Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

The Funny Man

3.2/5 ( ratings)

The funny man is a middling comic in an unnamed city. By day he takes care of his infant son, by night he performs in small clubs, sandwiched between other aspiring comics. His wife waits tables to support the family. It doesn’t sound like much, but they’re happy, more or less. Until the day he comes up with it. His thing. His gimmick. And everything changes. He’s a headliner, and the venues get bigger fast. Pretty soon it’s Hollywood and a starring role in a blockbuster, all thanks to the gimmick.

Which is: He performs with his fist in his mouth to the wrist. Jokes, impressions, commercials—all with his fist in his mouth to the wrist. The people want him—are crazy for him—but only with his fist in his mouth.

And the funny man, he is tired of having his fist in his mouth.

Thus, as the novel begins, his career’s in tatters, his family’s left him, and he’s on trial for shooting an unarmed man six times. But for the second time in his life, against all odds, he’s found love. This time with another celebrity, who may or may not be sending him coded messages, and may or may not be equally in love—or even know he exists. A coruscating satire of our culture of celebrity, this debut novel documents one individual’s slide from everyman to monster, even as it reveals the potential for grace—and mercy—in his life.

Language: English

Pages: 288

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Soho Press

Release: September 27, 2011

The Funny Man

3.2/5 ( ratings)

The funny man is a middling comic in an unnamed city. By day he takes care of his infant son, by night he performs in small clubs, sandwiched between other aspiring comics. His wife waits tables to support the family. It doesn’t sound like much, but they’re happy, more or less. Until the day he comes up with it. His thing. His gimmick. And everything changes. He’s a headliner, and the venues get bigger fast. Pretty soon it’s Hollywood and a starring role in a blockbuster, all thanks to the gimmick.

Which is: He performs with his fist in his mouth to the wrist. Jokes, impressions, commercials—all with his fist in his mouth to the wrist. The people want him—are crazy for him—but only with his fist in his mouth.

And the funny man, he is tired of having his fist in his mouth.

Thus, as the novel begins, his career’s in tatters, his family’s left him, and he’s on trial for shooting an unarmed man six times. But for the second time in his life, against all odds, he’s found love. This time with another celebrity, who may or may not be sending him coded messages, and may or may not be equally in love—or even know he exists. A coruscating satire of our culture of celebrity, this debut novel documents one individual’s slide from everyman to monster, even as it reveals the potential for grace—and mercy—in his life.

Language: English

Pages: 288

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Soho Press

Release: September 27, 2011

More books from John Warner

Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney's Humor Category

3.7/5 ( ratings)

Why They Can't Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities

4.2/5 ( ratings)

The Writer's Practice: Building Confidence in Your Nonfiction Writing

3.8/5 ( ratings)

Tough Day for the Army: Stories

4.2/5 ( ratings)

Sustainable. Resilient. Free.: The Future of Higher Education

4.3/5 ( ratings)

The Awesome Book of One-Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers

Mind-Boggling One-Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers

3.7/5 ( ratings)

Return of the One-Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers

Sustainable. Resilient. Free.: The Future of Public Higher Education

4.8/5 ( ratings)

Bull Men's Fiction #3

4.2/5 ( ratings)

Logan's Run Vol 1 6

3.6/5 ( ratings)

Encyclopedia Brown and the mysterious presidency of George W. Bush

From Jewish to Bahá'í: The story of a Bahá'í Pioneer

3.5/5 ( ratings)

The Very Best One-Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers

Bushcraft 4-Book Box Set: Bushcraft Shelter, Bushcraft Survival, Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Living

Ten Commandments: Family Nights Tool Chest: Creating Lasting Impressions For The Next Generation (Heritage Builders)

Empress of the East Slope (Emperor of the East Slope Book 1)

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (1974-1977) #16

Marvel Premiere #42

Moon Knight Omnibus Vol. 1

Rate this book!

Write a review?