Joshua Ferriss Then We Came to the End is one of the most acutely observed, dazzling American debuts of recent years. They spend their days - and too many of their nights - at work. Away from friends and family, they share a stretch of stained carpet with a group of strangers they call colleagues. Theres Chris Yop, clinging to his ergonomic chair; Lynn Mason, the boss, who Joshua Ferriss Then We Came to the End is one of the most acutely observed, dazzling American debuts of recent years. They spend their days - and too many of their nights - at work. Away from friends and family, they share a stretch of stained carpet with a group of strangers they call colleagues. Theres Chris Yop, clinging to his ergonomic chair; Lynn Mason, the boss, whose breast cancer everyone pretends not to talk about; Carl Garbedian, secretly taking someone elses medication; Marcia Dwyer, whose hair is stuck in the eighties; and Benny, whos just - well, just Benny. Amidst the boredom, redundancies, water cooler moments, meetings, flirtations and pure rage, life is happening, to their great surprise, all around them. Then We Came to the End is about sitting all morning next to someone you cross the road to avoid at lunch. Its the story of your life and mine. Very funny, intense and exhilarating . . . For the first time in fiction, it has truly captured the way we work The Times As dazzling as Franzens The Corrections and as confident as Tartts The Secret History . . . Exceptional, very funny Daily Telegraph Slick, sophisticated and very funny, Ferriss cracking debut has modern Everyman fighting for his identity in an increasingly impersonal world Daily Mail Joshua Ferris was born in Illinois in 1974. He is the author of Then We Came to the End (2007), which was nominated for the National Book Award and longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, and the highly acclaimed The Unnamed . In 2010 he was selected for the New Yorkers prestigious 20 under 40 list. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2014 and the Dylan Thomas Prize 2014. He lives in New York.