Romantic Comedy

Susan Midalia's Review

No surprises for guessing the genre, or a plot that charts the obstacles to love and arrives at the happy ending. But what surprises is the central’s premise of the love-match: an impossibly handsome, thirty-something male celebrity, who’s had his pick of gorgeous women, and a rather plain, romantically disillusioned woman his own age. Sally tells the story of their rocky road to romance: she’s a whip-smart writer of comedy sketches for a popular New York TV show, and Noah is a famous musician. After Sally spoils their budding friendship, a long sequence of emails between them – often hilarious but gradually more intimate and intense – allows her to repair the damage. The novel strikes an intelligent balance between laughs and a serious exploration on what it might mean to fall in love, our hidden vulnerability, the vacuousness of celebrity culture and the highly pressured process of writing comedy for TV.  A highly enjoyable read from the author of the equally enjoyable best-sellers Rodham and American Wife.

Publishers Reviews

With a series of heartbreaks under her belt, Sally Milz - successful script writer for a legendary late-night TV comedy show - has long abandoned the search for love.

But when her friend and fellow writer begins to date a glamorous actress, he joins the growing club of interesting but average-looking men who get romantically involved with accomplished, beautiful women. Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch, poking fun at this 'social rule'. The reverse never happens for a woman.

Then Sally meets Noah, a pop idol with a reputation for dating models. But this isn't a romantic comedy - it's real life. Would someone like him ever date someone like her?

Skewering all our certainties about why we fall in love, ROMANTIC COMEDY is a witty and probing tale of how the heart will follow itself, no matter what anyone says. It is Curtis Sittenfeld at her most sharp, daring and compassionate best.

'Curtis Sittenfeld is in a league of her own' GUARDIAN
'Anyone who reads Sittenfeld will read anything she ever writes' THE TIMES