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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read Ferris’ “Then We Came to the End” 10 years ago, and rather enjoyed his sarcasm and wit. Here his stories have all the sarcasm, but with thoroughly unlikeable protagonists. I guess I don’t really enjoy reading about so many tormented couples on the brink of divorce. It’s not fun.
dark
funny
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4 1/2 stars.
"The world was a continuing shit show despite the innumerable heroes and martyrs. Why had I even gotten out of bed?"
I have enjoyed all of Joshua Ferris's novels to varying degrees and now comes his first collection of short stories. He might be my new favorite short story writer; he plays with the form so well and in such exciting ways. His characters--all white and for the most part, male--frequently have existential crises that border on the absurd and would be so easy to laugh at if they weren't so damn pathetic and almost tragic. Infidelity, mortality, abandonment issues, loneliness...all present and accounted for here (and sometimes all within one story). I know, I know, it sounds devastating, and it frequently is but you'll still laugh at the foibles of man along the way. I would even go so far to say that Ferris is almost Updikian in his themes and plots, if it weren't for the fact that he's a much better, more fascinating writer. Yeah, I said it...
"The world was a continuing shit show despite the innumerable heroes and martyrs. Why had I even gotten out of bed?"
I have enjoyed all of Joshua Ferris's novels to varying degrees and now comes his first collection of short stories. He might be my new favorite short story writer; he plays with the form so well and in such exciting ways. His characters--all white and for the most part, male--frequently have existential crises that border on the absurd and would be so easy to laugh at if they weren't so damn pathetic and almost tragic. Infidelity, mortality, abandonment issues, loneliness...all present and accounted for here (and sometimes all within one story). I know, I know, it sounds devastating, and it frequently is but you'll still laugh at the foibles of man along the way. I would even go so far to say that Ferris is almost Updikian in his themes and plots, if it weren't for the fact that he's a much better, more fascinating writer. Yeah, I said it...
I would love to be Joshua Ferris’s therapist. The anxiety and angst ridden nature of his stories, does he experience the same feelings of despair? He would certainly be a dream client. (I am not a therapist btw).
These are a mix of flawed characters in tense situations as they navigate through ordinary life. The kind of stories that made me squirm yet yearning to find out how they would end. In typical Ferris fashion there are no real happy endings, life goes on for those involved and the reader is left to figure out the future after all the mishaps.
Not for everyone, but I would think therapists might enjoy this book. I am not a licensed therapist nor do I play one in a podcast, but I do enjoy squirming to the uncomfortable yarns that Ferris spins. Makes my own life seem a little more simple and not nearly as f-ed up as I think it is sometimes.
These are a mix of flawed characters in tense situations as they navigate through ordinary life. The kind of stories that made me squirm yet yearning to find out how they would end. In typical Ferris fashion there are no real happy endings, life goes on for those involved and the reader is left to figure out the future after all the mishaps.
Not for everyone, but I would think therapists might enjoy this book. I am not a licensed therapist nor do I play one in a podcast, but I do enjoy squirming to the uncomfortable yarns that Ferris spins. Makes my own life seem a little more simple and not nearly as f-ed up as I think it is sometimes.
Would I have enjoyed these more had I read them individually and meted them out? Perhaps.