#MeAsWell, A Novel - by Peter Mehlman (Paperback)

About the Book

#MeAsWell, A Novel examines the inner and outer turmoil that results when a well-meaning but iconoclastic public figure, having failed to update his cultural operating system, unwittingly runs afoul of the new rules of woke America.

Book Synopsis

Arnie Pepper is having the worst day of his life. The Pulitzer-prize winning sports columnist for the Washington Post has lived a thrilling, prestigious and (mostly) blameless existence over nearly four decades of rubbing shoulders with athletic royalty at all the most prestigious sporting events of our times. Then one day, within the confines of an impromptu gathering of fellow reporters, he tosses out a characteristic one-liner. Overheard and subsequently posted on social media, his joke goes viral. The ensuing hurricane of condemnation threatens to take his job and reputation, alienate his daughter, and decimate his obsessively observed inner world.

#MeAsWell is the second novel from Peter Mehlman, an essayist, artist, comic, filmmaker, and longtime writer/producer for the iconic television show Seinfeld. At once surreal and too real, laughable and on point, the novel examines the inner and outer turmoil that results when a well-meaning but iconoclastic public figure, having failed to update his cultural operating system, unwittingly runs afoul of the new rules of woke America.

In everyday interactions, and especially in his popular columns, Pepper's sense of humor has always been his fortune--the gateway to a comfortable life as a journalist and enriching friendships with everyone from Billy Jean King to Barack Obama. An early proponent of Title IX-and a devoted single father of a daughter-Pepper has long been a champion of women's sport. But now, despite his best intentions, he finds himself in the eye of a media storm that is turning darker and more dangerous, his life threatened by a hilarious retort--or at least it seemed hilarious at the time.

Early Praise for #MeAsWell, A Novel

"Mehlman's narrative is spirited, political, and both hilarious and sadly reflective of the digital culture that can befriend or betray on a whim. A witty, culturally perceptive dark comedy."-Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Mehlman's first novel, It Won't Always Be This Great

"It turns out that not only can Peter Mehlman write funny television, he can write a funny book. Who knew?"-Julia Louis-Dreyfus, star of Veep and Seinfeld

"Anyone who writes for television gets frustrated that they can't write like Peter Mehlman. Now he's going to make novelists mad too. Mehlman's writing style is completely unique and creates an intimate bond between the narrator and the reader. You finish the book feeling as though you've made a new friend." - Aaron Sorkin, Academy and Emmy-award winning screenwriter, producer, and playwright, whose works include A Few Good Men, The West Wing, The Social Network, and The Newsroom

"Equal parts moral dilemma, subtle social commentary, and journey of self-discovery, Mehlman's tale of a man forced outside the comfort zone of his 'respectable, decent, low-impact, relaxed-fit, gluten-free world' is both laugh-out-loud funny and deeply moving." -Publishers Weekly

Review Quotes

A novel that capitalizes on an online viral phenomenon and how reckless commentary can be hyped to catastrophic heights.

Former Seinfeld writer/producer Mehlman's (It Won't Always Be This Great, 2015, etc.) book dramatizes a very real and contemporary situation where something as simple as a joke told among friends can be overheard and freely disseminated worldwide. Such is the case for single dad Arnie Pepper, a widowed, 60-year-old Washington Post sports columnist, who has managed to fly under the radar of controversy for the length of his widely respected, nearly four-decade journalism career. That legacy, which includes interactions with O.J. Simpson at the 1984 Olympics, Larry Bird, and Penny Marshall, swiftly fractures when he makes a demeaning verbal faux pas denigrating a male pro basketball player for being on the injured list due to a hysterectomy. After a media agent posts the comment on Instagram, word spreads like wildfire through press outlets, which cry misogyny and demand answers. Public outrage manifests in episodes of what Pepper considers "acidy micro-aggression" from anyone who recognizes him on the street. Falling from grace and watching his back like a modern-day pariah, he attempts to mitigate the situation but groups like the "Radical Masculine Feminists," the gynecological community, and industry contemporaries demand apologies and swift termination from his employer. Pepper's mother, daughter, and ultimately his editor have faith in his good name and ability to rebound from social disgrace with appropriate accountability. Pepper's characterization is wonderfully enhanced courtesy of his italicized thoughts as he grapples with the melodrama suddenly enveloping his life and Pulitzer Prize-winning career. The resultant whirlwind of rumors, hurt feelings, and damaged reputations whips this novel into a frenzy, with Pepper trying to stay afloat in an era one fellow reporter calls "an overzealous age of sexual persecution." Virtually chapterless and told over the course of two eventful days in 2018, Mehlman's narrative is spirited, political, and both hilarious and sadly reflective of the digital culture that can befriend or betray on a whim. A witty, culturally perceptive dark comedy--Kirkus Reviews