One More Thing by B. J. Novak

The debut book "One More Thing" by B. J. Novak, (who starred as Ryan in The Office, and wrote for the same show) came out earlier this month.  My anti-TV snobbery caused me to assume the book would be lame, so imagine my surprise.

I actually read the first story "The Rematch" 3 times the night I got a copy of this book.  It's a sequel to the fable of the tortoise and the hare.  When the humiliated and depressed hare tries to get a round 2, he's informed by the tortoise's spokesperson that "The tortoise is focused full-time on inspiring a new generation with the lessons of dedication and persistence through his popular speaking tours and his charitable work with the Slow and Steady Foundation."  And it only gets funnier from there.

Novak's really good at mimicking and distilling the most absurd elements of our modern culture.  Take for instance his story about the Comedy Central Roast of Nelson Mandela.  It walks that blurry line between tasteless and satire of the tasteless.  You'll either be offended or you'll laugh.  A lot.  

Other great stories are "The Man Who Invented the Calendar" which first appeared in the New Yorker, "Sophia" which is like some kind of weird inversion of the new film "Her", and "Kellog's", all of which have a distinctly George Saunders feel to them.  

Not every story in the collection is as strong.  Some of the shorter ones are either a little too clever for me, or a little too random.  Others are super short and elicit a chuckle.  Take "The Literalist's Love Poem."  It goes:

                Roses are rose.

                Violets are violet.

                I love you.

And that's it.  This collection is super hip and super edgy.   Some will age better than others.

I will almost certainly read whatever he writes next, so at the end of the day it's a win for Novak.

Also, be sure to check out the trailer for the book, which he does with Office co-star and fellow writer Mindy Kaling:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FxhTn9cEhI