Bill Scheft, award winning comedy writer for the David Letterman show, has written a tour de force in Shrink Yourself: A Novel. Protaganist Charlie Traub starts the novel by telling his therapist he isn’t coming to therapy any longer. He wishes to live an unexamined life. Charlie narrates his story from his dysfunctional family of origin through today, mining it for every possible bit of humor. I had no idea that messes in an assisted living dining room or dog sitting could be so funny. Also, although this is clearly an east coast novel, he manages to work in Bobby Knight, Purdue and the Ryan White Foundation.
The humor, however, is like a glittery translucent curtain covering his life story. Originally, the reader enjoys the obvious glittery humor. It doesn’t take long, however, for Scheft’s pungent comments about the human condition to poke through. Scheft has clearly thought deeply about the important questions of the life. It shows once again that the best humor is rooted in the sadness and difficulties of life.
Meet Scheft on Thursday, September 24 at 6:30 at Bookmamas, 9 Johnson Avenue. Visit www.bookmamas.com or call 375-3715 for more information about his visit and upcoming events.
