Book Review: A Comedy of Nobodies

Charlie knows he’s not the main character in his own story. He’s just one more schmuck trying to navigate life in the Ivy League. He plays in a terrible jazz band, falls in love far too easily, and generally struggles with the business of being human.

With understated hilarity this collection chronicles Charlie and his friends as they explore the meaning of life through the stories they grew up with, the stories they tell each other, and the stories they tell themselves.

As Charlie tries to find love using the scientific method, babysits a toddler in exchange for a chance to loosen those financial aid purse-strings, jumps out a window to escape a jealous football player’s wrath, and enrages a packed hockey stadium by replacing the national anthem with a jazz-trio rendition of “American Pie,” he discovers that the answers to life’s most pressing questions are almost always just more questions.

A Comedy of Nobodies by Korean-American filmmaker Baron Ryan will be published on May 21, 2024. Blackstone Publishing provided an early galley for review.

Sometimes a book grabs my attention just by its cover. That is true with this one. I really like the design work done here by artist Alenka Vdovic Linaschke. It really drew me in.

Ryan presents nine short stories in this collection, with a reoccurring cast and an overarching narrative theme. It is very much episodic fiction - small digestive looks (ranging from ten to seventeen pages in length) in the life of Charlie and his social circle. It is something I find appealing as an alternative to doing a longer form novella or full-blown novel.

Ryan places his characters firmly into the world of Harvard and Cambridge, MA, with locations that actually exist. I am instantly drawn into this world of studies and students. It resonates with my own collegiate years (albeit nearly four decades apart). I also found that I could very much relate to Charlie, whom I am strongly convinced is a fictional avatar of the author himself.

All in all, I came away with a warm feeling after finishing the book and, in part, hoping that someday there might be more exploits of Charlie down the road. But, if there isn't, that would be okay too - for this collection definitely satiated a literary hunger. Thank you, Baron Ryan.