One More Thing by B.J. Novak, Alfred A. Knopf Publishers, 276 pages, $27.95.
In his first published collection of stories B.J. Novak leaves the world of television behind and shows his adeptness at writing. Featuring topics as diverse as falling in love with Tony Robbins and a grudge match race between the tortoise and the hare, Novak applies his sense of humour with great results.
Love, fidelity, fear, longing and a wide variety of emotions run through this collection that swings from the whimsical to thought provoking with the turning of a page. The stories range from the two-sentence commentary entitled "The walk to school on the day after Labour Day." "I was sad that summer was over.
But I was happy that it was over for my enemies, too" Novak goes into longer versions with topics like Kellog's, where the collecting of a cereal box prize will risk ruining the winning family. With a keen eye to the social interactions that regularly put us in conflict, he turns conventions upside down and gives them a shake to see what falls out.
