What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Tales of the Troupe was published in 2009.
What’s the book’s first line?
“I have just completed my third frame, executing my third strike in a row, and am on my third beer, and life is good.”
What’s the book about? Give us a “pitch.”
This memoir follows the trials and tribulations of a comedy troupe in the mean streets of Manhattan in the 1980s, as told by one of the writers. The troupe gained a certain degree of notoriety before creative in-fighting, life, and finally a death drove them apart. It’s a book not only about creative collaboration, but also about youth, with all its hope, vanity, grandeur, impetuousness and, ultimately, heartbreak and its ensuing spiritual growth.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
For many years after the troupe disbanded, and after all the comedy work that it engendered (for me) died off, I felt a tremendous sense of loss I couldn’t shake. Even 10 years after the fact, I was having dreams that the troupe got back together, sometimes behind my back, and I was left out. That’s when I switched to writing prose, including a slew of stories about this unusual group of people, which slowly amassed, over many years, into a collection of short stories that people seemed to love.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Anyone who has been in a creative group dynamic will be able to identify with the characters and situations featured in this book. It should also appeal to people who have ever been young, had a dream, had their hearts broken—or who love to laugh.