50 pages 1 hour read

Curtis Sittenfeld

Romantic Comedy

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

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Prologue-Chapter 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue Summary: “February 2018”

Sally Milz, a 36-year-old divorced comedy writer, wakes up one morning to the news that her colleague Danny is dating a famous actress named Annabel Lily, one of many relationships between an average comedy guy and a gorgeous female celebrity. Sally is annoyed about it because she knows the reverse situation—a gorgeous male celebrity and a basic female comedy writer—would never happen. She channels her frustration into her writing.

Chapter 1 Summary: “April 2018”

“Weekly Schedule for The Night Owls” Summary

A tight schedule maps out how The Night Owls is written, pitched, and rehearsed for live performance within a week.

“Monday, 1:10 P.M.” Summary

A large group of writers, cast members, and producers of the live televised comedy-sketch show The Night Owls gather in the office of their creator and executive producer, Nigel Petersen. The week’s celebrity host is Noah Brewster, a good-looking singer-songwriter in his late 30s. The writers pitch some ideas for jokes, and Sally’s pitch is to do a spin-off from Danny’s real-life romance with Annabel Lily. She wants to write a sketch about men from TNO dating women who are wealthier and more famous than them, while women from the show don’t or can’t have the same experience.