It’s been generally pretty well established that I am a huge fan of comedy television- NBC comedies in particular, though I am an equal opportunity viewer. Every night as I fall asleep, I put on a rerun of one of my favorites; this has led to, among things, sleepless nights as I run back through forgotten plots and other people having difficulty keeping up with my obscure references in daily conversations. Additionally, I am racked with the extreme fear that one day my Netflix history will be leaked and there will be many questions, mainly “How many times can one person watch 30 Rock/The Office/Parks and Recreation/Arrested Development/Scrubs in a lifetime?” (The answer: if you’re me, a whole lot.)
I started watching The Office in my freshman year of college because my next door neighbor had a big TV and all of the episodes that had aired so far. (Hi Sam!) That was also the year I binged on all of Arrested Development in about a week and finally watched the first two seasons of 30 Rock after attempting to start it a few times. Maybe not the finest year academically…but worth it.
I was particularly excited to see that BJ Novak was writing a book (of short stories, no less!) as I have found him hilarious on Twitter, he was a strong writer for The Office and he’s BFF with Mindy Kaling. Since I’m fairly certain all females between 20 and 40 (or anyone else who’s read Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?) consider her a best friend and spirit animal, her opinion is GOLD.
No question- this is a strange book. I have read a bunch of these anecdotal books by celebrities and while I should have known it would be very different by virtue of it being fiction rather than autobiographical, some of these stories are out there. I’m impressed with BJ’s observational humor and his ability to hit some descriptions totally spot on. For example, he describes supermarket cart wheels as “white-dirt-frosted black wheels”, which is absolutely perfect.
When it’s hilarious, it is the funniest fiction you’ll ever read. Do NOT miss “Wikipedia Brown and the Case of the Missing Bicycle” or “Chris Hansen at the Justin Bieber Concert”. He’s also posted two of my other favorite short stories on Instagram (linked in the titles): “If You Love Something” and “Kindness Among Cakes”, the latter being hilariously observational.
There’s also a lot of heart in the book- I appreciate his ability to write a funny book without sacrificing some super true emotions. This is so artfully accomplished in Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and Bossypants that I think I’ve started to almost take it for granted, but he is definitely a master of this duality. He wrote two lines in two separate stories that stuck so far out:
“The harm…is the little mark you get on you every time you open up a door to a hope and then close it fast in disappointment.”
This is in the story “Sophia” and relates to the question of putting yourself out there in any context- it isn’t always as easy as just doing so for the sake of doing it. There are real emotions and investments to consider and it’s a perfect little line about the real toll it can take.
“It’s not always enough to be brave, I realized years later. You have to be brave and contribute something positive too. Brave on its own is just a party trick.”
This is a line from one of the shorter stories, “The Bravest Thing I Ever Did”- I think it requires no further explanation. It’s just a really solid piece of wisdom from the guy who wrote this perfect scene of The Office.
You’ll like this if: you like modern short stories about some really random things. It’s a weird book, but it’s a nicely written weird book, and that makes it great. You’ll probably find at least one story or idea that you like…maybe?
Happy reading!
carlyreads 