Sally Milner is a writer forTNO,a fictionalSaturday Night Live. When her colleague Danny becomes engaged to a gorgeous celebrity,Sally writes a mocking sketch – The Danny Horst Rule – embodying the novel’s premise. That week,as she helps “cheesily handsome” pop-star guest host Noah write his own sketch,she feels an attraction spark. But it can’t be mutual – can it?
The narrative tension,as with any romantic comedy,lies not in whether an attraction exists,or even if it will be consummated,so much as how that will happen,and the specifics of the obstacles they’ll overcome. An awareness of these genre mechanics is written into the novel.
Sally’s ambition is “to write non-condescending,ragingly feminist screenplays for romantic comedies”. She tells Noah,“When one of these movies doesn’t work,it’s usually because it’s horribly written and/or because the script hasn’t done the work of convincing you the couple is attracted to each other,so then you don’t care if obstacles get in their way and keep them apart.”
Sittenfeld creates a convincing connection between Sally and Noah:they describe their creative work – her comedy and his music – as the loves of their lives. So it makes sense that work is how their true selves are revealed and connect.
The conflict between our public and private selves has been central to Sittenfeld’s work since her debut,Prep,whose hyperaware,awkward teen protagonist embodied it. Sally suspects much of her writing emerges from that tension. And she tells Noah,“Sometimes I feel like I’m writing dialogue for the character of myself. I’m impersonating a normal human being when really I’m a confused freak.”
This aspect of Sally feels palpably real and suits a comedy writer:humour as armour;a protective layer to shield the real,vulnerable self. And theories such as the Danny Horst Rule feel like believable ways of protecting against romantic rejection.