The Comedy Writer [Paperback]

The plot revolves around Henry Hollaran. A pretty average white guy who has just been dumped by his long time girlfriend. With this firmly in mind Henry quits his dead end job in Boston and moves west to LA with the dream of becoming a comedy writer. Less than 24 hours after his arrival in LA his life changes forever after he witnesses a woman commit suicide. Rather than start his comedy script he writes a piece for the LA Times about why the system failed to save this woman and gives his account of the this poor woman's death. From there things get progressively worse as he discovers the problems of printing articles in newspapers and not having an unlisted phone number. All manner of weirdos start coming out of the woodwork and Henry's life is the never the same again.

The thing about the "Comedy Writer" is it could all be so incredibly depressing but it's not. This is a real laugh aloud piece of writing written in plain English with impeccable comedy timing. Fantastic characters most of which are either real head cases or complete shysters. And in some places just down right filthy as Henry goes through the longest dry spell in his life surrounded by nymphomaniac starlets and women of low moral fibre.

Oh and apparently (as Henry discovers) Jerry Seinfeld never laughs when people tell him jokes.

Farrelly is best known as a successful screenwriter and director of such over-the-top comedies as There's Something About Mary and Kingpin. Now I really enjoyed both of those movies (as well as Dumb and Dumber), but they are hardly the stuff of a brilliant story-teller.

Or are they?

Having recently re-watched all three of Mr. Farrelly's films, one thing stands out beyond all else. The stories themselves are the most important thing. Sure, sure, you can write their stuff off as "gross-out" comedy, but look at the plots. A could-have been's life stops mattering because of one childhood mistake, something it takes a lifetime of humilation to get past. A man embarrasses himself on prom night and spends the next ten years mourning that one day when his whole life could have been turned around. In The Comedy Writer, there is a similar fixation with that one moment in time that has shaped a life. Something bad or sad or mortifying happened and now the person has become set on a path, no way out, this is who he has become. The Comedy Writer deals, much the way There's Something About Mary and Kingpin do, with a loser's effort to make something of himself--no matter what. It's not like he can get any lower--take the risk.

This novel has a depth and emotional resonance that might come as a surprise. It is dark and tragic in spots, light and silly elsewhere, with wonderful Hollywood dialogue and a perfectly timed first person narration. More than anything else, perhaps, if you are an aspiring young writer (or filmmaker) this book will speak truths you may already know, but try hard to supress. Deal with it. This work can even inspire you to continue.