Simon Rich is in a new phase of his life, bringing his absurdist style of humor to a new plane. This book and its stories are a fascinating look into Rich's mind and how it thinks or parenthood et al. Funny, creative, and wholly original.

This is my first introduction to Simon Rich, and I wasn't disappointed! The book was hilarious in certain parts, but still found ways to be meaningful and, most importantly, genuine, which is really important to me, especially as a parent. I'll read more of his work!

In this anthology, Simon Rich demonstrates what makes him such an up and coming comedy writer. From pirates who adopt a little girl who makes them mend their wild ways to a giant ape who saved a city but now has no job and feels out of things to a two year old detective on the case of his sister's missing unicorn to the true story of Babe Ruth and how he became the famous ballplayer reimagined, the humor and inventiveness of the author is apparent. Readers will go from fondly smiling to laugh out loud chortles as they read these delightful stories.

This was a fun book to read. Simon Rich has written for various television shows such as Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons and Pixar. He is the creator and showrunner for the shows Man Seeking Woman and Miracle Workers. The humor is lighthearted and never mean and the best word for this work is joyous. I listened to it and the various accents and narrations added quite a bit. This book is recommended for those looking for a light-hearted break.

I’m not good on comical fiction, which is what we have here. It’s well done, if that kind of thing works for you.

The deal: A bunch of silly short stories from New Yorker humorist, “Man Seeking Woman” creator, and former SNL writer Simon Rich.

Is it worth it?: Sure, if you’re looking for a relatively light low-key palette cleanser between heavier book club picks or whatever, this is the business. It’s nothing groundbreaking, and if the stories were shorter, it’d be the perfect thing to gift someone who likes to keep reading material by their toilet. Do people still do that? The more you think about the hygiene of it all, the faster it all falls apart into a ball of ick.

Pairs well with: I guess one of Rich’s other books was adapted into a show called Miracle Workers starring Danielle Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi, so maybe that

B-

Rich writes funny stuff. Unfortunately, in this collection he seemed to be a one trick pony. The narrator, whether it be Babe Ruth or a robot, describes a situation which he totally misunderstands while the reader laughs at the stupidity or naïveté of the narrator. Any one of those stories would be a delight. The problem was reading so many variations on a theme.

This book is the biggest little surprise of the year so far. Simon Rich writes the most wonderful, quirky, delightful, yet ultimately thought provoking essays I have ever read.

I laughed out loud so many times, but I found myself smiling widely even more often as I read his words. Somehow every single story hit me right in the heart, and made me wish I could crawl inside his brain and live there.

This is a short book, and all I want is more of it. HIGHLY recommend.

So many funny short essays! Some are really off the wall, and some had me guessing at times. A very unique writing style that I did not expect to enjoy so much. I enjoyed being able to read each story and decide if I wanted to move on to the next. It made it feel easy to read that you accomplished something after each story. If you are looking for a simple fun read, this is your book.

Thank you #Netgalley!

So many funny short essays! Some are really off the wall, and some had me guessing at times. A very unique writing style that I did not expect to enjoy so much. I enjoyed being able to read each story and decide if I wanted to move on to the next. It made it feel easy to read that you accomplished something after each story. If you are looking for a simple fun read, this is your book.

Reading and critiquing story collections is different from reading longer works of fiction. The reader has to decide how much to read at one sitting. If you go directly from one story to the next, are you doing the individual stories a disservice? It is a real compliment after reading a novel to say, “ I couldn’t put it down,” but maybe that is the wrong approach with a story collection.
Then there is the question of how to evaluate the whole work when you felt the quality of the individual stories was uneven. You might say, when reading a novel, “Well, it got boring in the middle but then it picked up again.” With stories, each one gets its own rating, for good or ill. Certainly the editor for a story collection requires a real talent for arranging the individual stories in the right order.
So how would I judge New Teeth? I came to this collection after reading excerpts of one story, The Big Nap, in The New Yorker. This take off on the old pulp detective stories of the 40’s starred a toddler and his baby sister.. it was pitch perfect the whole way. It should have led in the book. Unfortunately, the story placed first in the collection, Learning the Ropes, was rather tiresome and would have lost me if I hadn’t already read The Big Nap. So I pressed on.
No question, Mr. Rich writes funny stuff. Unfortunately, in this collection he seemed to be a one trick pony. The narrator, whether it be Babe Ruth or a robot, describes a situation which he totally misunderstands while the reader laughs at the stupidity or naïveté of the narrator. Any one of those stories would be a delight. The problem was reading so many variations on a theme. As one contributor in a humor collection or magazine, Simon Rich is a star, but I just don’t want to make a whole meal of his offerings. Mayb I have answered my earlier question. Read one story, put the book aside and come back weeks later.

This was such an amazing tongue in cheek series of stories that kept me captivated and laughing the entire time. I did not want this to be over. I have not been this amused in quite some time. The sheer originality and the span of the different stories was nothing short of impressive. I want more from this author immediately and love the casual, witty prose from beginning to end. I didn't really get the last story, but overall what a gem! Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

Fatherhood has been a gift to Simon Rich. I've read 3 of his story collections and this one was above and beyond the best. It was laugh-out-loud (and read-out-loud, to whoever happens to be within out-loud distance) funny. I cried with mirth multiple times and read it in one sitting (with a break in the penultimate story at like 1:30 a.m. to read the Babe Ruth wikipedia page) when I should have absolutely put my phone down and gone to sleep.

New Teeth is a collection of short stories focusing on the theme of parenting. I was laughing, my favorite was The pirates. Who needs serious laughs? You do. It will make you want to read much more of Simon Rich. Cheers

Another wonderfully weird set of comedic stories from Simon Rich.

I literally laugh out loud whenever I read his stuff and New Teeth was no exception. He has a talent for writing a story that chugs along sounding completely reasonable and normal, but then he throws in these zingers out of nowhere that make me completely lose it. The pirate casually mentioning his late-stage syphilis, for example.

From the original description and cover I assumed these stories would be all about parenthood and tiny children, but not every piece featured those subjects. That helped solidify the pacing, because with each one I had no idea what I was getting myself into but was amused the whole way through nonetheless.

This is a rare occasion where I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this to just anyone--his writing, to me anyway, is for people who “get” this type of comedy. I do not see this as a negative, however. Definitely talking this up to my fellow comedy nerds--those I know who are already familiar with his past work.

Many thanks to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Another hilarious book from Simon Rich! New Teeth is a collection of short stories focusing on the theme of parenting. His humor is back and bolder than ever! If you enjoy comedic writing, pick this one up!

First off, if you've never read any Simon Rich, you need to correct that quickly. This book isn't coming out until July, so pick up Ant Farm or Spoiled Brats or Free Range Chickens. He's hilarious.

"New Teeth" is a collection of short stories with many of them centering around the theme of parenthood. It may be a new topic, but the playful surreal humor is still there.

There's really not much more that needs to be said. If you like comedy writing, get this.

Netgalley provided me with a free e-copy of this book in return for this review.