B. J. Novak

Genius.
I'm home for a quiet day. After lunch I read B. J.'s book aloud to myself — dessert!
Books are magic and meant for sharing; this is why I loved story-time as a children's librarian. Novak makes it clear he understands this magic as he writes a read-aloud book for a tough crowd — kids raised on visual everything.
Thank you, Mr. Novak. More please.

Actor and screenwriter B.J. Novak made his children's book debut with this 2014 title, which (as its name suggests) has no pictures. What it does have is an amusing and clever text, one which emphasizes the fun to be had in non-illustrated books, books that "only" have text. The premise here is that the reader, presumably reading aloud to children, must say everything written in the book, which leads to plenty of humorous situations in which an adult is forced (against his or her objections) show more to say silly things, and to make funny noises. Whatever is written has to be read, because those are the rules...

Having seen The Book with No Pictures read to great effect at multiple story-times, I can attest to the fact that its silly sense of humor is very appealing to young children, who will get lots of giggles out of watching the reader "struggle" with the story, objecting to the things he is being made to say. On a deeper level, it can be said to offer children an encouragement, when it comes to approaching less profusely illustrated texts, as they progress as listeners and readers themselves. It also taps into the child's perspective, when learning to read, that everything on the page must be read, something that is often quite true, when reading is something one is learning for the first time. Although there are no pictures here, we shelve this in the picture-book section at work (and I have listed it on that shelf, here on the site), since we don't really have a "non-picture-books for picture-book readers" shelf. Recommended to young children who enjoy stories with a silly sense of humor. show less

In this collection of (very) short stories, B.J. Novak -- formerly a writer, producer, and actor on the US version of "The Office" -- uses his comedic imagination to ask a variety of hypothetical questions. What if the hare who lost the fabled race to the tortoise became obsessed with thoughts of a rematch? What if the handsome man you met in a bar turned out to be a brutally violent African warlord? What if you could literally hold a mirror up to Earth? And what if Chris Hansen, of "To show more Catch a Predator" fame, were forced to go to a Justin Bieber concert at the insistence of his tween daughter? Novak answers these questions and many more in his debut collection of funny, dark, ridiculous, and often poignant stories.

The first thing to say about these stories is that most of them are very short, some no more than a page or two. So most of the stories don't have time to delve deeply into plot or character; rather, they focus sharply on a single joke or idea (see, for example, "The Comedy Central Roast of Nelson Mandela" or "The Market Was Down"). In that sense, it's easy to see the influence of Novak's TV background. However, even if you aren't a fan of "The Office" or its style of comedy, you should still find plenty to enjoy in this book! I was very impressed by how smart Novak obviously is; clever wordplay and literary allusions abound. Several of the stories are laugh-out-loud funny, but the comedy is often followed by a swift stab to the gut. One story in particular, "The Ghost of Mark Twain," gave me chills. Overall, I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book, but I was very pleasantly surprised!

I was fortunate to be able to attend a book signing with Novak at which he read a few of the stories out loud. Having heard the stories in his own voice, I would strongly recommend the audiobook to those of you who enjoy that format. Apparently Novak reads many of the stories himself, although there are some "special guest appearances" by other actors such as Mindy Kaling and Lena Dunham. show less

Have you ever wondered if one could make a decent living spilling coffee? Or if Frank Sinatra made it into heaven? Or why those “Elvis is alive” sightings suddenly stopped? B.J. Novak has pondered these things and come up with some possible answers in this delightful collection of stories. Nothing is sacred to his brand of humor: Comedy Central roasts Nelson Mandela and Confucius can’t say anything without it being noted by his scribe. The fellow who devised the world’s most famous show more math word problem and another guy who invented the calendar have their stories. A school principal proposes a drastic curriculum change.

But wait! There’s more! Cristo designs a roller coaster, Johnny Depp performs a daring act for a tourist bus, John Grisham has a title crisis, and on it goes. Dating, family trips, closure, sex robots, friendship, the gifted all get their turn.

How does Novak get so much into one book? Some of the stories are short, some are shorter and some are very short. The language is tight and economical. Most of the stories are stand-alone but some contain references to previous stories and at least one relies on your having read an earlier story for the punchline. So it's best not to skip around.

This is Novak’s debut story collection, but he has a resume that explains why he is so good at this form. Besides writing, directing, producing, and acting for the TV show “The Office,” he also has a background as a standup comedian.

One More Thing is an excellent collection, I highly recommend it.

The copy I read was from a local public library. show less