Winnie Friedman has been waiting for the world to catch on to what she already knows: she's hilarious. It might be a long wait, though. After bombing a stand-up set at her own bat mitzvah, Winnie has kept her jokes to herself. Well, to herself and her dad, a former comedian and her inspiration. Then, on the second day of tenth grade, the funniest guy in school actually laughs at a comment she makes in the lunch line and asks her to join the improv troupe. Maybe he's even . . . flirting? Just when Winnie's ready to say yes to comedy again, her father reveals that he's been diagnosed with ALS. That is . . . not funny. Her dad's still making jokes, though, which feels like a good thing. And Winnie's prepared to be his straight man if that's what he wants. But is it what he needs? Caught up in a spiral of epically bad dates, bad news, and bad performances, Winnie's struggling to see the humor in it all. But finding a way to laugh is exactly what will see her through.
Author
Hey there, I'm Lance Rubin. I wrote the DENTON LITTLE series (now a Snapchat original series) and CRYING LAUGHING. I also co-wrote THE LOST CAUSES OF BLEAK CREEK with Rhett & Link and the musical BROADWAY BOUNTY HUNTER with Joe Iconis & Jason SweetTooth Williams. I'm originally from New Jersey. It's a way better state than people give it credit for. I went to Brown University, and now I live in Brooklyn with my wife and young kids. Before I became an author, I was primarily an actor. "Anything I'd recognize you from?" you might ask. Probably not, unless you watched the short-lived NBC hospital show MERCY, in which I guest-starred as a patient with a naked sleepwalking problem. I love BACK TO THE FUTURE. When I was younger, I dreamed about being Marty McFly. But watching it in the past few years, I do feel unsettled by the scene where Marty, a white teenage boy of average musical talents, ends up being the inadvertent inventor of rock and roll, stealing credit from Chuck Berry. That doesn't mean I don't still love the movie, just recognizing that so much of our art was made through a straight privileged white male lens, and I'm glad we're evolving past that. This is probably too intense for a Goodreads profile. I also love empathy, the New York Knicks, and the Before Sunrise Trilogy. Some last things: -I often battle the demons of procrastination. In fact, I shouldn't be rewriting this bio right now. I'm supposed to be working on my new book. I will get back to it in two minutes. -I am not a cat person, but I respect people who are. Kind of. -I have narrated many Berenstain Bears audiobooks. For real. Look it up on Audible. -I am bad at baseball. Thanks for reading. Reach out and say hi!
