Description

THE BEST COMEDY BOOK OF 2024• An “absolutely hilarious and singular” (Tommy Orange) collection of “laugh-out-loud” (People) stories about millennials entering the abyss of middle age—from Thurber Prize-winning author Simon Rich, “one of the funniest writers in America” (NPR). 

Simon Rich returns with a batch of can’t-miss stories in which Super Mario turns forty and is forced to “take-a stock” of his life and how “messed up it’s-a become.” Goliath struggles to control the media narrative in the lead-up to his death match against David, a small, beloved child. And a long-discarded participation trophy reminisces about the glorious field day in 1993, when he wound up in the arms of a jubilant, asthmatic Simon Rich. 

High-stakes and heartfelt, Glory Days mourns the death of youthful innocence and hails the beginning of something approximating wisdom.

Praise

“His most mature effort yet.… What I found most impressive about his comic writing is what he does after the twist: managing a degree of pathos within a concise frame that you rarely see outside a Sondheim musical.” —Jason Zinoman, New York Times
“There’s nobody who does it better than Simon Rich.” -Vulture (The Best Comedy Books of 2024) —Vulture
“In this laugh-out-loud millennial-bait story collection, an aging Super Mario ‘takes-a-stock’ of life, a cast-off participation trophy reflects on the good days, and more.”
  —People
“Thoughtful and revelatory…I marveled at Rich's ability to juxtapose a really off-the-wall idea with a tender-hearted ending...He's always been this good.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Despite the hilarity of these premises, Rich isn’t just a funnyman…. Readers will laugh, then nod, then shed a tear, finally doing all three at once. For a humorist, there is no higher praise.” —Booklist
"The travails of an aging Super Mario, the media battle between David and Goliath, and the workplace woes of the foul-mouthed Tooth Fairy are among humorist Rich’s latest concoctions....His follow-up to New Teeth is clever fun."
  —Kirkus Reviews
"Always hilarious" —Washington Independent
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