Stay Up with Hugo Best

This novel has an odor of flop sweat unique to the worlds of teevee and standup comedy, but it sure ain't no laughing matter. June, an assistant writer on a dying late night talk show, is whisked away to the home of Hugo Best, the over-the-hill talk show host, for a creepy weekend in Connecticut after his last show. It's a nightmare for them both - he's drowning in self-pity in his suburban dream palace and she's trying to figure out what she can get out of him to help her out of her now jobless state. The problem is that she hates doing stand-up, and that's basically all she can do, being too old to go back to her shit job as a page at Best's network. Both characters are completely unappealing, and I wasn't even interested enough to show more figure out who Hugo Best is IRL. Leave this one on the shelf. show less

“Everywhere I caught glimpses of the person I could be if only I were a completely different person.”

I read this book after enjoying the short story from Erin Somers in McSweeney’s Issue 72, Washing Up. It’s about a 29-year-old woman whose career as an assistant to an aging late-night talk show host (and a would-be comedian herself) has never truly blossomed. When the talk show is canceled, on a lark she accepts his surprise invitation to join him for a long weekend at his mansion, even though the two have never been romantically interested in one another and there is a significant age gap.

While the subject isn’t particularly pleasant, Somers has a way with words and a wry sense of humor, things which kept it interesting to show more me. Hugo Best, the talk show host, seemed to be a combination of Jay Leno and David Letterman, and I liked the banter about the art of comedy. Along the way she also touches on issues of celebrity, class, and aging. While I never fell in love with this, I’d love to see more from Somers.

One last quote:
“Cal kept glancing at me in the rearview mirror as he drove me back. He offered to stop for fries if I was hungry. I told him my problem was amorphous and existential. You couldn’t just throw fries at it.” show less

Thanks to Goodreads and Scribner Books for the copy of this book. However, I just could not really find anything that funny with it. I felt like June was just in this really awkward situation, trying to decide who the better choice to have sex with, Hugo or his son. I didn’t hate it terribly but just felt meh about it

Skimmed the last half. This was quite boring and the language did nothing for me.