Ant Farm by Simon Rich

This is Simon Rich's first book. I picked it up after reading his second book, Free-Range Chickens, and laughing myself sick. The style of Ant Farm is the same as Chickens: short, off-the-wall, comedic essays. The topics in Ant Farm range from pen pals to Jesus to time traveling.

From the essay "When Small Talk Goes Wrong"
- Do you have the time?
- Shh! It's 4:26 P.M.!
- Huh?
- (whispering) April twenty-sixth, 4:26 P.M., is an official minute of silence. Congress created it to honor the 426 men who died in the Great Boise Fire. My Father was among those men.
- Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I'll stop talking.
- It doesn't matter. The minute has already passed.

Free-Range Chickens by Simon Rich

I picked this book up on a recommendation from Paul Feig. I don't know the last time that I laughed out loud so much while reading a book. The one downside is that Simon Rich is 25/26 years old, has written for The Harvard Lampoon, Saturday Night Live, and has had two books published. A little depressing.

The books is a collection of essays, some no more than a paragraph or two in length. Often times, they are conversations. Think Bob Newhart for our generation. Here is one of my favorites:


Dalmatians
- Hey, look, the truck's stopping.
- Did they take us to the park this time?
- No . . . it's a fire. Another horrible fire.
- What the hell is wrong with these people?