“We had any number of clocks surrounding us, and every one of them at one time or another exhibited a lively sense… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
“I had never thought much of genealogy. A lot of wasted time collecting the names of the dead. Then stringing those names,… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
The whole time I was writing, I had to fight my normal inclination to be funny, to sort of patch humor in,… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
I think if there hadn't been the one passage of the book that mostly abandons the humor, and focuses very intently on… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
I think comedy is so much easier to do on the page than it is in real life. When I'm writing, comedy… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
That's one of the things about comedy - I think it works best when it's contextualized, as opposed to kind of an… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
Humor is a very big part of life, and if you exclude humor from your book, you're not capturing a very important… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
There were times where I felt I was pressing a little bit too hard with the humor, and I had to pull… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
Comedy is like fictional charm. It's the charm of fiction. Or the charisma of fiction. When you meet somebody who's immediately charismatic,… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
“Using a wide variety of media, we could demonstrate for our fellow Americans their anxieties, desires, insufficiencies, and frustrations--and how to assuage them all.… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
If someone were plucked from the group and given those responsibilities, they might find themselves growing more aloof, just by virtue of that promotion.… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
“I was already at one remove before the Internet came along. I need another remove? Now I have to spend the time that I'm… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
“One thing we knew for certain- despite all our certainties, it was very difficult to guess what one individual was thinking at any given… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
“There was so much unpleasantness in the workaday world. The last thing you ever wanted to do at night was go home and do… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
We loved killing time and had perfected several ways of doing so. We wandered the hallways carrying papers that indicated some mission of business… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
“For a long time thereafter I stared almost steadily at the bright and ostentatious VERIZON sign on top of one of the tallest buildings—the… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
“Of course I alienate myself from society. It's the only way I know of not being constantly reminded of all the ways I'm alienated… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
“That was the last time she was allowed back at the Bennigan's. From then on, she started drinking at the T.G.I. Friday's.” — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
I've always thought things were absurd. It would take a lot more effort for me to see things as reasonable. — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
“...she had the conviction of the newly converted, which wouldn't last forever, but would for the moment brook no discouragement or allow for second-guessing.” — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
