Author: Camille Bordas
Publisher: Serpent's Tail
Hardback
One of our books of the year 2024!
Sam says: It’s a bold thing to write a novel about the inner lives of comedians. Even bolder for a writer who has previously written two novels in French, and who is writing their first novel in English. The Material is truly impressive! It follows students and teachers on a fictional stand-up comedy MFA in Chicago over the course of a day as they prepare for a show at a comedy club. We flit between these variously neurotic perspectives to probe at what lies behind the desire to make people laugh, the result is as profoundly sad as it is funny!