Author: JOSHUA FERRIS
Title: To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
Description: Viking, 2014. Paperback. Pp: 337. 'The mouth is a weird place. Not quite inside and not quite out, not skin and not organ, but something in between- dark, wet, admitting access to an interior most people would rather not contemplate.' Paul O'Rourke - dentist extraordinaire, reluctant New Yorker, avowed atheist, disaffected Red Sox fan, and a connoisseur of the afternoon mochaccino - is a man out of touch with modern life. While his dental practice occupies his days, his nights are filled with regret, as he ponders his mistakes with his ex-girlfriend (and receptionist) Connie, and alternately marvels at and rails against the optimism of the rest of humanity. So it goes, until someone begins to impersonate Paul online. He watches in impotent horror as a website, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account are created in his name to promote a little-known ancient religion. And yet what began as an outrageous violation of privacy soon becomes something far more soul-frightening- the possibility that the virtual 'Paul' might be a better version of the man in the flesh. Joshua Ferris's dazzlingly inventive, brutally comic new novel cuts to the very heart of modern existence- the meaning of life, the certainty of death, and the importance of good oral hygiene. 'This is fierce, pithy, unforgiving satire, taking a sledgehammer to all-American cracker-barrel homeliness. Its comic energy is fuelled by disgust and exasperation, in the tradition of Roth and Heller and John Kennedy O'Toole. But Ferris is also a dab hand at more delicate humour, every bit as contemporary. Ferris is very funny. His voice is unique.' Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday 'Joshua Ferris has been heralded as one of America's sharpest observers of 21st-century life and, reading his third novel, it's easy to see why. To Rise Again At A Decent Hourhas the immediacy and the trenchant satire of a brilliant stand-up routine as well as the big ideas and the in-depth research of a brilliant academic paper.' Express 'To Rise Again at a Decent Houris a funny novel, by turns ha-ha, peculiar and, like O'Rourke himself, suspended between heaven and earth.' Independent 'Joshua Ferris has proved his astonishing ability to spin gold from ordinary air. As brave and adept as any writer out there.' New York Times Book Review 'It's a pleasure watching this young writer confidently range from the registers of broad punchline comedy to genuine spiritual depth. There's a happy side effect to reading the novel, as well- If you're a backslider like I was, it will guilt you into flossing again.' Wall Street Journal 'An engrossing and hilariously bleak novel about a dentist being shook out of his comfortable atheism. This splintering of the self hasn't been performed in fiction so neatly since Philip Roth's 'Operation Shylock.'' Boston Globe 'Genuine, funny. It'll also leave you flossing with a vengeance.' GQ 'Ferris is a Virgil of the disaffected. This is the novel's peculiar brilliance, to uncover its existential stakes in the most mundane tasks.' LA Times 'Smart, sad, hilarious and eloquent, this shows a writer at the top of his game and surpassing the promise of his celebrated debut.' Kirkus (starred review) 'Laugh-out-loud hilarious, combining Woody Allen's New York nihilism with an Ivy League vocabulary.' Booklist 'Returns Ferris to the comedy of the workplace. his writing is so fresh and modern - a comedian's sense of timing mixed with a social critic's knack for shaking the bushes.' Interview Magazine. ISBN: 9780670917730. Cond./Kwaliteit: Goed.
Keywords: 9780670917730
See more books from our catalog: Literatuur anderstalig
Title: To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
Description: Viking, 2014. Paperback. Pp: 337. 'The mouth is a weird place. Not quite inside and not quite out, not skin and not organ, but something in between- dark, wet, admitting access to an interior most people would rather not contemplate.' Paul O'Rourke - dentist extraordinaire, reluctant New Yorker, avowed atheist, disaffected Red Sox fan, and a connoisseur of the afternoon mochaccino - is a man out of touch with modern life. While his dental practice occupies his days, his nights are filled with regret, as he ponders his mistakes with his ex-girlfriend (and receptionist) Connie, and alternately marvels at and rails against the optimism of the rest of humanity. So it goes, until someone begins to impersonate Paul online. He watches in impotent horror as a website, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account are created in his name to promote a little-known ancient religion. And yet what began as an outrageous violation of privacy soon becomes something far more soul-frightening- the possibility that the virtual 'Paul' might be a better version of the man in the flesh. Joshua Ferris's dazzlingly inventive, brutally comic new novel cuts to the very heart of modern existence- the meaning of life, the certainty of death, and the importance of good oral hygiene. 'This is fierce, pithy, unforgiving satire, taking a sledgehammer to all-American cracker-barrel homeliness. Its comic energy is fuelled by disgust and exasperation, in the tradition of Roth and Heller and John Kennedy O'Toole. But Ferris is also a dab hand at more delicate humour, every bit as contemporary. Ferris is very funny. His voice is unique.' Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday 'Joshua Ferris has been heralded as one of America's sharpest observers of 21st-century life and, reading his third novel, it's easy to see why. To Rise Again At A Decent Hourhas the immediacy and the trenchant satire of a brilliant stand-up routine as well as the big ideas and the in-depth research of a brilliant academic paper.' Express 'To Rise Again at a Decent Houris a funny novel, by turns ha-ha, peculiar and, like O'Rourke himself, suspended between heaven and earth.' Independent 'Joshua Ferris has proved his astonishing ability to spin gold from ordinary air. As brave and adept as any writer out there.' New York Times Book Review 'It's a pleasure watching this young writer confidently range from the registers of broad punchline comedy to genuine spiritual depth. There's a happy side effect to reading the novel, as well- If you're a backslider like I was, it will guilt you into flossing again.' Wall Street Journal 'An engrossing and hilariously bleak novel about a dentist being shook out of his comfortable atheism. This splintering of the self hasn't been performed in fiction so neatly since Philip Roth's 'Operation Shylock.'' Boston Globe 'Genuine, funny. It'll also leave you flossing with a vengeance.' GQ 'Ferris is a Virgil of the disaffected. This is the novel's peculiar brilliance, to uncover its existential stakes in the most mundane tasks.' LA Times 'Smart, sad, hilarious and eloquent, this shows a writer at the top of his game and surpassing the promise of his celebrated debut.' Kirkus (starred review) 'Laugh-out-loud hilarious, combining Woody Allen's New York nihilism with an Ivy League vocabulary.' Booklist 'Returns Ferris to the comedy of the workplace. his writing is so fresh and modern - a comedian's sense of timing mixed with a social critic's knack for shaking the bushes.' Interview Magazine. ISBN: 9780670917730. Cond./Kwaliteit: Goed.
Keywords: 9780670917730
Price: EUR 12.50 = appr. US$ 13.59 Seller: De Slegte
- Book number: 1975320
- Book number: 1975320
See more books from our catalog: Literatuur anderstalig