As a writer and producer (as well as actor) for NBC's "The Office," B.J. Novak would jot his ideas down in tiny notebooks he'd keep in his back pocket.
But many of his thoughts extended far beyond the world of Michael Scott and Dunder Mifflin Paper Co.
Once “The Office” ended its run of eight seasons last year, Novak wasn’t sure what he’d do next. But he had all those random thoughts in his notebooks.
So he turned them into a book of whimsical, often humorous short stories dubbed "One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories." He will read selections at the Atlanta History Center Friday, where the price of admission will include a hard copy of the book. (Buy tickets here.)
Critics and fans have embraced the book's mix of offbeat (what if the tortoise and the hare had a rematch?), slightly twisted (what if Comedy Central roasted Nelson Mandela?) and just plain weird (a billionaire creates a mirror above the earth so if you look through binoculars, you could wave at yourself.). Everyone from Bravo's Andy Cohen to David Letterman to Entertainment Weekly to NPR has interviewed him.
I too got to speak with Novak earlier this month by phone:
Q: Have you ever done this much press for anything you’ve ever done in such a short period of time?
Novak: Not on my own. I've been in a room with Bradley Whitford and Jason Schwartzman for three straight days to promote 'Saving Mr. Banks.' This one is different. I'm talking about myself and the work that has meant the most to me in my entire life. I could talk all day about this. This is a dream come true, especially for a writer. Writers fantasize about being interviewed about their work. It's very different from a movie junket.
Q; How do you feel about all the critical plaudits? Is this truly a Sally Field moment?
Novak: I thought this would be and I hoped this would be the kind of book that was discovered in the back of the bookstore one day or left in someone's lake house and found by some kid a generation later. That was my fantasy writing this book. On a bigger level, I wanted people I really respect to read it. It's a dream I kind of didn't ever dare have.
Q: In the EW piece, you say [actress] Jane Seymour inspired you to write down ideas that didn't fit into the show. Were they all in one notebook or a Word document or on some random napkins scattered around your house?
Novka: I had boxes of notebooks, usually those little pocket ones. I didn't date them or label them. I just had little marks in front of them. I went to a Dollar Store and bought 100 heart stickers. Some of them have pink hearts or blue hearts. It was kind of fun to go through them. I'd find a Dwight monologue or a spinoff of an 'Inglorious Basterds' bar conversation. I went through each of them and found ideas I could turn into story form.
Q: Was there a reason why stories were placed in there a certain way?
Novak: I wanted to arrange the stories the way a musician would arrange an album. It was about the feel of a certain piece after another piece. I wanted to show different tones. There were a few stories I called back later in future stories. I wanted to be sure they were introduced in the right order. I had a few crazier ones. I followed the 'Saturday Night Live' philosophy. I put those in 10 minutes before 1 a.m. There were some I figured people would love or hate. Once it's in a particular spot, maybe you'll like them. Of course, I like them all.
Q: So were there a few that you almost cut because of that?
Novak: I actually made a decision to include a few that weren't for everyone, some stories I almost cut. Does this diminish the book? Some reviewers might say it did. I was at a book signing yesterday and someone made me sign, not the title page, but her favorite story, which I almost cut.
Q: Do you think short story books get enough respect as a genre?
Novak: I'm surprised they aren't more popular at the moment. People love fiction but have short attention spans. People are used to snippets of conversation. I would rather open up a short story book than a novel. Maybe a novel seems more impressive. "The Goldfinch," a No. 1 bestseller, is 900 pages. Kids love Harry Potter. People love to read epic length things, which is cool. You wouldn't expect that in the world we live in.
Q: I did some crowd sourcing for questions. Someone asked if there's a connection between writing a sitcom script and writing a short story?
Novak: They are much more similar than different, I find. They seem extremely different but I think the important thing for any writer is to write in their own voice. So I wrote in the same voice I wrote in "The Office" in many ways. I wanted to be accessible. I really love the variety of people who have come up to me to say how much they loved "The Office." Every age, every race, everyone finds a way to connect to these characters. It's smart and not in an alienating way. I thought the same way about my book's characters. Even if the story had some comic edge, the big values I admire from the TV show I wanted to carry into this.
Q: You play around with tropes in this book, like the cliche, "Life is like a roller coaster." You turn it into an actual roller coaster.
Novak: I wondered what if a man tried to create a roller coaster about life? What would it be like? I thought Christo the magician. He'd do this. What would he be thinking? What would a focus group say? I had great fun with that one.
Q: How much of your own personal beliefs are in this book?
Novak: I think I believe everything everyone says in the book on some level, which is true of "The Office." Even things Creed said, part of me believes it. There's part of me that wants to build a roller coaster for real and be in that focus group... Every point in this book is somewhere inside of me.
Q: You attempt to get into the mind of author John Grisham. Why John Grisham?
Novak: I wanted to explore the limits of perfectionism. If you're John Grisham and you always have No. 1 books and everybody loves them and a huge mistake happens yet nobody cares, do you correct the mistake and let it ride? That is a question people deal with frequently on a much smaller level.
Q: Why did you decide to read some of the short stories in front of live audiences?
Novake: That was really my way of knowing if I was crazy or not. I had left "The Office." Everyone said what are you going to do next? I thought if I said I was going to write these short stories, I'd sound like a man who would never be heard from again. I worried about that. So I read them on stage. When people laughed and leaned in and signed up for the next reading, I felt better. Maybe I wasn't crazy!
Q: You started with the tortoise and the hare story. Are you more a tortoise or a hare?
Novak: Oh. Completely the hare. That's why that story always drove me so crazy. The tortoise in the story beat the hare but in general, a hare will beat the tortoise. I really identified with the hare. All through my life I was told in school I was very bright but it was a warning because I was usually getting in trouble. People would then surpass me during the school year. I'd start out strong, then take my eye off the ball. So I wanted to give the hare a comeback, a rematch.
READING
Lecture
B.J. Novak reads from his book “One More Thing,”
7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 21
$30 for members, $40 for non members, which includes a copy of the book
Atlanta History Center
130 West Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta
404-814-4000, www.atlantahistorycenter.com
130 West Paces Ferry Road NW | Atlanta,1
About the Author
