Romantic Comedy
The bestselling Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick by the author of RODHAM and AMERICAN WIFE
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4.0 • 173 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK
'A hilarious, sweet, smart read that you're going to love!' REESE WITHERSPOON
'A rollercoaster of modern love and dating' STYLIST
'Biting, pacy, great fun' SUNDAY TIMES
A TV script writer thinks she's done with romance, until an unlikely love interest upends all her assumptions: a humorous, sharp and tender novel from the bestselling author of Eligible, American Wife and Prep.
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Life is (not)* a Romantic Comedy...
After a series of heartbreaks, Sally Milz - successful script writer for a legendary late-night TV comedy show - has long abandoned the search for love.
But when her friend and fellow writer begins to date a glamorous actress, he joins the growing club of interesting but average-looking men who get romantically involved with accomplished, beautiful women.
Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch, poking fun at this 'social rule'. The reverse never happens for a woman.
Then Sally meets Noah, a pop idol with a reputation for dating models. But this isn't a romantic comedy - it's real life.
Would someone like him ever date someone like her?
Skewering all our certainties about why we fall in love, ROMANTIC COMEDY is a witty and probing tale of how the heart will follow itself, no matter what anyone says. It is Curtis Sittenfeld at her most sharp, daring and compassionate best.
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WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:
'This book is heavenly. i just had a hilariously enjoyable masterclass in writing' *****
'Hilarious and screwball and warm' *****
'A book that helps transport you away' *****
'She makes the characters much more real than ordinary romcoms*****
Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, April 2023
Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick, April 2023
Customer Reviews
Disappointing
2.5 stars
The author is American, a best-selling and much praised fiction writer. Her oeuvre includes a modern day reimagining of Pride and Prejudice (Eligible, 2016), and fictionalised lives of Laura Bush (American Wife, 2008), and Hillary Clinton (Rodham, 2020).
Here, Ms S turns her hand to the top selling literary genre by far: romance. Sally is late thirties, divorced, lives in NY, and works as a writer for a long running, late night sketch comedy show on network TV called ‘The Night Owls’: a thinly veiled version of ‘Saturday Night Live’. Her besties (both black, one gay, one straight) tick the diversity boxes. She falls for a guest host, also the musical guest, who is a successful, white, singer-songwriter (think Josh Groban with blonde hair), but puts her foot in it at the critical moment. Two years later, he emails her out of the blue. They’re both in COVID lockdown: him in his Topanga Canyon mansion, her in the small Kansas City home of her elderly stepfather. They chat. She drives to LA. They hook up. Yada, yada. Happily ever after, at least till the end.
The behind the scenes detail of a show like SNL was interesting; the rom-com part was decidedly pedestrian. Romance novels outsell crime 2:1 worldwide, but receive little attention from the critics. Ms Sittenfeld is a fine writer and favourite of the critics. I battled on to the end, hoping for a unique take on the genre. It never arrived.
Pure unadulterated joy
If you are looking for an easy and lovely read, look no further. What a delight this book was.