Joshua Ferris

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, this big, brilliant, profoundly observed novel by National Book Award Finalist Joshua Ferris explores the absurdities of modern life and one man's search for meaning. Paul O'Rourke is a man made of contradictions: he loves the world, but doesn't know how to live in it. He's a Luddite addicted to his iPhone, a dentist with a nicotine habit, a rabid Red Sox fan devastated by their victories, and an atheist not quite willing to let go of God. Then someone begins to impersonate Paul online, and he watches in horror as a website, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account are created in his name. What begins as an outrageous violation of his privacy soon becomes something more soul-frightening: the possibility that the online "Paul" might be a better version of the real thing. As Paul's quest to learn why his identity has been stolen deepens, he is forced to confront his troubled past and his uncertain future in a life disturbingly split between the real and the virtual. At once laugh-out-loud funny about the absurdities of the modern world, and indelibly profound about the eternal questions of the meaning of life, love and truth, TO RISE AGAIN AT A DECENT HOUR is a deeply moving and constantly surprising tour de force.

A Novel

To Rise Again at a Decent Hour

*** Winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize 2014 and Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2014 *** 'The Catch-22 of dentistry' Stephen King Joshua Ferris's dazzling new novel To Rise Again at a Decent Hour is about the meaning of life, the certainty of death, and the importance of good oral hygiene. There's nothing like a dental chair to remind a man that he's alone in the world . . . 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 darker thoughts, as he alternately marvels at and rails against the optimism of the rest of humanity. So it goes, until someone begins to impersonate Paul online. 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 . . . 'Frenetic, very funny, it confirms Ferris as a rising star of American fiction' Mail on Sunday 'Glorious . . . A very, very funny novel' BBC Radio 4 Saturday Review 'Dismayingly funny in the way that only really serious books can be' Guardian Joshua Ferris was born in Illinois in 1974. He is the author of Then We Came to the End (2007), which was nominated for the National Book Award and longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, and The Unnamed. In 2010 he was selected for the New Yorker's prestigious '20 under 40' list. In 2014 To Rise Again At A Decent Hour won the Dylan Thomas Prize and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Joshua Ferris lives in New York.

Elina Berzina

Ilham Akbarli

Joshua Ferrisin başqa bir romanını oxuyacaqdım amma bu qabağıma çıxdı. Ateist bir diş həkimi qədim bir dinə mənsub olduğunu öyrənir və hekayə başlayır. Baş qəhrəmanın həyatının bütün seçimlərində arada qalır və adi adam olmaq arzusuyla yaşayır. Mənə elə gəlir ki, müəllif bütün “yeni” roman standartlarına cavab verir və hələ vurub o tərəfə də keçir. Oxumağa davam.

Nadine 

Probably the worst book I've suffered through in a long time. I kept going, kept hoping it would get better, but if you're not interested in baseball or religion or American angst it's not even worth picking up. No idea how it got on the longlist for the booker prize and maybe I"m just not intellectual enough but it's just plain crap in my humble opinion.

Jennifer Oramous

Wow! Just finished. I loved it. All the self dialogue and musings on what other ppl tonight but never asking them...I so get that!! Trying to find where you fit in...who is not able to relate to that. The religious part was secondary to me. A way to prove the point, I didn't find it tedious if anything it was funny. Overall, great book and will be reading this author again!

Rachel

Not bad and kept me reading. Paul O’Rourke is a mess. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour focuses on the world, society, religion and baseball. Paul wants to fit in the world but he can’t understand it. Basically Paul avoids having an internet presence and only uses it to check up on the Red Sox until someone makes a website for his dental practice and post about religion. He is pissed and wants to know why this is happening and by who, which he does find out, he is an Ulm. Most of the book focuses on what an Ulm is, his connection, whether or not it is a hoax and just him getting sucked more and more into it.This isn’t the first time he tried to find a place, he dated an employee of his and fell in love with Judaism. He loved the customs, the history and the sense of family, but he’s an atheist. Paul doesn’t understand why someone born into Judaism can be an atheist and a Jew, but not him (become a Jew while being atheist). He’s spending more time corresponding with people posting under his identity being consumed by it and people become concern over the statements his fake online self are saying. He just wants to figure out if there is any truth to what he is being told about the Ulms and himself.

This book makes you think about religion vs family/tradition while being humorous. For a book about society, religion, doubt, and faith it’s not preachy or favoring one opinion over the other. It is respectful. It’s also not a heavy read, its light and the plot moves along well, but it is still complex. I did feel like there was something missing towards the end, it gets jumbled up. It was going in all kinds of directions and circling around a message that wasn’t fully formed.

To Rise Again at a Decent Hour A Novel

Reviews

Highlights