Books
LUNATICS: A Novel Written with Dave Barry
One of them is a bestselling Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist. The other is a winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Together, they form the League of Comic Justice, battling evildoers in the name of . . . Okay, we made that line up. What they do form is a writing team of pure comic genius, and they will have you laughing like idiots.
Philip Horkman is a happy man-the owner of a pet store called The Wine Shop, and on Sundays a referee for kids' soccer. Jeffrey Peckerman is the sole sane person in a world filled with goddamned jerks and morons, and he's having a really bad day. The two of them are about to collide in a swiftly escalating series of events that will send them running for their lives, pursued by the police, soldiers, terrorists, subversives, bears, and a man dressed as Chuck E. Cheese.
Where that all takes them you can't begin to guess, but the literary journey there is a masterpiece of inspiration and mayhem. But what else would you expect from the League of Comic Justice?
The Other Shulman
The protagonist of The Other Shulman, has lost the same 30 pounds repeatedly since childhood. “If you added up all that weight, it more or less equaled a whole person,” he theorizes early in the book. “Another Shulman.” The novel’s oddball premise is that the New Jerseyempty-nester with a perfect-sounding wife and a failing stationery store actually encounters the other Shulman as he runs the New York Citymarathon. Compared to the works of John Updike and Chang-rae Lee, and earning the author the Thurber Prize for American Humor, The New York Times calls The Other Shulman “hilarious” and says it “sparkles… Zweibel gets 26 (out of a possible 26.2) amusing miles.”
North: The Tale of a Boy Who Becomes a Free Agent: and Travels the World in Search of the Perfect Parents
In a global comic odyssey, nine-year-old North goes to court to win “free agency” from parents who he believes don’t appreciate him and proceeds to search the world for a Mom and Dad who do. North was made into a movie by renowned director Rob Reiner which featured an all-star cast and inspired Roger Ebert to say, “I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it.”
Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner - A Sort of Love Story
This autobiographical work recaptures the non-sexual but deeply felt relationship between Gilda Radner, one of Saturday Night Live’s original Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time Players, and Alan Zweibel, who was a writer for the show. Alternately comic and heartbreaking, Bunny Bunny follows these two overgrown kids as they ride their bumper-car lives right up to Radner’s death from ovarian cancer. Their loyalty and love glows through every scene. The book is illustrated with Zweibel’s original drawings. The play was adapted from the book, staged and had a successful off-Broadway run in New York City.
Clothing Optional: And Other Ways to Read These Stories
A collection of essays, short stories and ephemera that Steve Martin said “made me laugh out loud.” Beginning with “Letters From an Annoying Man,” a fictional tete-a-tete between the writer and a misguided fan that quickly escalates, continuing with the title essay, detailing a trip to a nudist resort, and “Herb Sargent,” a meditation on the mercurial qualities of friendship, Clothing Optional has depth, range and an unending stream of laughs. Publisher’s Weekly raves Clothing Optional “should solidify (Zweibel’s) place among American satirists… Readers laugh at Zweibel as he struggles with an erection in the swimming pool, or suffers the indignity of being beaten in the New York City Marathon by a runner dressed as a polar bear, or the litany of abuse he endures as a Little League commissioner. Many humor books are consumed and forgotten; this is one to read and revisit.”
Our Tree Named Steve
After the family spares him from the builders, Steve the tree quickly works his way into their lives. He holds their underwear when the dryer breaks down, he’s there when Adam and Lindsay get their first crushes, he’s the centerpiece at their outdoor family parties. Featuring the pencil-and-watercolor drawings of David Catrow, award-winning illustrator of Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell, the pages of Our Tree Named Steve come alive with round-faced children and their comical dog. Surprising and touching, this is a uniquely poignant celebration of fatherhood, families, love, and change. A selection of both the Junior Library Guild and Scholastic and winner of numerous awards, in a starred review, Kirkus Reviews calls Our Tree Named Steve “...a faultless piece of bibliotherapy...”