{"product_id":"9780345509840","title":"Clothing Optional: And Other Ways to Read These Stories","description":"“Garry, it’s Alan. Look, I’m calling because I just felt the need to tell someone that I’m forty-four years old, and about an hour ago, for the first time in my life, I put suntan lotion on my ass. I’ll explain later. Bye.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003cb\u003eClothing Optional\u003c\/b\u003e, Alan Zweibel offers a collection of laugh-out-loud personal narratives, essays, short fiction, dialogues, and even a few whimsical drawings. Zweibel first made a name for himself as one of the original writers for \u003ci\u003eSaturday Night Live\u003c\/i\u003e, but his career’s humble beginnings included creating one-liners for Catskill comedians at seven dollars a pop. That experience is only one of the hysterically inspired anecdotes (“Comic Dialogue”) in this quirky compilation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eZweibel confesses his first love, as a young Hebrew school student, for Abraham’s wife, Sarah (“At this point, Sarah’s husband had been dead for more than three thousand years–so, really, who would I be hurting?”); recounts the time he was sent to a nudist resort to write an article (“The fact that I brought luggage is, in itself, worthy of some discussion”); offers a touching tribute to Saturday Night Live writer and mentor Herb Sargent (“Herb was New York. But an older, more romantic New York that took place in black and white like the kind of TV I grew up on and wanted to be a part of someday”); and imagines a scenario in which Sergeant Joe Friday, the stiff, monotoned character from \u003ci\u003eDragnet\u003c\/i\u003e, is inexplicably partnered with Snoop Dogg (“Damn, Friday. You gotta learn to chill. Take some free time and kick it with your boys”) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEvery piece is punctuated with the same wit and insight that have come to define Zweibel’s humor. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUnhinged and hilarious, \u003cb\u003eClothing Optional\u003c\/b\u003e is an unguided tour through the uniquely peculiar life and mind of a man who \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e said “has earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrom the Hardcover edition.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Random House Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47125595128048,"sku":"9780345509840","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780345509840_p0.jpg?v=1763688380","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780345509840","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}