This is right in my wheelhouse as a soapbox I always get on because I’m always complaining that the legendary novels people describe as “comic novels” so often leave me a little bit cold, or I find them to be more heartbreaking than funny. What about this book drew you in when you read it the first time? His focus remains on just how funny the book is, how hard humor is to capture in a novel, and how comedy presented in a prose narrative has influenced his stand-up writing style for his new special, People Pleaser, which is available to rent on a variety of streaming platforms. The movie received critical praise but was a box-office disappointment, only pulling in $13 million worldwide against a $38 million budget. Recently, the title has become more well-known for the 2018 film adaptation, starring John C. Nominated for a number of awards and winning a few, the novel enjoyed moderate success when it was published but never hit the best-sellers list.

They run into a man who can’t stop hysterically crying, a kid at an abandoned campsite who keeps getting knocked in the head by everyone he meets, and a dentist who describes how he gamed the system and cheated in order to get his dental license, all while extracting a tooth at the same time. Though the story doesn’t shy away from aggressively violent encounters with the people they meet on the trail, the tone of the story dips into absurdity more than outright despair. The novel follows two brothers, Eli and Charlie, on a quest to California to track down a man they were hired to kill. Looking for some quality comedy entertainment to check out? Who better to turn to for under-the-radar comedy recommendations than comedians? In our recurring series “ Underrated,” we chat with writers and performers from the comedy world about an unsung comedy moment of their choosing that they think deserves more praise.Īccording to comedian Josh Gondelman, Patrick deWitt’s 2011 novel The Sisters Brothers achieves something most books aren’t able to: laugh-out-loud humor.

Photo-Illustration: Vulture Photo by Publisher

The sisters brothers book review