A Modest Construct

Posts tagged `romance`

¶ Things I’ve Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me

Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me ed. Ben Karlin: Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; Year: 2009; Pages: 240

You may not realize it, but Ben Karlin has impressive comedy bona fides; he was, for a time, the executive producer of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report before leaving Comedy Central in 2006. He was also a writing lead on the wildly successful America: The Book under the same auspices.

Thing’s I’ve Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me is a relatively short anthology, collected/solicited by Karlin, of mostly humorous pieces about romantic breakups. Or it would be, if its writers didn’t so often stray from the assignment, but that’s not such a bad thing.

¶ The Gun Seller

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie: Publisher: Washington Square Press; Year: 1998; Pages: 368

For many people, House might be their first exposure to British actor Hugh Laurie; others, especially if you live on the Isles or have a particular affection for British television, may very well know him from many other things. My first exposure was in Blackadder, with the stupendous Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean, for those who don’t know). What I didn’t know, however, was that Laurie had written a book; had written a book, in fact, a very long time ago (1996, to be precise) before he was an international star. Needless to say, I went out right away and picked up the book.

I wasn’t expecting The Gun Seller to be a fine piece of literature; actors aren’t generally known for their fine writing skills. Yet, I found that Laurie’s debut (and currently only) novel was not only tremendously entertaining, but also remarkably well-written, as well. The book is like the sort of BBC dramedy that Laurie has starred in previously: rapier-sharp dialog, peppered with particularly British turns of phrase; one can almost envision Laurie in the role, opposite Stephen Fry as the stoic Solomon, Rowan Atkinson as the foppish O’Neal, and some sprightly English lass as the ravishing Sarah Woolf.

¶ Night of the Avenging Blowfish

Night of the Avenging Blowfish by John Welter: Publisher: Algonquin Books; Year: 1994; Pages: 304

I’ve read this one before, and yet a couple of weeks ago I got an inexplicable urge to read it again.

I’m not aware of Welter writing anything after the mid-1990s and I wonder what ever happened to him, though I can understand how his style of Marx Bros. ripostes and Monty Python silliness would wane in popularity in the cultural context of the new century. Don’t get me wrong: Night of the Avenging Blowfish is funny, but funny from a braver age.

I’m not sure if I realized, when I last read the book, how much its humor relies on relatively simple puns and turns of phrase: the banter between Doyle Coldiron and the rest of his Secret Service comrades-in-arms is mostly wordplay. Granted, it’s funny wordplay, but it also lacks meat—it’s funny only briefly, and Welter has to keep the pace blistering in order not to lose the reader’s attention.

I also realized that when Welter (as Coldiron) goes into his opining, Seinfeld-esque “And what’s the deal with women, anyhow?” shtick, I want to put the book down and walk away. It reminds me too much of my writing as a 15-year-old, thinking I was brilliant and funny when I was really just churning out self-referential schlock.

Then, too, Night of the Avenging Blowfish is really a romantic comedy, chronicling the pathetic love life and eventual torrid romance of its Secret Service protagonist, so it veers wildly between chuckle-worthy jokes and really, really maudlin passages where Doyle just wants to be held, &c., &c., which is all good and fine if you’re reading a Nicolas Sparks book, but it’s a bit passive-aggressive here, where it seems strange and out of place, as though Welter suddenly forgot what book he was writing.

I thought I enjoyed it more the first time I read it, though now that I revisit my old post, I see that I had many of the same thoughts as a do now. Then, too, my reading this time around was interrupted by the death of my father, which sort of cast a pall over any humorous stories.

Long story short: if you’ve got a taste for an easy book with rapidfire humor, heavy on puns and verbal jokes, you might just enjoy Night of the Avenging Blowfish; otherwise, you’re not really missing all that much.

§2074 · June 16, 2008 · 2 comments · Tags: Book Reviews, books, fiction, humor, reviews, romance