Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of the Avid Reader. Today our guest is Joshua Ferris author of The Dinner Party and Other Stories, published this month by Little Brown and Company.

This is Joshua’s first collection of short stories. His debut novel was Then We Came To An End, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Next came The Unnamed in 2010 and Joshua’s third novel in 2014 is To Rise Again At A Decent Hour shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

The stories in The Dinner Party have been collected over a period of 10-12 years and represent a collection of work that while distinct and individual weaves together a set of themes that keeps the reader laughing, puzzled, wondering and in awe.

For example, if you have ever really had a bad day, read these stories and you’ll find out what it is to have a REALLY bad day? If you’ve ever been perplexed about why you made a certain dumb dumb decision, you know, the kind where you slam the heel of your hand against your forehead, wait till you see some of the decisions these guys make.

And I say guys, because Joshua is best when he is describing someone like me, a dumb guy, who’s put his foot in his mouth and rather than trying to get it out succeeds only in pushing in the ankle and then a portion of the tibia and fibula.

We all have moments when we realize, in retrospect, oh! That was the moment that my relationship with Susan began to unravel or the moment when you realize if I had just turned that doorknob or have smiled and said hello instead of putting my hands in my pockets or turning away, my life would have been so much different.

Having those moments is one thing. And I don’t really blame you or myself. Well yeah I do blame myself. Pretty much 24/7.

What Joshua does is crystallize those moments, or telegraph them in the opening lines of a story so that you read with bated breath knowing that what is coming is not going to be good but it’s going to resonate.

You find yourself either rooting for a character, hoping against hope that he doesn’t do the dumb-ass thing you think he will, or you resign yourself and say well this is just not going to be good.

What is fascinating about the process is you find yourself constantly either laughing or trying not to as these bumbling foolish guys, some good hearted, some not so much, meander through life not even knowing what they are getting themselves into.

Donald Trump would be a perfect fit as a character in the next collection of short stories that Joshua brings us.