To rise again at a decent hour is not a bad book it just appears to have been written for an audience so specific that im not sure it really even exists as the cover art suggests it combines a mishmash of topics baseball judaism and dentistry primarily. Joshua ferriss 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 theres nothing like a dental chair to remind a man that hes alone in the world . Joshua ferris is the bestselling author of three novels then we came to the end the unnamed and to rise again at a decent hour he was a finalist for the national book award winner of the barnes and noble discover award and the pen hemingway award and was named one of the new yorkers 20 under 40writers in 2010. To rise again at a decent hour got off to a surprisingly good start with the humor and depth of orourkes character and the intrigue of who is stealing his identity and why this book was so much fun. If youre afraid of dentists or demanding fiction back away because to rise again at a decent hour is a brilliant mess of a novel that drills at a raw nerve of existential dread its a