3/5 stars
What's it about? The Material follows an MFA stand-up program in Chicago as the students and faculty prepare for a set competing against Second City. A novel of rich inner monologues, the competitive nature of fame, and even a school shooter.
How’d I find it? An excerpt of this book in Harper’s assured me that I needed to read the whole darn thing.
Who will enjoy this book? A readalike if you appreciate an ensemble of characters and time in their psyches? The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty.
What stood out? I can’t help but applaud this novel’s ambition. Writing about the art of stand-up comedy requires crafting performances for the page, and Bordas does just this, delivering not only the sets of her famous and would-be comics, but also their riffing creative minds, the forge where jokes are made. She writes bits that work and others that flop, lending authenticity to the story. It seems Bordas composed her first novels in French, and if English is not her first language, I’m all the more impressed by her comedic ear. Dorothy, the professor who has a new special coming out, enticed me the most; her thoughts on aging as a single woman were memorable and well-written.
Which line made me feel something? As Olivia, one of our aspiring comics, approaches the microphone: “It was almost a game at this point, testing how many unrelated-to-comedy thoughts she could hold in her head up to the last second—the more there were, the greater the relief would be at seeing them fly away with her first line, like a flock of scared-off birds after a gunshot.”