"I love it, when, as a reader, I am surprised by the way people behave, you know that you're aghast and shocked and standing back a little bit. And I love it even more when I'm writing it, when I have tapped into a sense that I'm not in control of this guy, either." We've been fans of Joshua Ferris since his very funny and acclaimed 2007 debut, Then We Came to the End — and he had us howling with laughter as we read his latest, A Calling for Charlie Barnes. Joshua joins us on the show to talk about second chances and whether or not people can change, family mythology, writing comedy without losing sight of his characters, and more.

Featured books: A Calling for Charlie Barnes and Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris and To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.

Produced/Hosted by Miwa Messer and engineered by Harry Liang.

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