What do you think?
Rate this book
A Stand-Up Guy: A Novel
In his third novel, author Michael Snyder delivers another honest, authentic, and intriguing plot carried along by quirky characters whose actions and reactions still manage to look and sound like the rest of us. It is often said that every good joke contains some basic truth. In A Stand-Up Guy, aspiring comedian Oliver Miles puts that axiom to the test when he revamps his comedy act by filling it with darkly personal truths about friends and family. But, as the edgy humor begins to attract more attention, the young comic's personal life gets more complicated. When he realizes he has managed to turn the two women he cares about most into props for his act, he wonders if his honesty on-stage is making him dishonest in life. Despite the sobering reality of his world off stage, the laughter and the success is intoxicating, even for a stand-up guy. A Stand-Up Guy is a real story about real people struggling with life's rights and wrongs. It will appeal to anyone who enjoys a uniquely-woven relational drama threaded with a little mystery and delivered with a lot of humor and insight.
352 pages, Paperback
First published August 9, 2011
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 17, 2011
Oliver is an amateur comedian moonlighting as a hotel security guard. His less-than-ideal childhood has left him with enough baggage to fill a moving truck, and he can’t quite shut the door on the traumas and move on. His pretty coworker and he get into some fun adventures as he reconciles the craziness of his past and present in order to have the future he’s dreaming of. Along the way, he learns to look behind what he sees and understand the people in his life a little better.
I liked this book a lot because it was a light read. While the issues dealt with were quite serious, the characters were very likeable and fresh, and the story kept moving enough to prevent getting bogged down in any one crisis. The love plot was prevalent but not overbearing. Oliver’s flashbacks were sad but not depressing. The tone was quirky but not disjointed. The life lessons spoke to me but didn’t scream.
Even though I’m sure this was not meant to be a book in a series, I hope the author continues the story he began with Oliver and his mixed-up life. The resolution was enough to close the book, but I wasn’t ready for it to end. This was almost like watching a date movie (chick flick) that didn’t end all wrapped up with a nice red bow on top, but still left me smiling.
NOTE: Zondervan and netGalley provided me with a copy of this book for review.
I liked this book a lot because it was a light read. While the issues dealt with were quite serious, the characters were very likeable and fresh, and the story kept moving enough to prevent getting bogged down in any one crisis. The love plot was prevalent but not overbearing. Oliver’s flashbacks were sad but not depressing. The tone was quirky but not disjointed. The life lessons spoke to me but didn’t scream.
Even though I’m sure this was not meant to be a book in a series, I hope the author continues the story he began with Oliver and his mixed-up life. The resolution was enough to close the book, but I wasn’t ready for it to end. This was almost like watching a date movie (chick flick) that didn’t end all wrapped up with a nice red bow on top, but still left me smiling.
NOTE: Zondervan and netGalley provided me with a copy of this book for review.
February 23, 2013
I was feeling a little blue and I had the half-hope that a story about a stand-up comedian might actually be, well, funny. Not so much.
January 18, 2022
I tried hard to keep going to see if it would get better but it didn't. The idea was good but the plot too slow and the characters too weird.
October 15, 2023
Entertaining. Nice twist.
June 19, 2020
This book sounded like it could be really good - an aspiring stand up comic compromises himself to get good material and success, only to realise it's not worth it in the end. Unfortunately it didn't really seem to work.
The pacing of the book was all wrong. Too much time was spent watching Oliver live through what would become his new material. Even though you knew he was going to use it on stage it seemed to take forever for the book to get there. You also only get to see him on stage a few times, almost all towards the end of the book, which made me feel ... robbed when compared to the description on the back of the book. When you got to the ending it felt rushed and the story could have done with being spread out a bit more.
I didn't feel like I could connect with any of the characters. Oliver comes across as a bit of a clueless wet blanket and you wonder how he ever got a job as a security guard. Mattie just seems like she's stringing him along the whole time and I never really felt a connection to either of them.
Too much is made of the mystery surrounding Mattie and what she's doing. I knew from the back of the book that Oliver will suspect she's a kleptomaniac but there seems to be too much build up getting him to that point.
This book could have been great but, for me, I'm afraid it failed to deliver.
The pacing of the book was all wrong. Too much time was spent watching Oliver live through what would become his new material. Even though you knew he was going to use it on stage it seemed to take forever for the book to get there. You also only get to see him on stage a few times, almost all towards the end of the book, which made me feel ... robbed when compared to the description on the back of the book. When you got to the ending it felt rushed and the story could have done with being spread out a bit more.
I didn't feel like I could connect with any of the characters. Oliver comes across as a bit of a clueless wet blanket and you wonder how he ever got a job as a security guard. Mattie just seems like she's stringing him along the whole time and I never really felt a connection to either of them.
Too much is made of the mystery surrounding Mattie and what she's doing. I knew from the back of the book that Oliver will suspect she's a kleptomaniac but there seems to be too much build up getting him to that point.
This book could have been great but, for me, I'm afraid it failed to deliver.
August 30, 2011
Nobody does a better job of depicting the underdog than Mr. Synder. Amidst the abject realty of the characters in this story, with their faults and foibles, their insecurities and insomnia, glimmers a little beacon of hope. If they can make it, anyone can.
Oliver, the wannabe stand up comic, is the quintessential wimp - in every sense of the word. Layer by layer his story is peeled away until we understand how he came to be who is he. I had a hard time liking him and never really got to the point of admiring him, but I came to understand him.
Mattie, who doesn't wannabe the girlfriend, is another complex character who is also not very likeable. She's something of a mystery and her story unfolds more slowly. She breaks all the molds for "typical" story girlfriend.
Through it all, Mr. Synder lights the reader's imagination with colorful word play while twanging the reader's conscience by revealing the reasons behind the characters. Everyone has a story. When you know it, it's easier to understand and to empathize. Too often in our busy everyday lives, we forget that. We look at the outside, we observe the obvious, and we miss their story.
Oliver, the wannabe stand up comic, is the quintessential wimp - in every sense of the word. Layer by layer his story is peeled away until we understand how he came to be who is he. I had a hard time liking him and never really got to the point of admiring him, but I came to understand him.
Mattie, who doesn't wannabe the girlfriend, is another complex character who is also not very likeable. She's something of a mystery and her story unfolds more slowly. She breaks all the molds for "typical" story girlfriend.
Through it all, Mr. Synder lights the reader's imagination with colorful word play while twanging the reader's conscience by revealing the reasons behind the characters. Everyone has a story. When you know it, it's easier to understand and to empathize. Too often in our busy everyday lives, we forget that. We look at the outside, we observe the obvious, and we miss their story.
March 12, 2012
I love the way Michael Snyder writes. His characters are quirky but somehow real. When you think about it we are all different because of our own quirky traits. Traits that we develop because of our pasts and carry into our future. I laughed out loud a couple of times while reading A Stand-Up Guy. I also stopped to think about why we laugh at another persons pain and why when we are in pain do we try to use humour as a salve. There is actually a lot to think about in this novel if you look for it. Like a good comic Snyder gives us a laugh but does so with depth.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews