To Rise Again at a Decent Hour

 

By Joshua Ferris

 

I heard an interesting statistic; that dentists have the highest number of suicides in any profession.

If you think about it, no one likes going to the dentist, in fact most people hate dentists. And so your dentist would already be in your bad books before even sitting you down.

This novel is about an unhappy dentist and his search for something more in life.

 

The first sentence “The mouth is a weird place” makes you think… yes it is actually.

The main character, Paul O'Rourke, is a smoking dentist who goes on a bit of a soul-searching journey after having his identity stolen. The thief is impersonating him online through all social media methods – the scariest part is that this online Paul might be a better version of the real thing. He is a lonely guy who tries to attach himself to the families of his girlfriends with his narcissistic personality and bad social skills. Hence why he is a single middle-aged man.

 

Paul is an atheist so there are funny parts around his beliefs, although I did find some of it weird. But Paul is not the ‘healthiest’ of minds; he’s just trying to find answers in a confusing and modern world.

 

A very funny book filled with dry and sarcastic humour. It’s a joy to read through the witty and clever dialogue.