To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
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.
Joshua Ferris
With the publication of his debut novel, National Book Award finalist Then We Came to the End, Joshua Ferris quickly established himself as a talented new voice. With that novel came a Pen/Hemingway Award, an appearance on the Guardian First Book Award long-list, a Barnes & Noble Discover Award, and inclusion on the New York Times Book Review’s “10 Best Books of the Year.” Since then, Ferris has written a brilliant follow-up, The Unnamed, published several acclaimed short stories in The New Yorker and Granta, and was deemed one of The New Yorker’s “20 Under 40.” Now Ferris is back with To Rise Again At A Decent Hour, a book that will further cement his place as a one of the most talented and daring writers at work today.