Fans of Simon Rich's wise-guy brand of comedy are in for more absurdist fun in Glory Days, a collection of humor pieces, some of which first appeared in the New Yorker. Rich (New Teeth) specializes in the off-the-wall premise taken to extremes. Take "History Report," a futuristic tale in which a child has to write a paper for school. The child interviews great-grandfather Simon, "the oldest person in my family who is still alive," because he was one of only a few men to flee with women and children on an Escape Pod "when Earth became too hot to live on." In "Mario," potty-mouthed Super Mario is turning 40, has arthritis and a bad back, and needs a less physically demanding line of work. His brother's husband hands him What Color Is Your Parachute? and suggests he pursue his marketable talent for plumbing.
That's the sort of zaniness one finds in these pieces. If most are clever rather than hilarious, the clever ones are undeniably so. Among them are "Punishment," in which the Lord has second thoughts about punishing Adam and Eve and fears humans "are becoming bad people" due to his disciplinary methods; "Tooth Fairy," in which a fairy who works for ToothCo, "the big refinery in Fairy Land," has trouble with the matching-pajama-clad parents of the Tooth Producing Unit--i.e., child--they're assigned to; and "Minutes," the record of a co-op board meeting that turns violent as pent-up resentments spill out. Some pieces are better than others, but the standouts are great fun and guaranteed to delight the wise-guy crowd. --Michael Magras, freelance book reviewer