Actor and writer B.J. Novak (The Office) bucks the linked-short-stories trend in his first collection, One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories, but that doesn't mean the pieces here have nothing that unites them. While his stories lack recurring characters or common narrative threads, they have a consistency in tone, a similar worldview and--perhaps not surprisingly, given Novak's background as a comedic writer and performer--a shared sense of humor.
Some of the strongest stories in One More Thing are driven by character. "One of These Days" reunites three college friends with a mission to "do something" about the fourth member of their old group; a young boy is puzzled when his parents won't let him claim the prize he wins from a cereal company in "Kellogg's"; the titular protagonist of "J.C. Audetat" finds his poetry is best expressed in translating the words of other writers. Others stand out conceptually: the hare tells his side of the story in "The Rematch" with the tortoise, and love always wins "The Best Thing in the World Awards"... except for that one time.
Some of One More Thing's short stories are very short--several run only a few lines--and even the longest barely reach 20 pages. However, word count has little to do with what makes them work. Novak's writing is intelligent and assured, conveying a sense of compassion toward its subjects that gives the funny lines unexpected depth. The result is an engaging, imaginative collection of stories difficult to read just one at a time. --Florinda Pendley Vasquez, blogger at The 3 R's Blog: Reading, 'Riting, and Randomness