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Tom Scharplinghas been a fan of Resnick for decades, even before he knew the writers name.
So it was definitely an influence in that regard, because that was my goal.
I just want [my book] to be funny first.
That part was a struggle for me to just kind of respect myself through the process.
Adam Resnick has such a distinct voice that just echoes throughout his book.The voice sets the tone.
That and keeping it funny are the two biggies.
Those are the two that pop up immediately when I think in terms of influence.
Whats that gonna be like for flow?
How intrusive am I going to be on my own story?
My worst nightmare would be if somebody thought I was doing some kind of comment on memoirs or something.
It was like a parody of a memoir.
That would be the worst thing you could say.
I worked so hard to avoid that.
Its basically him and his brother driving with their dad, who was, like, a hair-trigger-temper guy.
And the dad gives him a ride.
And then the kids realize that thats not Booker in the car, its just some guy.
You feel like you know him after reading this.
You kind of know Adam through his dad in that regard too.
His dad seemed like such a tough guy who just stood up and couldnt take certain things.
In seeing Adams work, do you see those similarities between yourself and him?Yes, definitely.
Neither of us are overeducated.
Were kind of maybe self-educated.
We did not have that experience of going to a good school.
Hes beleaguered the way I can be called beleaguered.
Thats a pretty rough area.
And its funny that thats where Adam came from, because its not exactly where comedy writers come from.
They dont normally come from the scrappy rough-and-tumble world of fighting and chasing your brother around with a knife.
But he lived in a weird world and didnt know what else to do.
But Harrisburg is not a fictional town.
But both places seem to be the origin of a lot of comedians and comedy writers as well.Absolutely.
I think that breeds comedy writers in a certain way that you just are next to the thing.
If youre implying that youre better than everybody, nobodys going to laugh with you.
you’re gonna wanna just eat some crap living out on the periphery of those places.
I imagine a lot ofBest Showlisteners are curious about your personal life to some extent.
Was there hesitation going so deep into your personal life in this memoir?Absolutely.
You cross a line that you cant go back from when you write about this stuff.
It went from nobody knowing to potentially everybody knowing.
This book was a process, and the act of living with this book will be a process too.
Ill go through it, I guess.
I have no choice at this point.
And I came very close to that so many times where I was like,This shouldnt happen.
Why should people readWill Not Attend?Because its the single funniest memoir.
Its so incredibly funny, and it just makes me laugh in so many different ways.
To me its like David Sedaris stuff, but with teeth, in a way.
Like when Adam goes to Disney World, hes not observing it; hes there to fight it.
Hes there to do battle with Disney World.
Hes seeing everything thats wrong with it, and he just cant roll with certain things.
And its people buying into the things that are driving him nuts.
It drives him that much more nuts, like, other family members being so into this.
And hes seeing everything that doesnt work with it.
And its just that collision, its just the funniest.
Its just the funniest book Ive ever read.
Mine would be calledNo, of Course Ill Attend, and Ill Help Clean Up Afterwards If You Want.
That would be my version ofWill Not Attend.
