Romantic comedy : a novel. Sittenfeld, Curtis. New York : Random House, [2023]
Romantic Comedy is the perfect, well, romantic comedy!
Sally Milz is a writer for an infamous late night live comedy show called The Night Owls that airs every Saturday night. She was married once, and it ended without too much fanfare. But it made her skeptical about marriage and love, and seeing others around her with failed relationships doesn’t bolster her confidence.
Her office mate, Danny, is engaged to a celebrity, Annabel, and he isn’t the only male staffer at The Night Owls who is in a relationship with a beautiful woman. Sally cynically creates a sketch called the Danny Horst Rule. The Danny Horst Rule, she says, is when an average Joe ends up dating or marrying a beautiful woman, when the opposite would never happen.
Noah Brewster is a world-famous singer/songwriter worth millions, who also looks like a million bucks. He’s the host and musical guest this week, and Sally is trying not to be impressed. He isn’t all that excited about the Danny Horst Rule sketch, saying it’s not fair to poke fun at other people. But his kindness and willingness to do (almost) anything for a laugh on the show slowly wins her over. They spend a night together in her office, rewriting the sketch he created, and she is surprised at how well they work together and the connection between them.
But what will Sally do when it looks like she has a chance with Noah?
The book begins with the week of the show in 2018, then jumps to 2020 and the pandemic. Sittenfeld is a master at writing fully developed characters, witty dialogue, and wonderful story lines. Anyone familiar with a certain Saturday night show will love the behind the scenes view of a late night weekly comedy show. And anyone who has written off love or felt cynical about relationships will relate to Sally, and maybe find a little hope for their future!
Sittenfeld has written a romantic comedy for the ages. Everyone is going to be looking for their Noah after reading this book!
Mary Beth Adams is the Community Engagement Librarian for Alamance County Public Libraries. She can be reached at madams@alamancelibraries.org.