And Then We Came to the End—Joshua Ferris
And Then We Came to the End is a hive-mind masterwork portraying a declining corporate advertising agency and its expendable employees. Joshua Ferris gives us a view into the workplace web that connects everyone who’s worked in a dead-end office job.
The unique second-person voice brings us deep into the bowels of the corporate grist mill. The timeline jumps all over the place, but we never feel lost. It’s scattered and slightly confusing; both these devices drive us deeper into the employees’ experience of the blending together of days, weeks, months.
The hive-mind point of view brings us in, but individual character arcs do not suffer as a result. Rather, we directly experience the triumphs and tragedies of each named character through our collective eyes. Some thrive in the office environment; some break out of “the life.” Some simply break. But one by one, all of us are forced to confront the company’s demise and its effect on our lives.
And Then We Came to the End was an exceptional breath of fresh air—and a reminder of why I quit the office life. Highly recommended.
Find And Then We Came to the End on Amazon in digital, print, and audio editions.
Until next time,
Jenna
Jenna Justice is a fiction editor and proofreader for independent authors. She specializes in speculative genres, including fantasy, science fiction, dystopian, utopian, the paranormal, and urban fantasy for adult, middle-grade, and young adult readers. She is a proud member of ACES: The Society for Editing.
Visit Jenna’s website at Justice Serves Proofreading, and say hi on Twitter at @justice_proofs.
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