Hits and Misses - by Simon Rich (Paperback)

About the Book

A collection inspired by a former Saturday Night Live writer's real experiences in Hollywood, chronicling the absurdity of fame and the humanity of failure in a world dominated by social media influencers and reality TV stars.

Book Synopsis

A hilarious collection inspired by a former Saturday Night Live writer's real experiences in Hollywood, chronicling the absurdity of fame and the humanity of failure in a world dominated by social media influencers and reality TV stars.

Simon Rich is "one of the funniest writers in America" (Daily Beast) -- a humorist who draws comparisons to Douglas Adams (New York Times Book Review), James Thurber, and P.G. Wodehouse (The Guardian). With Hits and Misses, he's back with a hilarious new collection of stories about dreaming big and falling flat, about ordinary people desperate for stardom and the stars who are bored by having it all.

Inspired by Rich's real experiences in Hollywood, Hits and Misses chronicles all the absurdity of fame and success alongside the heartbreaking humanity of failure. From a bitter tell-all by the horse Paul Revere rode to greatness to a gushing magazine profile of everyone's favorite World War II dictator, these stories roam across time and space to skewer our obsession with making it big -- from the days of ancient Babylon to the age of TMZ.

Review Quotes

"Great writers tend to arrive when we need them most, and at this moment Simon Rich is a comedic godsend. Hits and Misses is a motherlode of silly, inventive, absurd brilliance. My admiration for Rich is rivaled only by my jealousy."--Conan O'Brien

"Rich's special genius is in his ability to nest an absurd premise in an otherwise ordinary situation... A perfect example of Rich's ability to mix humor and poignancy."--Ron Charles, Washington Post

"Simon Rich is the Serena Williams of humor writing... Rich has sharpened his satire over the years, and now he wields it with skill... Rich is at the height of his craft when he is writing on the border between tragedy and comedy."--New York Times Book Review

"Simon Rich is the Stephen King of comedy writers. From the first lines, he pulls you into a world of hilarious, simple, kind, determined, dumb, and bizarrely proud characters who, like us, are terrified of being embarrassed. He is the funniest writer I have ever met and Hits and Misses is his best collection of stories."--John Mulaney

"Welcome to the sweet but twisted world of Simon Rich... Rich has proved he has a boundless imagination and a sharp sense of humor, and Hits and Misses continues that streak--it's a bizarre and hilarious collection from one of the funniest writers in America... He's endlessly clever but not impressed by his own wit; gentle, but not afraid to test boundaries. It's a kind of humor that recalls early 20th-century writers like James Thurber and E.B. White, but Rich's comic genius is really all his own. He spent years being regarded as a kind of precocious wunderkind, but with this book, Rich has come into his own as one of the most talented writers of comedic fiction working today."--Michael Schaub, NPR

Simon Rich "writes funny, short, inventive, breathtakingly precise pieces... Rich's insistence on hope, love, and that people (other than himself) are basically good is refreshing."--The Millions

About the Author

Simon Rich has written for "Saturday Night Live," Pixar, and "The Simpsons." He is the creator and showrunner of "Man Seeking Woman" (FXX) and "Miracle Workers," (TBS), which he based on his books. His other collections include Hits and Misses, Spoiled Brats, and Ant Farm. He is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker.