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Grady Harp, August 18, 2008 (view all comments by Grady Harp)
HOT AIR From a Hot Talent!

Joel Samberg leaps into the arena of successful comedic writers with this excellent new novel HOT AIR. The story is in many way just a simple memoir of a striving but relentlessly thwarted 'Everyman', but Samberg's fictional anti-hero, Jeffery Wiser, may just be the opening gate for a series of studies of people who seem to be caught in the stream of chronic failure. Given Samberg's keen writing style and facile use of recalling savory moments and phrases to reinforce his story line give evidence of a well-prepared artist whose credentials include journalism, playwriting, and a rich knowledge of American culture.

Jeffrey Wiser is an author whose list of manuscript applications is matched only by his list of rejection notices. Living in a substandard cheap apartment with his wife Liz and their daughter Jillian in Cape May, NJ, Jeff's nemeses include a crotchety and cheapskate landlord Sid who happens to own the Bagels by the Beach shop below Jeff's crumbling apartment, his loudmouthed never satisfied hypercritical obsessive boss Randy who runs the Mormon-owned Elder Publishing for whom Jeff writes frustratingly innocuous articles, real estate brokers unable to find a house for Jeff, Liz and Jillian (and their incubating additional child), and people in his path who promise the world and offer rejection. Sounds like a depressing story? In Samberg's astute style of writing the odyssey is one of the most genuinely humorous diatribes on the misfortunes of the little guys who try to make their mark in a world that seems nearly delusional!

Each of Samberg's large cast of unforgettable and disparate characters - both the bad guys who deliver his misfortunes and the good ones who, like Liz and Jillian and his supportive buddies, bring the moments of exhilaration - is so well drawn than rather than being incidental bleeps on the page whose purpose could be momentarily additive to the story, instead become part of the wild 'family' of this novel, reappearing in odd places and taking unexpected twists in character that assure the reader that every word on every page is well conceived as a 'thoroughly composed' novel. That is a sign of special brilliance that makes discovering the writing of Joel Samberg a pleasure: he knows how to create an atmosphere and a constantly developing narrative in a way that keeps the reader engaged from the first idea on the first page to the last well-developed (and very hilarious) ending on the last page. In the course of this fine book Jeffrey Wiser grows into a man whose priorities are altered, and actually becomes the 'wiser' of his name, and very obviously the more content from his funky adventures. Joel Samberg has already polished his skills at writing comedy: aanticipating his next novel will keep us wondering how far he can take us with his very obvious talent!

Grady Harp

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Product Details

ISBN:

9781604746259

Author:

Samberg, Joel

Publisher:

PublishAmerica

Subject:

Humorous

Publication Date:

February 2008

Binding:

Paperback

Language:

English

Pages:

296

Dimensions:

9.00x6.00x.67 in. .96 lbs.