All Play and No Work

Unemployment, cancer, workplace violence, endless monotony and graphic designers. None of these topics seem the least bit funny, and in real life they are obviously not. But in Joshua Ferris’ novel, Then We Came to the End, gallows humor rules the day.

For those who have worked an office job, chances are you have cheated the clock on occasion. Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone. You also know that what is said around the water cooler is almost more important than the official memos you get from your boss. Add this fantastic work ethic to the almost daily firing (err… laying off) of your co-workers, and an absurd sort of panic begins to set it.

You might begin to do odd things like challenging yourself to spend the entire day speaking only in quotes from The Godfather to see if anyone will notice. Or you might sneak back into your cubicle to work on projects even after you’ve been terminated hoping no one will notice (like your boss). Maybe you’ll compose extremely long e-mails (some would say manifestos) that are influenced partially by Thoreau and partially by boredom induced madness. Maybe you’ll send that e-mail to everyone in the company, from the mail-room to the CEO. This is the office Ferris immerses us in.

For those that are interested, Joshua Ferris will be reading from Then We Came to the End tomorrow night (Mar. 27) at Books Inc. in Palo Alto. And since I have probably done a miserable job enticing you to read this book, here is a commercial that has been made to do the same thing (yes, a commercial for a book... weird) :