“I'm not sure that all books aren't that way. I think that might apply to any book I was writing. The book was kind of the product of this enormous infatuation I had, not only with the office and office politics, but with perspective, and trying to tell a story from as wide a range of perspectives as you possibly can. I tried to capture it all with the first-person plural, but once I settled on that, I used it to tell the story from as many angles as I could. I guess, to put it romantically, it was about a love affair with the craft of perspective.” ThinkingWritingTryingKindBookPerspectiveOfficeAffairNot SureInfatuationLove Affair Author:Joshua Ferris
“If someone were plucked from the group and given those responsibilities, they might find themselves growing more aloof, just by virtue of that promotion. Suddenly the group culture excludes you. I saw this in my own working life, and I don't think it's a coincidence - I sensed a kind of loneliness in middle managers especially.” ThinkingKindCultureResponsibilityVirtueLonelinessCoincidencePromotionAloof Author:Joshua Ferris
“The people at the very top could fall by and grace you with their presence and give you a little largesse, and you'd be "Oh, I'm so beloved." In a way, it was kind of like flattery. The middle managers didn't quite have that cachet, but at the same time, they had to seem like they were of that caliber. So there's a little bit of loneliness at the heart of those with a little bit of power.” PeopleGivingHeartKindFallGraceLonelinessBelovedFlattery Author:Joshua Ferris
“That's one of the things about comedy - I think it works best when it's contextualized, as opposed to kind of an island of cleverness.” ThinkingKindComedyCleverness Author:Joshua Ferris
“The internet takes a lot of the anxiety of life away. It's a kind of deity. You're never lonely. You're always distracted. If you spend enough time on it, there's not really that nagging sensation of existential despair; it erases it very effectively. And it's monolithic. And thanks to it, we've got the ways to linger there after death - your blog exists afterwards, your e-mail exists afterwards.” KindEnoughInternetDespairAnxietyLonelyThanksExistentialDistractedAfter DeathErase Author:Joshua Ferris
“Names generate meaning in a short amount of space — they provoke thoughts, questions. That's something I like doing. Of course, you have to be careful. Sometimes it can alienate the reader, it can be another level of mediation, to make a character carry the great burden of a metaphoric name. The character can be a device before he or she becomes a person, and that can be a bad thing for a writer who wants to offer up a kind of emotional proximity in the work. It's a constant struggle, the desire to be playful and the desire to communicate on some very stark emotional level.” WantKindPersonsSometimesCharacterDesireCoursesNamesSpaceLevelsStruggleEmotionalReaderAmountOffersConstantCarefulCommunicateBurdenDevicesWorking ItBad ThingsBe CarefulProvokingStarksMediationProximityConstant StruggleMetaphoric Author:Joshua Ferris
