Simon Rich

Inventive, funny, and clever, What in God's Name tells the story of two angels in the Department of Miracles, Craig and Eliza, and two humans on Earth, Sam and Laura. When Craig makes a bet with God, the fate of the world rests on Sam and Laura's oblivious shoulders. An original, enjoyably blasphemous imagining of heaven as a company with a careless CEO.

Quotes (last one is a mini-spoiler):

There were a lot of fun things to do in heaven. But none were as thrilling as what you could do on show more Earth. (Craig, 29)

Earth was just as frustrating as a Rubik's Cube. It was impossible to fix something without making another thing even worse. (God, 45)

"Just because you give the humans something doesn't mean they'll take advantage of it. They're like goldfish. You can drop something right in front of their faces and they'll just ignore it. Do you know how long it was before humans tried fruit? Like, a thousand years. For a while they just walked up to the trees, poked at them with sticks, and ran away." (God to Craig, 69)

A younger Archangel pounded his fist against the boardroom table. "Hey!" he said. "Let's make crop circles!"
God poured himself a drink. "Oh, what the heck," he said. "It's Friday." (155)

*spoiler alert*

Eliza shrugged. "Just, you know, you picked us to get into heaven. So we must be good people."
God laughed. "That's not what it's based on."
"It's not?"
"Nah."
"So...what is it?" Craig asked. "What're the criteria?"
"You guys don't know?"
"Just tell us," Eliza said.
God smiled. "It's rock skipping."
"You've got to get seven skips," God explained. "On any one throw." show less

Fatherhood has been a gift to Simon Rich. I've read 3 of his story collections and this one was above and beyond the best. It was laugh-out-loud (and read-out-loud, to whoever happens to be within out-loud distance) funny. I cried with mirth multiple times and read it in one sitting (with a break in the penultimate story at like 1:30 a.m. to read the Babe Ruth wikipedia page) when I should have absolutely put my phone down and gone to sleep.

"I know the first day of school can be scarier for kids. Trust me when I say: It's scarier for backpacks."

The teal backpack in question speaks to its carrier ("Sometimes you stuff me in a strange new locker") as it's dragged out of the closet and into the school year. Yet some of the backpack's feelings - of not fitting in or having a place to belong - are mirrored by its carrier, and it's only when they collide with another pair and become friends that things start to look up... "Because show more you don't have to carry everything alone."

See also: School's First Day of School; Puppy Bus show less

I'm a fan of the show Man Seeking Woman, so when I learned that showrunner Simon Rich based its concept on one of his books I checked it out. If you've seen the show, many of the book's absurd dating/romantic premises will be instantly familiar (the sex aliens, dating Hitler, exorcising the ex's possessions out of the apartment, etc), but the majority will be new to you. Even if not, each chapter is short, focused, and usually funny or at least grin-worthy. The pacing is fast enough to where show more even if you don't like the premise of one story, it'll be over in three pages and you're on to something else. I liked the range of the stories, and you could definitely mine the setups here for a show for a while without having to go back to the well.

One notable aspect of the book, especially when compared to the show, is that cumulatively these pieces make the author himself seem like a real loser. On the show, the main character is a hapless dimwit, but a lovable hapless dimwit; here, Rich occasionally gives off telltale "hasn't been on a date in a while" vibes, particularly after the third or fourth story in a row about how girls are lying, jealous, untrustworthy, irrational (etc) whores. It's one thing to use sexual frustration as an artistic muse (and, arguably, a vast percentage of art throughout history has been created solely to impress chicks), it's another thing to watch some dude whine in print about how he can't get laid, even using a few dozen fictional characters as mouthpieces. In fairness to Rich, the challenge of presenting an unpleasant aspect of yourself without actually embodying that aspect is difficult for anyone, but I can see the average woman reacting to these stories a bit differently than the average man.

But of course as a guy I can definitely relate to a lot of what's in here. Anyone who's been in a relationship will be empathize with a great deal of the worries and insecurities that Rich presents in his stories; only a liar would find the whole thing totally foreign. The lighthearted, jokey tone makes each story of dating woe go down easy, but the emotions he dissects will strike more than a few chords. Some of these are genuinely great writing, such as the poignant O'Henry-ish "The Present", and "Trade", which has a clever sports metaphor at its core, ends the whole thing on a surprisingly upbeat note. While it's not great literature on the level of, say, Alasdair Gray's Lanark, it's a funny look at the more pathetic side of the male ego. show less