Then We Came to the End

Among many other reasons, Ferris's debut novel was acclaimed for its unusual point of view: the collective ""we."" The harried denizens of a Chicago advertising firm form a unified narrator, railing against the boredom of the American white-collar job and the dwindling of their opportunities at the company in the post-Internet bust. Reading a book with such tricky narration is a complex task, and Deanna Hurst, while game, is not quite up to the task. Hurst reads flatly, with little sense of the engaging rhythms of Ferris's comic prose. This abridged version of Ferris's novel often feels heavier, and longer, than the wonderfully light-footed original. Hurst just doesn't quite get the joke. Simultaneous release with the Back Bay Books paperback (Reviews, Jan. 8, 2007).