One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories

I have finished B.J. Novak's amazing book, One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories, for the third time and I am now embarking on it again, this time with note taking. I do feel, however, I can finally talk about the book with the proper amount of enthusiasm because it just delights me. I don't really know if there will be spoilers, but there could be.

I am tempted to say this is the best book I have ever read, but I think it'd be better to articulate that there has never been a book I enjoyed reading more than B.J.'s. His collection of 64-ish vignettes is simply flawless and every story, from the two lines in Kindness Among Cakes to the twenty-page J.C. Audetat, Translator of Don Quixote, is so charming and wonderfully humorous. Some of my personal favorites include A Good Problem to Have, The Impatient Billionaire and the Mirror for Earth, The Rematch, and They Kept Driving Faster and Outran the Rain.

It is very clear that B.J. put a lot of himself and his own experiences into the book despite it being straight up fiction. There are many offhand comments which, if you know anything about B.J., you can tell it's a bit of a personal touch. Some of the prominent themes in the book have a great amount of veracity to them. A good portion of the stories feature characters who just need "one more thing" to achieve his, or her, own idea of perfection. Perfectionism and chaos around those who consider themselves to be the calm are common ideas woven throughout the uneven pages.

B.J.'s humor is obviously very smart, very intuitive, and very abrupt. There are moments in the book that made me say, aloud, "Oh, Jesus Christ, B.J." There are just some things that are very shocking and I certainly was not expecting them. However, there are also aesthetic touches to certain stories, some that are very idyllic and George Saunders-esque. One neat feature was the instance of recurring characters, which is usually uncommon in a collection of short stories, but in doing this, B.J. was able to establish an entire world, different from the true Earth. This world of immense personification has Arush, the girl who gives great advice, and the guy with the red t-shirt with the pocket making multiple appearances. It really is a good feeling of completeness.

I have begun listening to the audio book version as well and it adds yet another layer of depth to the stories. The way B.J. reads it definitely sheds a new light on the stories. The inflection and the amount of time taken to truly develop each brilliant piece of writing is astounding. Plus, you cannot go wrong with the vocal help of Jenna Fischer, Mindy Kaling, Rainn Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman, among others.

There are some pieces of One More Thing which feature prominent amounts of dialogue, incredible language, and truly brilliant pieces. Dare I say that some of these portions are some of the most well-written things I have ever or will ever read. If I can ever write something with the tiniest microbe of B.J.'s prose, I will consider my existence a success. Thank you for this book.