This book heralds the triumph of groupthink.  The protagonist is a nameless, first-person plural entity-- the Spirit of the Office.  The conceit is fun for a while.

The conflict comes in the form of a worker who won't be absorbed.  Tom Mota is portrayed as a borderline psychopath, but his main problem is that he's taken Emerson seriously.  Ferris accurately portrays the suspicious, conniving attitude of the Office Entity, which is a sort of small town, Puritan in its conformity, but lacking in any principles.

The middle section of the book shifts into third person to deal with the boss, who, it turns out, is human, and who, unfortunately, has a rather melodramatic encounter with cancer.  After the book returns to the first person plural, it is revealed that this section is written by one of the background characters, who ends up giving a reading from his just-published novel.

Despite its mealy-mouthed spinelessness and its technical flaws, THEN WE CAME TO THE END is mildly entertaining, if occasionally annoying.  As a text that examines and exposes our culture's failings, it is worth examining-- although it is ultimately discouraging of individuality, which it seems to regard as a sort of anachronistic and dangerously immature fetish..