One more thing : stories and other stories Cover Image

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One more thing : stories and other stories / B.J. Novak.

Novak, B. J., 1979- (Author).

Summary:

"B.J. Novak's One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories is an endlessly entertaining, surprisingly sensitive, and startlingly original debut that signals the arrival of a brilliant new voice in American fiction. A boy wins a $100,000 prize in a box of Frosted Flakes--only to discover how claiming the winnings might unravel his family. A woman sets out to seduce motivational speaker Tony Robbins--turning for help to the famed motivator himself. A new arrival in Heaven, overwhelmed with options, procrastinates over a long-ago promise to visit his grandmother. We also meet Sophia, the first artificially intelligent being capable of love, who falls for a man who might not be ready for it himself; a vengeance-minded hare, obsessed with scoring a rematch against the tortoise who ruined his life; and post-college friends who try to figure out how to host an intervention in the era of Facebook. Along the way, we learn why wearing a red T-shirt every day is the key to finding love, how February got its name, and why the stock market is sometimes just. down. Finding inspiration in questions from the nature of perfection to the icing on carrot cake, One More Thing has at its heart the most human of phenomena: love, fear, hope, ambition, and the inner stirring for the one elusive element that might just make a person complete. Across a dazzling range of subjects, themes, tones, and narrative voices, the many pieces in this collection are like nothing else, but they have one thing in common: they share the playful humor, deep heart, sharp eye, inquisitive mind, and altogether electrifying spirit of a writer with a fierce devotion to the entertainment of the reader"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9780385351836 (hardback)
ISBN: 0385351836 (hardback)
Physical Description: x, 276 pages ; 22 cm
Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2014.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references.

Formatted Contents Note:

The rematch -- Dark matter -- No one goes to heaven to see Dan Fogelberg -- Romance, chapter one -- Julie and the warlord -- The something by John Grisham -- The girl who gave great advice -- All you have to do -- 'Rithmetic -- The ambulance driver -- Walking on eggshells (or: when I loved Tony Robbins) -- The impatient billionaire and the mirror for Earth -- Missed connection: grocery spill at 21st and 6th 2:30 pm on Wednesday -- I never want to walk on the moon -- Sophia -- The Comedy Central roast of Nelson Mandela -- They kept driving faster and outran the rain -- The man who invented the calendar -- The ghost of Mark Twain -- The beautiful girl in the bookstore -- MONSTER: the roller coaster -- Kellogg's (or: the last wholesome fantasy of the middle-school boy) -- The man who posted pictures of everything he ate -- Closure -- Kindness among cakes -- Quantum nonlocality and the death of Elvis Presley -- If I had a nickel -- A good problem to have -- Johnny Depp, fate, and the double-decker Hollywood tour bus -- Being young was her thing -- Angel Echeverria, comediante superpopular -- The market was down -- The vague restaurant critic -- One of these days, we have to do something about Willie -- Wikipedia Brown and the case of the missing bicycle -- Regret is just perfectionism plus time -- Chris Hansen at the Justin Bieber concert -- Great writers steal -- Confucius at home -- War -- If you love something -- Just an idea -- Heyyyyy, rabbits -- The best thing in the world awards -- Bingo -- Marie's stupid boyfriend -- Pick a lane -- "Everyone was singing the same song": the Duke of Earl recalls his trip to America in June of 1962 -- The pleasure of being right -- Strange news -- Never fall in love -- The world's biggest rip-off -- The walk to school on the day after Labor Day -- Kate Moss -- Welcome to Camp Fantastic for gifted teens -- There is a fine line between why and why not -- The man who told us about inflatable women -- A new Hitler -- Constructive criticism -- The bravest thing I ever did -- Rome -- The literalist's love poem -- J. C. Audetat, translator of Don Quixote -- Discussion questions.