family, their dignity until they are forgotten, desitute.
In between anecdotes about clicking and dragging and billable hours, Ferris gives us glimpses of the dark underbelly of the American professional psyche. It’s terrifying and hilarious.
LibraryThing Tags:
| fiction, funny, comedy, humor, corporate, advertising, novel, chicago, read, readin2008 |
As always, see all of my reviews on LibraryThing.
Book #54 of 2008.
One Response to “Book Review: “Then We Came to the End” by Joshua Ferris”
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trish Says:
October 10th, 2008 at 4:13 pmOoh, I can’t wait to read this! I’ve been hoping a copy will come up on bookmooch, but no such luck yet. Maybe I’ll get it for Christmas.
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Book Review: The Year of Living Biblically
May 19th, 2008
A.J. Jacobs and I are not that different. Secular, self-deprecating, Internet-bound, Wikipedia-obsessed, urban, relatively young, literary and with an approach of forced cleverness. Yup. That’s kind of me, too. But for all this familiarity of style, I didn’t find myself laughing out loud as much as I’d wanted. Perhaps it’s too familiar.
The premise is straightforward: Jacobs lives an entire year following biblical law as closely as possible. Hilarity ensues, but it’s mostly foreseeable hilarity. The conflict between fundamentalistic literalism and more metaphorical interpretations. The bizarre anachronisms. The marginalized situation for women. I could see it coming.
Not that this book is not worthwhile. Jacobs does legitimately seem to self-reflect, and he’s remarkably tolerant of a wide spectrum of beliefs. In the end, not much changes with him but he does have sensitivity and understanding.
The writing is good in that it wasn’t particularly assertive, letting the anecdotes unfold with their own timbre. I appreciated that.
I sure spent a lot of time feeling sorry for his wife, who endured the more extreme rules (for example: no contact whatsoever whilst menstruating, honoring the edict of “impurity”). She deserves an award. ( 
)
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Book Review: “The Year of Living Biblically” by A.J. Jacobs
May 14th, 2008A.J. Jacobs and I are not that different. Secular, self-deprecating, Internet-bound, Wikipedia-obsessed, urban, relatively young, literary and with an approach of forced cleverness. Yup. That’s kind of me, too. But for all this familiarity of style, I didn’t find myself laughing out loud as much as I’d wanted. Perhaps it’s too familiar.
The premise is straightforward: Jacobs lives an entire year following biblical law as closely as possible. Hilarity ensues, but it’s mostly foreseeable hilarity. The conflict between fundamentalistic literalism and more metaphorical interpretations. The bizarre anachronisms. The marginalized situation for women. I could see it coming.
Not that this book is not worthwhile. Jacobs does legitimately seem to self-reflect, and he’s remarkably tolerant of a wide spectrum of beliefs. In the end, not much changes with him but he does have sensitivity and understanding.
The writing is good in that it wasn’t particularly assertive, letting the anecdotes unfold with their own timbre. I appreciated that.
I sure spent a lot of time feeling sorry for his wife, who endured the more extreme rules (for example: no contact whatsoever whilst menstruating, honoring the edict of “impurity”). She deserves an award. ( )
4 Responses to “Book Review: “The Year of Living Biblically” by A.J. Jacobs”
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Kathleen Says:
May 15th, 2008 at 3:29 pmHi, found your blog on LT. I’m only just making my way around to everyone’s blogs. I’ve been thinking about picking this up, but now after your review I’m not sure I will. Thanks for the heads up.I look forward to more of your reviews
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Elizabeth Says:
May 15th, 2008 at 6:58 pmHi - I also found your blog at LT and wanted to say hello. I read this about a month ago and had much the same reaction - boy, his wife really loves him!
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LyzzyBee Says:
May 16th, 2008 at 1:37 pmHi another LTer here, I have this book on my wishlist as read his encyclopedia one. I read some excerpts in the paper and felt sorry for his wife, although I belive she got her own back at A Certain Time…
Happy reading! -
Betsy Says:
May 16th, 2008 at 10:59 pmHis earlier book - which describes what happens when he vows to read the entire encyclopedia cover to cover within a year - is well worth the read. I’ve got a copy if you’re interested…!
October 17th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
this makes sydney look 18,ooo times fiercer than she actually has the capacity to look right-side-up.