Short Stories for Short Attention Spans

Things I know about B.J. Novak

1. He was on The Office
2. He and Mindy Kaling have a strange and wonderful relationship
3. The book he wrote for kids is apparently amazing

And that’s about it. So when I saw a copy of his book at one of my favorite local bookshops, I started flipping through it. The first thing I read was “Okay,” she laughed, after three complicated cocktails. “Now, you, sir…” and that’s really all it took to hook me in. I purchased it and was done. There was something about the way he phrased it “three complicated cocktails” that gave me the clearest mental picture of who this she was, of where she was, of the beginning of her story. It’s amazing to think of what a writer with talent can do with three simple words, and I wanted to read more. I can completely understand why people would easily call Novak and his stories pretentious or overly done or something other adjective that means we think the author is too full of himself and showing off. I, on the other hand, loved it.