New Yorker Fiction Review #308: "We're Not So Different, You and I" by Simon Rich
What we have here is a somewhat entertaining, "light snack" of a short story, written by Simon Rich who is (apparently) some kind of comedy writing Boy Wonder, being the youngest person ever hired as a writer for Saturday Night Live, and having written for a variety of publications and Pixar films as well.
I like to read a story first, without any context, and then learn about the author afterward. Sometimes I feel like it doesn't even matter who wrote the story or what the background is...sometimes it does. In this case, I suppose it makes sense that the author is a film and television writer. The setup, the dialogue, and the pacing of this short story are all very polished and professional and it has an "episode" kind of feel to it, as though it were (or should be) part of a longer work. It is, in fact, part of Simon Rich's forthcoming short story collection Glory Days.
"We're Not So Different, You and I" is a somewhat funny story about a cartoon villain named Death Skull (loosely patterned after Skeletor from He-Man) and his attempt to make friends. Death Skull is, I suppose, some sort of a stand in for the everyday man. He has walls built up, finds it difficult to reach out to people, he hides his true feelings behind humor.
Death Skull's inability to resist making lame wise-cracks (which only his henchmen find funny...because they have to), is probably the funniest part about this story. I don't know whether this is Simon Rich experimenting with some new material, or just toying around, and...again...I don't wanna know.
What I know is, this is a pretty forgettable effort by someone who is so successful that probably the last thing in the world he needs is a layup of a short story in The New Yorker to serve as advance marketing for his short story collection. But...that's the way things work. The weird part is, based on this story, I actually might crack open Glory Days if the chance ever comes along. The writing is slick, fast, and easy to digest. Furthermore, I'm willing to give Simon Rich the benefit of the doubt that there may be some really good pieces of wisdom or life observations in these stories. I'm sure he's relieved.
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