“𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵.”

It has been such a good reading year so far and there have been a couple of books that have surprised me, including this one. ROMANTIC COMEDY by Curtis Sittenfeld was one of my most anticipated reads, and I ended up enjoying it so much more than I expected. 

Sally Milz is a writer on a popular live comedy show called The Night Owls, that airs every Saturday night (sound familiar?). She has given up on falling in love, preferring to focus on her career instead. Then, when news breaks that her friend and TNO cast member, Danny Horst, is dating a beautiful actress who just hosted an episode, Sally is frustrated but not at all surprised. It’s become a recurring event at TNO especially, for gorgeous successful women to date average men like Danny, but as Sally has come to believe would never happen if the roles were reversed. That is until singer, Noah Brewster, arrives to host TNO. A genuine connection begins to form between them as they prepare for Saturday’s live show, but Sally is unsure whether to believe if it’s actually real. After all, this would never happen to someone like her… right?

Romantic Comedy is witty, smart, and feels like something Nora Ephron would have loved and adapted. The behind the scenes leading up to TNO’s live show was interesting to read and now makes me see Saturday Night Live in a whole new light. At the same time, I also really like Sally and Noah and how Sittenfeld develops their relationship that feels real and authentic, even in the chapters set during the pandemic. There is a kind of push and pull between them alongside the banter and emails exchanged where I get the sense that they are into each other, but are just unsure if the other would reciprocate. This isn’t a typical romance book, but a realistic take on comedy, romance and what we expect for ourselves and breaking them. 

I’m so happy that I got to buddy read this with @jennsorganizedshelf, who also recommended Colin Jost’s book since I enjoyed this one.