I have never read Curtis Sittenfeld so ๐ฅ๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ was a wonderful surprise. This is the smart, thoughtful, funny and moving story I didnโt know I needed. Combine a celebrity trope with a behind the scenes look at a SNL-like comedy show, and Iโm hooked!
Sally is a longtime writer for a weekly late-night comedy sketch show called The Night Owls. She was once briefly married and also suffered a rather brutal rejection by a fellow TNO writer, but no matter, who could have a personal life anyway with such a demanding show schedule?
Sally can hardly believe it when the very average looking TNO writer Danny Horst begins dating a stunning actress who hosted the show. Sally begins channeling her fury at this imbalance into a comedy sketch called the Danny Horst Rule: because a gorgeous man would never, ever date an average-looking woman, no matter how clever or smart she was.
That weekโs musical guest and host turns out to be Noah Brewster, a very famous, very handsome and very charming pop star. And plot twist: he is actually a nice guy. Sally has worked with her share of celebrities, but there is something different about Noah.
โ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ค๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ; ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ; ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง.โ
This is a perfectly written and highly entertaining romance. Each character is very unique. The author has also done tons of research into writing for a live comedy sketch show and I was literally obsessed with these details. As well, even the fictional characters here seemed very real and very relatable, flaws and all.
Sittenfeld also includes a pandemic storyline which lent a sense of reality to this novel. I do not shy away from this topic but if you do, please take note.
This book was an absolute revelation and I could not put it down. It will be on my top favorite list for the year!
(๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฑ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐บ. ๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ.)
About the Book:
A comedy writer thinks sheโs sworn off love, until a dreamily handsome pop star flips the script on all her assumptions. Romantic Comedy is a hilarious, observant and deeply tender novel from New York Timesโbestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld.
Sally Milz is a sketch writer for “The Night Owls,” the late-night live comedy show that airs each Saturday. With a couple of heartbreaks under her belt, sheโs long abandoned the search for love, settling instead for the occasional hook-up, career success, and a close relationship with her stepfather to round out a satisfying life.
But when Sallyโs friend and fellow writer Danny Horst begins dating Annabel, a glamorous actor who guest-hosted the show, he joins the not-so-exclusive group of talented but average-looking and even dorky men at the showโand in society at largeโwhoโve gotten romantically involved with incredibly beautiful and accomplished women. Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch called the “Danny Horst Rule,” poking fun at this phenomenon while underscoring how unlikely it is that the reverse would ever happen for a woman.
Enter Noah Brewster, a pop music sensation with a reputation for dating models, who signed on as both host and musical guest for this weekโs show. Dazzled by his charms, Sally hits it off with Noah instantly, and as they collaborate on one sketch after another, she begins to wonder whether there might actually be sparks flying. But this isnโt a romantic comedy; itโs real life. And in real life, someone like him would never date someone like her…right?
With her keen observations and trademark ability to bring complex women to life on the page, Sittenfeld explores the neurosis-inducing and heart-fluttering wonder of love, while slyly dissecting the social rituals of romance and gender relations in the modern age.
