Will Not Attend

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 3. NOV. 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 especially his crotchety but passionate dad to life as comic and spirited foils for himself thereby keeping his stories more comedic than conceited.