Glory Days

June 1, 2024
The travails of an aging Super Mario, the media battle between David and Goliath, and the workplace woes of the foul-mouthed Tooth Fairy are among humorist Rich's latest concoctions. "Our wands are defective. Our fairy dust is toxic. They make us buy our own tutus from the company store," moans the Tooth Fairy. Now his employers are threatening him with painful measures for continually failing to secure the baby teeth of his assigned Tooth Producing Unit--which the parents had quickly encased in glass. Who else to turn to but a labor litigation lawyer? Up against the media savvy of little David, who with his cute blond looks, endearing grin, and slick correctness is "so hot everyone's creaming themselves to get a fucking piece," glum Goliath desperately agrees to be sponsored by a porn company. Then there's Mario's midlife crisis, which has him questioning his blind devotion to saving the Princess: "Did I really want to be with her? Or was her love just another form of points?" And so it goes with this misbegotten cast of characters--including God Himself, who admits to messing up with Adam and Eve and now regrets that he "set a precedent with that fucking fruit thing." Things go better for lonely Death Skull, who makes up for his social failures with Ultra Man by connecting with a customer service worker through "male friendship speed dating." As ever, Rich overworks the same basic schtick and the laughs are more of the heh heh variety than har har. But his follow-up to New Teeth (2021) is clever fun, never more than when rubbing our noses in our devices. Why have books? "Because it sounded smarter to say that you had read something. You couldn't admit you'd spent the whole day watching TikTok llama videos." No S.J. Perelman-like gems here, but this New Yorker contributor commands the form.

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July 1, 2024
Donald Barthelme redefined the short story with his playful, postmodernist set pieces that eschewed traditional characters and plots in favor of extended jokes, philosophical musings, and a heaping helping of irony. Former Simpsons and Saturday Night Live writer Rich's (Hits & Misses, 2018) new collection is in that vein. In one story, an aging Super Mario decides to "take-a stock" of his life. In another, Goliath struggles to control the media narrative in the lead-up to his battle with David. "The Mission" is an email exchange between the king of Nigeria and Mark, an older man who wants to send money but has . . . troubles. Despite the hilarity of these premises, Rich isn't just a funnyman. One of the most poignant stories is "History Report," in which a young man in a future Earth that has been destroyed by climate change interviews his great-grandfather and comes to understand the mix of joy and sorrow that characterized the latter's life. Readers will laugh, then nod, then shed a tear, finally doing all three at once. For a humorist, there is no higher praise.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.