AUDIOBOOK read by Joshua Ferris

I picked this book up after reading Ferris’ excellent first book Then We Came to the End, a hilarious account of a company and its employees as it gradually goes out of business.  If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend picking it up.  Because of my enjoyment of his first book, I was excited to dive into his second novel only to find a completely different experience, although not a bad one.  The Unnamed is the story of a lawyer and family man who has an odd disease (or psychological problem) where his body takes over and forces him to take long walks that he can’t control.  The novel starts with the recurrence of this illness after a time of remission and dives into how it affects his job and family.  After another period of remission, the illness comes back and he allows it to basically take over and he starts a walk across the country.  The novel examines his struggles on the brink of madness and the changing, but ultimately, strong bond he has with his wife and daughter.  While originally focused on the disease, the narrative evolves into a complicated, and sad, love story.  While at times hard to listen to, I wound up enjoying this book.  From an audiobook perspective, I’m always weary of an author reading his own book, especially if it’s a novel, but Ferris does a nice job on this one.  I would recommend the book, but only if you’ve already read Then We Came to the End.