Joshua Ferris (born 1974) is an American author best known for his debut 2007 novel ''

Then We Came to the End ''Then We Came to the End'' is the first novel by Joshua Ferris. It was released by Little, Brown and Company on March 1, 2007. A satire of the American workplace, it is similar in tone to Don DeLillo's ''Americana,'' even borrowing DeLillo's fi ...

''. The book is a comedy about the American workplace, told in the first-person plural. It takes place in a fictitious

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

ad agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

experiencing a downturn at the end of the '90s

Internet boom The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compo ...

Biography

Ferris graduated from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

with a BA in English and philosophy in 1996. He then moved to Chicago and worked in advertising for several years before obtaining an MFA in writing from

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** ''University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the t ...

. His first published story, "Mrs. Blue," appeared in the ''

Iowa Review ''The Iowa Review'' is an American literary magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews. History and profile Founded in 1970, ''Iowa Review'' is issued three times a year, during the months of April, August, and December. Origin ...

'' in 1999. ''

'' received positive reviews from ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', and ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', has been published in 25 languages, was a finalist for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

, and received the 2007

PEN/Hemingway Award The PEN/Hemingway Award is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingwa ...

. ''The New Yorker'' published a short story by Ferris, "The Dinner Party," in August 2008. This story made him a nominee for the

Shirley Jackson Awards The Shirley Jackson Awards are literary awards named after Shirley Jackson in recognition of her legacy in writing. These awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of Psychological thriller, psychological Thriller (genre), suspense, Horr ...

. Another story, "A Night Out," was published in ''

Tin House ''Tin House'' is an American book publisher based in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. Portland publisher Win McCormack originally conceived the idea for a literary magazine called ''Tin House'' in the summer of 1998. He enlisted Holly MacArt ...

s tenth anniversary issue. Other short fiction has appeared in ''Best New American Voices 2007'' and ''New Stories from the South 2007''. His nonfiction has appeared in the anthologies ''State by State'' and ''Heavy Rotation''. ''The New Yorker'' included him in its 2010 "20 Under 40" list. Ferris's second novel, ''

The Unnamed ''The Unnamed'' is the second novel by American novelist Joshua Ferris, published in 2010. Plot summary The story begins in New York City where Tim Farnsworth, a successful trial attorney and partner in a law firm, apparently with everything goi ...

'', was published in January 2010. It garnered many prominent, although mixed, reviews.

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

called it "audacious, risky and powerfully bleak, with the author's unflinching artistry its saving grace." The ''New York Times'' review, by novelist

Jay McInerney John Barrett "Jay" McInerney Jr. (; born January 13, 1955) is an American novelist, screenwriter, editor, and columnist. His novels include ''Bright Lights, Big City (novel), Bright Lights, Big City'', ''Ransom'', ''Story of My Life (novel), Sto ...

, called it "a road novel with severe tunnel vision.” Ferris's third novel, '' To Rise Again at a Decent Hour'', was published in May 2014. The novel was shortlisted for the

2014 Man Booker Prize The 2014 Man Booker Prize for fiction was awarded at a ceremony on 14 October 2014. Until 2014, only novels written in English and from authors in the Commonwealth, including the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe were eligible for considerat ...

in the first year that American works of fiction were eligible, and iwon the 2014

Dylan Thomas Prize The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published ...

and the

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.Then We Came to the End ''Then We Came to the End'' is the first novel by Joshua Ferris. It was released by Little, Brown and Company on March 1, 2007. A satire of the American workplace, it is similar in tone to Don DeLillo's ''Americana,'' even borrowing DeLillo's fi ...

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2010) * '' To Rise Again at a Decent Hour'' (2014) * ''A Calling for Charlie Barnes'' (2021)

Short fiction

* ''The Dinner Party: Stories'' (2017) * "Mrs. Blue", ''Iowa Review'' 29.2 (Fall 1999) * "Ghost Town Choir", ''Prairie Schooner'' 80.3 (Fall 2006) * "It Would Be Life--", ''Phoebe'' (2007) * "Uncertainty", ''Tin House'' 34 (Winter 2007)
"More Afraid of You"
''Granta'' 101 (Spring 2008)
"The Dinner Party"
''The New Yorker,'' 11 Aug 2008
"The Valetudinarian"
''The New Yorker'', 3 Aug 2009 * "A Night Out", ''Tin House'' 40 (10th Anniversary Issue)
"The Unnamed
, ''Granta'' 109 (Winter 2009) ovel excerptbr>"The Pilot"
''The New Yorker'', June 14 & 21, 2010
"Good Legs"
''The New Yorker'', June 2, 2014
"The Abandonment"
''The New Yorker'', August 1, 2016

Essays and reporting

"Nine to Five"
"The Guardian" (2007)
"The World According to Wallace"
"The Guardian" (2008)

References

External links

''Powell's Books'' interview (02/2007)NPR Radio Interview on ''Fresh Air'' Joshua Ferris on work in American fictionThe Dinner Party - short storyJoshua Ferris on David Foster WallaceAnnouncement of Ferris winning the 2014 Dylan Thomas Prize (11/2014)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferris, Joshua 21st-century American novelists University of Iowa alumni University of California, Irvine alumni 1974 births Living people The New Yorker people People from Danville, Illinois Novelists from Illinois Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award winners American male novelists American male short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers