November 3, 2014
Following in the recent movement led by David Sedaris and others of putting one's neuroses down on paper for the amusement of others, Resnick's first book celebrates a lifetime of social awkwardness, misanthropy, disinterest, and violating the unspoken rules of a normal culture. This sort of dark, uncomfortable comedy, similar to the TV shows (Get a Life, The Larry Sanders Show) and movies (Death to Smoochy, Cabin Boy) that Resnick has helped create and written for, is not for everyone. But his ability to give a cinematic feel to the most inappropriate moments, like the fact that his father sired six boys ("His magnificent balls had been set on this plant to produce males. It was as if nature itself, in all its ferocity, had chiseled two more glorious chunks from a monolithic rock"), is undeniable and often pretty darn funny. Though the stories track Resnick from childhood through adolescence to adulthood, not much personal growth is shown. That stasis is mined for laughs but can also make the stories bleed into one another. Thankfully, just as he portrays himself as cold, Resnick has a talent for bringing other characters â especially his crotchety but passionate dad â to life as comic and spirited foils for himself thereby keeping his stories more comedic than conceited. Agent: Erin Malone, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, LLC
May 1, 2014
Emmy-winning screenwriter Resnick holds nothing back in this debut of shamelessly personal tales.Parents, siblings, former teachers, the blue-haired woman on the eighth floor-everyone is fair game in the author's world. Darting from one defining (or scarring) memory to another, Resnick honestly recounts early childhood mishaps, the confusion of adolescence and the truly confounding notion of fatherhood. The writing is sharp and sharp-tongued, sometimes close to the line of mean-spirited-the book is not for readers who are easily offended. The opening story centers on a classmate's Easter party, which Resnick had no intentions of attending until he realized his crush would be there. At the party, the author bonded with the young girl based on their mutual dislike of other kids, and they set out to find the "special" Easter egg filled with money. What he actually found was a highly inappropriate picture in the host's filing cabinet that sent his crush fleeing, never to speak to him again. Meanwhile, Resnick's young mind was forever warped and confounded by the image. The vulgar, adult language employed while explaining the story from his young self's perspective is simultaneously unsettling and uproarious and sets the tone for the rest of the collection. Incidents-like the apartment porter's pitching a screenplay while the elevator was delayed or when Resnick threw out his daughter's piano while she was on vacation-could be pulled straight from lost scripts of Curb Your Enthusiasm. The stories of Resnick's first job at a sleazy insurance company and his refusal as a child to pose with a frozen turkey at the supermarket stand out for their wit and relatability. The author's aversion to just about everything paints him as nihilistic and cynical, but the subtle moments of genuine vulnerability remain the heart of every story. These moments prove redemptive for a character who sometimes feels beyond saving and shed light on how he developed such comically twisted viewpoints.A neurotic, unapologetic, hilarious collection.
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