Raphael Bob-Waksberg is the creator and executive producer of the Netflix series BoJack Horseman. This is his first book.
ONE OF NPR'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2019
ONE OF THE A.V. CLUB'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2019
“This book is EXTREMELY MY SH*T. It’s a deeply weird and hilarious
work of genius. I really f**king love it.”
—Samantha Irby, author of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life
“Raphael is the funniest male vegan who created an animated show
about a talking horse working today. Run, don’t walk, to your local
socialist knitting circle and tell them about this hilarious
book.”
—Rachel Bloom, creator of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
“Bob-Waksberg manages to balance his ironic humor with a deep
sincerity that continues to surprise and delight. . . . [These
stories] do that mysterious thing that good art can do: make your
heart clench with feeling, your eyes fill with tears, your lips
twitch toward a smile or all three at once.”
—Ilana Masad, The Washington Post
“This is exactly the kind of book you’d hope the creator of BoJack
Horseman would write. Just as his animated show is a bleary-eyed
tour de force composed of equal parts depression and fun,
Bob-Waksberg’s debut story collection is wonderfully weird, pushing
familiar stories to their absurdist limits (e.g., the couple who
wants to keep their wedding simple with absolutely no
goat-sacrificing). Yet each one has a chewy emotional center and a
gut punch worth waiting for.”
—Maris Kreizman, Vulture, “12 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This
Summer”
“Transcendent tragicomedy. . . . Achingly heartfelt and bitingly
funny. . . . Prepare to be devastated and made whole again.”
—The A.V. Club
“[These stories] conjure struggles for connection in grimly surreal
alternative realities that recall the probing comic imaginings of
George Saunders. . . . That said, for all its darkness, Someone Who
Will Love You should be considered a lighter, amusing confection,
one whose sweeter sides shine that much brighter with its balance
of bitterness.”
—Chris Barton, Los Angeles Times
“Showcases Bob-Waksberg’s talent for conjuring fantastical
scenarios and writing about them with a straight face. . . .
Bob-Waksberg concentrates on the human aspects, only slyly waving
at the extraordinary—human relationships, he seems to be saying,
are weirder than anything else our imaginations can come up
with.”
—Michael Schaub, NPR
“Raphael Bob-Waksberg makes his short fiction debut with
sidesplitting panache. . . . His knack for revealing the ludicrous
in patient micro-doses carries the reader through an exceptionally
inventive uncanny valley. . . . Bizarre and hilarious.”
—Dave Wheeler, Shelf Awareness (starred review)
“These tales are heartfelt and funny, a winning combo. Dazzled by
the wit, you’ll be surprised when you start tearing up at the
sincere turn.”
—Read It Forward
“Bob-Waksberg’s stories share parallels with those of George
Saunders. Through liberal experimentation with reality, an affinity
for fake brands, and lots of humor, Bob-Waksberg’s stories live in
the same funny-but-heartbreaking space.”
—Brendan Buck, Newcity Lit
“Here’s love in all of it’s terrible, ridiculous, humiliating
glory. Have any friends that you wish would break up with their
partners? Give them this book. Have a friend whose love life is not
going well? Give them this book. Feeling envious of some friend
because their love life is Instagram perfect? Give them this book.
And you might as well pick up a copy for yourself as well. You
probably need it.”
—Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble
“Stories that make the familiar strange and the strange familiar
and all of it hilarious. This book made me laugh while squeezing my
heart—not hard enough to kill me, just hard enough so that I
remembered what heartbreak feels like. Dark, funny, and
brilliant.”
—Charles Yu, author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional
Universe
“Through humor and tenderness, Someone Who Will Love You in All
Your Damaged Glory takes a magnifying glass to the small, quiet,
still moments around love, heightening them to the point of surreal
beauty.”
—Jonny Sun, author of everyone’s a aliebn when ur a aliebn too
“Raphael is my favorite kind of person and his writing is my
favorite kind of writing: constantly alternating between the
funniest and the most profound things I've ever read. He is a
canceler-out of boredom.”
—Lisa Hanawalt, author of Coyote Doggirl
“Some giggles, some tears, bloody goats and a ferry boat ride. All
to keep us engaged and on our toes. With love, your Nana.”
—Shirley Bob, author’s grandmother
“The stories are very moving and true to today’s society. As your
grandma, I hope you sell a million copies of this book. I'm so
proud of my little Raphi.”
—Florence Waksberg, author’s grandmother
“Wonderfully absurd and unexpectedly moving. . . . Bob-Waksberg
successfully tempers the ridiculous with a sharp tug at the
heartstrings. . . . These stories are at times poignant and
triumphantly silly, but always manage to ring true.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Sometimes-whimsical, sometimes-biting short fictions from the
creator of Netflix’s BoJack Horseman. This offbeat collection of
bad romances will be a treat for fans of Bob-Waksberg’s animated
cult comedy. . . . Bob-Waksberg caps his collection with a theme
park of dead presidents in ‘More of the You That You Already Are,’
strongly reminiscent of David Sedaris’s ‘Santaland Diaries’. . . .
A savage sendup of love in all its dubious glory.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Ask a Question About this Product More... |