Best of What's Next 2009: Joshua Ferris [Author]

Photo © Nina Subin 2009

Hometown: Hudson, N.Y.
Book: The Unnamed (January 2010)
For Fans Of: Ethan Canin, Nicholson Baker, The Office

Before publishing his stylish 2007 debut novel, Then We Came To The End, Ferris taught English in Japan, did paralegal work in Florida and wrote advertising copy in Chicago, working on his fiction all the while. The book nailed the tragicomedy and existential dread of modern office culture (much like a certain NBC sitcom), meditating on the meaning of work and the meaning of life.  

What’s Next? “I’m currently burying the prototype of my second novel [The Unnamed, a riveting read due out in January], while creating the prototype for my third,” the 34-year-old author says. “It’s my personal ambition never to write the same book twice. There’s some carry-over of craft and insight from book to book, but otherwise it’s like turning two again: learning to eat with cutlery, trying not to hit the sharp corners as you tumble.”

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