BJ Novak is goofy. Each of the short stories in this book elicits a chuckle. “How does he come up with this stuff?!” is something I bemused after almost every story. Novak chooses a different, random situation for each story. There’s the one about a woman on a date with a warlord, the roast of Nelsen Mandela, and the one about a guy who rejected the impossible love from a robot because he really just wanted sex. Then there are the stories that verbalize those things you were thinking all along, like what we’re really thinking when we go back to school/work after Labor Day.
Sure, the stories are silly, but Novak truly committed to their silliness. I appreciated that he must have done some real research to write “Constructive Criticism” or “If I had a Nickel.” That’s why they’re so good. Anybody can toss around a silly comment, but Novak takes those comments to a whole new place.
5 out of 5 stars.
Peaches to Apples 