B.J. Novak would like to introduce you to WABBOFOMO — or at least, that’s the best acronym we can think of to describe the feelings stirred up by the trailer for his new book, “One More Thing.”
Sufferers of the condition, known in full as Writing A Book Because Of FOMO, have been known to speak French, make up Sartre quotations and try to impress their hilarious pal Mindy Kaling in black-and-white short videos.
OK, let’s unpack that a little: There are a few layers to all of this. Novak (you best know him as Ryan the Temp from “The Office”) wrote a book of short stories. His publisher, Knopf, released a hilariously meta trailer for the book, starring Novak and Kaling as two pretentious French speakers.
French Novak is desperate to impress French Mindy, who’s holding a copy of real-life Kaling’s book, but with the title hilariously translated to “Is It Existentially Possible That the World Hangs Out In My Absence.” How to impress a book-writing girl? Write a book of your own, of course!
If you think this all sounds a little meta and layered and comedy-nerdish, well, you’re right. But we suggest giving the trailer a shot anyway. There’s a “that’s what she said” joke in there! In French! And it’s totally worth it to watch all the way through for the twist ending. (Yes, a three-minute promotional video can have a twist ending. Trust.)
How else are you spending your time, anyway? Reading a book? Psh. As if.
“One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories” is due out Feb. 4.
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