3.0
Clothing Optional
ByPublisher Description
“Garry, it’s Alan. Look, I’m calling because I just felt the need to tell someone that I’m forty-four years old, and about an hour ago, for the first time in my life, I put suntan lotion on my ass. I’ll explain later. Bye.”
In Clothing Optional, Alan Zweibel offers a collection of laugh-out-loud personal narratives, essays, short fiction, dialogues, and even a few whimsical drawings. Zweibel first made a name for himself as one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live, but his career’s humble beginnings included creating one-liners for Catskill comedians at seven dollars a pop. That experience is only one of the hysterically inspired anecdotes (“Comic Dialogue”) in this quirky compilation.
Zweibel confesses his first love, as a young Hebrew school student, for Abraham’s wife, Sarah (“At this point, Sarah’s husband had been dead for more than three thousand years–so, really, who would I be hurting?”); recounts the time he was sent to a nudist resort to write an article (“The fact that I brought luggage is, in itself, worthy of some discussion”); offers a touching tribute to Saturday Night Live writer and mentor Herb Sargent (“Herb was New York. But an older, more romantic New York that took place in black and white like the kind of TV I grew up on and wanted to be a part of someday”); and imagines a scenario in which Sergeant Joe Friday, the stiff, monotoned character from Dragnet, is inexplicably partnered with Snoop Dogg (“Damn, Friday. You gotta learn to chill. Take some free time and kick it with your boys”)
Every piece is punctuated with the same wit and insight that have come to define Zweibel’s humor.
Unhinged and hilarious, Clothing Optional is an unguided tour through the uniquely peculiar life and mind of a man who The New York Times said “has earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture.”
In Clothing Optional, Alan Zweibel offers a collection of laugh-out-loud personal narratives, essays, short fiction, dialogues, and even a few whimsical drawings. Zweibel first made a name for himself as one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live, but his career’s humble beginnings included creating one-liners for Catskill comedians at seven dollars a pop. That experience is only one of the hysterically inspired anecdotes (“Comic Dialogue”) in this quirky compilation.
Zweibel confesses his first love, as a young Hebrew school student, for Abraham’s wife, Sarah (“At this point, Sarah’s husband had been dead for more than three thousand years–so, really, who would I be hurting?”); recounts the time he was sent to a nudist resort to write an article (“The fact that I brought luggage is, in itself, worthy of some discussion”); offers a touching tribute to Saturday Night Live writer and mentor Herb Sargent (“Herb was New York. But an older, more romantic New York that took place in black and white like the kind of TV I grew up on and wanted to be a part of someday”); and imagines a scenario in which Sergeant Joe Friday, the stiff, monotoned character from Dragnet, is inexplicably partnered with Snoop Dogg (“Damn, Friday. You gotta learn to chill. Take some free time and kick it with your boys”)
Every piece is punctuated with the same wit and insight that have come to define Zweibel’s humor.
Unhinged and hilarious, Clothing Optional is an unguided tour through the uniquely peculiar life and mind of a man who The New York Times said “has earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture.”
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesClothing Optional Reviews
3.0
“I really enjoyed reading this one. The last story is nice.”
“This collection of essays embraces both the comedic and the poignant, and offers reflections on family life, politics, good deeds, religion, fruit, and, of course, nudity. While some of the essays are quite humorous, and others really quite touching, most strike a careful balance between the two to deliver some thought-provoking material with a sardonic twist. (Perhaps this trend comes from Zweibel's years as a writer for Saturday Night Live?) None of the essays were laugh-out-loud funny, and none jerked tears, but all were engaging and sufficiently lighthearted for quick, casual reading.
Though not a collection of Jewish stories per se, the essays tend heavily toward Jewish themes. Perhaps this is part of a trend in contemporary essay collections to distinguish themselves with some sort of ethnic or religious leaning (Sedaris, for example, has his Greek background; Sandra Cisneros relies heavily on her Latina background). This does not mean that non-Jewish readers will find nothing engaging in his essays, but a lot of the humor may be lost to those who haven't grown up with Yiddish-speaking grandparents.
In short, a quirky, engaging read with just enough depth to be interesting but not burdensome.”
About Alan Zweibel
An original Saturday Night Live writer, Alan Zweibel has won numerous Emmy and Writers Guild of America awards for his work in television which also includes It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He is the author of the Thurber Prize-winning novel The Other Shulman; Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner–A Sort of Love Story; and the popular children’s book Our Tree Named Steve. He also collaborated with Billy Crystal on his Tony Award-winning Broadway show, 700 Sundays. Alan and his wife, Robin, live in New Jersey and have three children.
www.alanzweibel.com
www.alanzweibel.com
Other books by Alan Zweibel
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