An entertainingly zany collection of sketches poking fun at the foibles of contemporary life at every age.
Two comic writers join forces in this collection of satirical scenarios and verses.
Dynamic duo Shaw and Kronengold met at Yale in 2014. Since then, they’ve become a sensation as the youngest-ever writers for the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Their debut volume assembles an array of pieces separated into the stages of human life, from childhood through college and adulthood. An immediate standout is the opening story, “We Have Your Son,” in which a youth kidnapping-and-ransom operation is hilariously hijacked by indifferent parents (“Keep him!”). Throughout, it’s clear that the authors consistently let their imaginations run wild. Some pieces are effervescently silly (“Dr. Seuss Teaches Safe Sex”); some are freeform and whimsical; others are more creatively inspired glimpses into unwieldy fantasies and modern dilemmas of postgraduate life. The authors are particularly successful in their portrayal of adolescence, from melodramatic dispatches from summer camp and a horror satire featuring a courageous girl who finds herself in Hell, which she recognized “because it was very hot and ‘Moves Like Jagger’ was playing on a loop.” Some of the collection’s more personal pieces are also the most engaging and memorable, including “College Stories Fact Check,” in which the authors share amusing memories from their time together as Yale students; others include a transcript of text conversations with their drug dealer and an assessment of their shared experience in Hollywood as “skilled practitioners of asskissery.” The text contains more than 30 stories, perhaps best read over numerous sittings. In any such book, a few pieces fall flat, but each one contains at least some flashes of comic brilliance, making it clear this is a hyper-creative pair with immense potential. Saturated with creative energy and a healthy funny bone, these stories are comedy gold.
An entertainingly zany collection of sketches poking fun at the foibles of contemporary life at every age.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2023
ISBN: 9780063215788
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
A mostly compelling account of one woman’s struggles within Trumpworld.
An insider’s account of the rampant misconduct within the Trump administration, including the tumult surrounding the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
Hutchinson, who served as an assistant to Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, gained national prominence when she testified to the House Select Committee, providing possibly the most damaging portrait of Trump’s erratic behavior to date. In her hotly anticipated memoir, the author traces the challenges and triumphs of her upbringing in New Jersey and the work (including a stint as an intern with Sen. Ted Cruz) that led her to coveted White House internships and eventual positions in the Office of Legislative Affairs and with Meadows. While the book offers few big reveals beyond her testimony (many details leaked before publication), her behind-the-scenes account of the chaotic Trump administration is intermittently insightful. Her initial portrait of Trump is less critical than those written by other former staffers, as the author gauges how his actions were seemingly stirred more by vanity and fear of appearing weak, rather than pure malevolency. For example, she recalls how he attended an event without a mask because he didn’t want to smear his face bronzer. Hutchinson also provides fairly nuanced portraits of Meadows and Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who, along with Trump, eventually turned against her. She shares far more negative assessments about others in Trump’s orbit, including Rep. Matt Gaetz, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and adviser Rudy Giuliani, recounting how Giuliani groped her backstage during Trump’s Jan. 6 speech. The narrative lags after the author leaves the White House, but the story intensifies as she’s faced with subpoenas to testify and is forced to undergo deep soul-searching before choosing to sever ties with Trump and provide the incriminating information that could help take him down.
A mostly compelling account of one woman’s struggles within Trumpworld.Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781668028285
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
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