The book selected by the state library for this year’s Kansas Reads program is a comedy satire about the American workplace.

“Then We Came to the End” by Joshua Ferris, takes place in a fictitious Chicago ad agency  experiencing a downturn at the end of the ’90s Internet boom.  Copies of the book are available for checkout at the Hays Public Library.

Margy Stewart, Washburn University professor emerita, lead a discussion of the novel Monday afternoon at the Hays library.

“It would appeal to anyone who has ever worked in an office or other business with lots of coworkers, ” said Stewart. “There’s a lot to discuss in this book, including the timeliness of the subject matter–layoffs.”

Stewart and other volunteers with the Kansas Humanities Council are leading discussions of “Then We Came to the End” with book clubs and libraries across the state through March 20.