Your Book Is Humorous

"I agree with the reviewer from Foreward Magazine who said 'ALL OR NOTHING is funny, relentless, haunting, and highly readable.' I am half way through the first half and it is cracking me up. Some fairly dark deeds are being done, but I can't help but laugh at times. It takes nothing away from the seriousness of the subject matter, your tone, and in fact makes P and his plight more endearing to the reader. I am rooting for him, though I do not suspect it will turn out all right. I am tempted to skip to the end to find out. How does a writer write seriously but humorously at the same time?"

Thanks for the question.

I used to think I knew the answer to that question, but now I am not so sure that I am right.

I used to think that a sense of humor was innate in some of us, a talent some of us had, and I had it, oh lucky class clown me . . . now upon reflection, I suspect that the watching in my youth of self-deprecating comedians--such as Woody Allen (at one extreme) and Richard Pryor (at the other)--coupled with a freshman composition instructor who had us read Ken Macrorie's textbook TELLING WRITING, in which he emphasized the jotting down of "fabulous realities," might have had something to do with it.

The collecting of fabulous realities was an excellent exercise for a young writer such as I. I don't remember exactly how it was done, but I think we were told to go out and "see" the truth in things and then to create a list of them, written down honestly and without adornment. When we read them to the class, there were many that got oohs and ahs and occasional titters of laughter.

I began to see that truth, though it made us uncomfortable, was funny.

I also learned that trying too hard to be funny, unless you were very good at it (which I was not), almost never made anyone laugh.

It was an important lesson for me. Though people often laugh at the situations my characters find themselves in, I NEVER try to be funny. I just try to be honest.

This is what the best comedians know: the truth of the human condition is . . . funny.

Great question! (I guess that means I like my answer to it.)

Thanks.

Preston