For fans of SNL or television parodies such as 30 Rock or Studio 60, this is the perfect book for you! New to Curtis Sittenfeld, I was so impressed by her talent in creating (what seemed like) a recollection of her real life experiences that I actually stopped to see if she, indeed, worked on SNL. While her biography is very intriguing, she in fact did not. This leads me to believe she either binged on 30 Rock (like I have) or simply created a plausible universe that one could easily believe. In either case, to walk the halls of TNO along side Sally Milz was thrilling. I couldn’t put the book down (once I finally got into the groove).

Sally Milz has only ever wanted one thing in life, to be a writer for The Night Owls, a Saturday night show filmed in front of a live studio audience. When the dream that manifested in the 5th grade came true, Sally answered the call! Fast forward one divorce and nine years later, Sally still can’t believe she gets paid to do what she loves day in and day out. Prepping for yet another show with yet another host (who is also the musical guest), Sally finds herself in a pitch meeting staring at one of the most gorgeous men she has ever seen. Believing deeply in the Danny Horst Rule, Sally doesn’t give Noah another thought and continues to prep for the show, following the rigorous routine that has yet to let her down. To her surprise, Noah approaches her to ask for help on a sketch he is writing and her 1:1 pow wow quick turns two strangers into friendly acquaintances. A walking disaster in love, relationships, and all variations in between – Sally has no idea what, if anything, is happening between her and Noah but with less than a week before they never see each other again, she just has to keep it together before he is but another past guest and distant memory.

What I like about it: I loved this book! I have read a lot of romantic comedies but when you can make me say “Aww….” out loud AND giggle with fondness, I applaud you! This book was just adorable. No scratch that, Noah was absolutely adorable! He makes you want to throw every preconceived notion you have about celebrities right out the window. Yes, the story is fictional but Curtis’s writing is just that convincing! 

I absolutely LOVED how she wrote Sally. She wasn’t just some “seemingly” independent woman who’s life was all over the place until the right guy came along. In fact, she actually makes fun of that! She was a brilliant, successful, award winning writer that was doing what she loved in life. She had already had her rocky start and was standing firm and owning life. What thrilled me is that THAT is what attracted Noah to her in the first place. Her confidence, her ability to own a room, her intellect, and her raw talent. She wasn’t model gorgeous, she wasn’t secretly a 10 disguised as a 4. She was a normal every day woman with normal insecurities and one heck of a sense of humor! 

What I love about it: I honestly believe what I loved more was how Noah was written. You had the Noah you expected him to be (gorgeous, playboy, egotistical, god complex being a celebrity) and the Noah we meet within the pages (sweet, humble, kind, genuine, intelligent, and down to earth). Along with Sally, you keep tripping over your own misconceptions of who he is while simultaneously waiting for the other shoe to drop. No one can be this kind, no one that looks like that could be this sweet. You find yourself waiting until finally, FINALLY Noah says something so gut wrenchingly beautiful that you concede to him being as real as it gets (shout out to the power of therapy!).

It took me awhile to get into the groove of the book. Split into three chapters, the first chapter took the longest to get through because, initially, I didn’t understand what was happening, or better yet – the point of what was happening. As the story unfolds, you realize the day to day is important for knowing and understanding Sally. While we only witness a week, this is her life – wash, rinse, and repeat. It is even more apparent when you enter Chapter 2, during the pandemic, and life does a complete 180, bringing the calamity of her everyday to a halt but calling back to that faithful week when Noah was on the show. I loved that Chapter 2 was all emails as it was so realistic for what was going on in the world at that time. By this point, I couldn’t put the book down. I finished Chapter 2 before I even realized how deep I was. Chapter 3 was just magical and made these two characters more human that anything I ever read. That is what I enjoyed about Curtis’s writing – it felt real! What was thought versus what was said, the anxiety, the overthinking, the self doubt – so relatable! 

As for the heat, while the book was not steamy per se, it was blatantly descriptive in some parts that if you don’t want to read anything remotely sexual, you may be slightly offended but again – it isn’t the act as oppose to recognition of something that happens that is of a sexual nature.

Going with the idea of life imitating art, intimating life – having witnessed the Ariana Grande/Pete Davidson, Olivia Wilde/Jason Sudeikis, and Scarlett Johansson/Colin Jost situations (I believe John Mulaney and Olivia Munn hooked up post SNL, but I could be wrong), there is A LOT of validity to the arguments made in this book. While I do not have push notifications of TMZ or my face stuck in a People’s Magazine, I can not think of an example (a recent one at least) of a female cast member or writer and a male celebrity getting together. Is there something to be said about the Danny Horst Rule? Does society openly accept the dynamic of gorgeous powerful women with “average” men versus gorgeous powerful men with “average” women? What is that truly saying?

Stepping out of the review and analyzing this for a moment – this is what I came up with based on Curtis’s view point. Men have the ability to hide their “assets”. Celebrity or not – if you see a gorgeous, successful woman with an average looking man, most of society will accept that he is either wealthy, well connected, or well-endowed. No further questions asked, case closed. For women – what you see is what you get. If a gorgeous, successful man is with an average looking woman – why?! Her “assets” are obvious to the naked eye and what type of man would let a woman be more successful than him or wealthier than him so it can’t be for the money (trust me – my eyes were rolling when I typed this). It may be connections but if he needs her to network, again that reflects poorly on him (or reaffirms that he is just using her and no love lost). Simply put, why is he with her? That is what is heartbreaking – society as a whole looks at it with the idea of “what’s in it for him”. No mutual attraction, no love, no fondness, no history – just transactional.

Ok soapbox moment over. Back to the book – the one thing I constantly went back and forth on was the ending. Sally gives up her career at TNO for Noah, the same career that she wouldn’t sacrifice for her ex-husband. I couldn’t decide if it was a step forward or a step back. Looking at the evidence of the story provided by Curtis, I decided to take it as a step forward for a few reasons. One, she had already expressed that she wanted to leave TNO after 10 years and pursue her real dream. Two, Noah was INSANELY supportive of whatever she decided, expressing that he only wanted to be with her and for her to be happy, provided an apology and clarity when he was able to see things from her point of view. Three, she ended up selling her screenplay so it all worked out how it should have. I think because it wrapped up nicely in a bow, it took away any possibility of resentment or regret but it begs the question, if she wasn’t successful with her screenplay, if they hadn’t gotten married, if it wasn’t a HEA – would she still have owned up and been happy with her decision? Just something to ponder.

A book that makes you think, feel, and chuckle, Romantic Comedy is a treasure find for those who are just looking for a really good book to dive into this year. I look forward to going through Curtis’s omnibus and being awed by her magnificent talent yet again.