Title: Romantic Comedy
Author: Curtis Sittenfeld
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publishing On: April 4, 2023
Publisher: Random House
Source: digital (Netgalley)
Pages: 320
Synopsis:
A comedy writer thinks she’s 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 Times–bestselling 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, she’s 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 Sally’s 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 show—and in society at large—who’ve 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 week’s 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 isn’t a romantic comedy; it’s 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.
My thoughts
(Spoiler free)
Curtis Sittenfeld is an author I’ve read and enjoyed in the past, and her newest release Romantic Comedy is the smart, timely, poignant, and perfectly paced novel I didn’t know I’d been wanting.
Noah was still regarding me with an expression that was both amused and strangely rapt, as if he found me riveting. This was the problem with celebrities, that they could deploy their charisma at will, and you basked in its glow, and then they shifted it away from you and the world reverted to being cold.
Curtis Sittenfeld, Romantic Comedy
The celebrity trope is not one I gravitate towards. In fact, whenever I see a fiction book is about a celebrity, my instinct is to not pick it up. Unless it’s by an author I already love. Which has happened to me several times in the past year with Katherine Center’s The Bodyguard and Erin Hahn’s Built to Last, both of which I enjoyed immensely.
And I have a feeling this book will be among my top favorites for the year, as well!
In Romantic Comedy we meet Sally, who has been a writer for the weekly late-night comedy sketch show The Night Owls—heavily inspired by Saturday Night Live—for nine years. After a failed ‘starter marriage’ in her early twenties and an upsetting rejection by a fellow writer in her early days at TNO, she’s given up on a long-term relationship, putting all her energy into her job, with it’s demanding schedule.
When her average-looking and nerdy work chum Danny Horst begins dating a beautiful and famous actress who’d previously hosted the show, Sally writes a sketch called the “Danny Horst Rule”, highlighting the ‘beautiful women dating average men’ phenomenon, especially emphasizing that the reverse rarely happens.
And it just so happens that the week’s host—and musical guest—is Noah Brewster, a handsome pop star, who challenges Sally’s prejudices when sparks fly while they’re working on several sketches for the show.
What made this story stand out is just how unexpected the characters are. No one fits into a neat box, which is refreshingly real. Sally has a lot of preconceived ideas, and I appreciated how some of the things she didn’t like about other people, she eventually sees in herself. In fact, Sally should have frustrated me, but she didn’t. Her flaws actually made her more likable and identifiable.
The pandemic is also included in this story, which I wasn’t expecting because I’d done very little prep work before picking up this book. And I was so impressed with how well the author integrated it into the story. It was natural and representative of what so many of us went through. Sittenfeld didn’t shy away from anything.
And I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed a look behind the scenes of what it takes to get a live, weekly sketch comedy on the air. Even if it was fiction. I can see this one becoming a film. At the very least, SNL needs to hire Sittenfeld as a sketch writer, because her sketch ideas were better than many I’ve seen on the show in years.
I’m not surprised Romantic Comedy has been chosen as Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club pick of the month. Sharp yet thoughtful, Sally’s evolution and Noah’s patience made this novel unputdownable for me. I didn’t want it to end.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy.
(All quotes are taken from the advance copy and are subject to change in final print.)
Rating:
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About the Author
Curtis Sittenfeld
Curtis Sittenfeld is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including Rodham, Eligible, Prep, American Wife, and Sisterland, as well as the collection You Think It, I’ll Say It. Her books have been translated into thirty languages. In addition, her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post Magazine, Esquire, and The Best American Short Stories, for which she has also been the guest editor. Her nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Time, and Vanity Fair, and on public radio’s This American Life.
A Song For A Book
I love when a book provides the perfect song, and several songs and artists are mentioned within Romantic Comedy. I’ve chosen to highlight “Dairy Queen” by Indigo Girls, which has a special appearance in the story.
I heard that you were drunk and mean down at
Dairy queen
There’s just enough of you in me
For me to have this sympathy
And take it in stride
I know I had mine
And you were as kind
I am told
Ain’t it funny how we lose one day
And a lifetime slips away
I’m looking back on us that way
Something I never thought I’d say
I take it in stride
I know I had mine
It was good for a time
I am told
It was good for a time
I am told…
Have you read Romantic Comedy? Did you add it to your tbr? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
This sounds cute! I haven’t watched much SNL, though, so I wouldn’t know if their sketch quality is any good right now. But it sounds like Sittenfeld has nailed the sketch comedy genre!
We don’t watch the entire show too often anymore, but we will watch individual sketches via YouTube, if it’s a guest we’re interested in. But it’s heyday was really the 70s-90s. I like that the book made me appreciate just how hard it is to write a sketch and then get it on the air. Maybe I won’t be so hard on the show anymore. 😉
Great review! This one’s on my TBR, so I’m glad to see you loved it.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
I’ve been seeing this one make all the Instagram rounds but I don’t think I’ve really read much about it. May be time I remedy this because clearly something about the book is worth knowing!! 🙂
I loved it! I’m still thinking about this one. 🙂
Wonderful review, Dedra. I used to watch SNL all the time and I know that all the sketches didn’t hit the mark. This is on my TBR, so I hope my name gets to the top of the library list soon.