Glory Days: Stories

by Simon Rich

Not much to say here. I love Simon Rich. Highlights were:

History Report (a kid in the future writing a report about our time period). There were some lines here that really cracked me up, especially when describing a date between the narrator’s grandparents:

“My great-grandfather said that all dates began with the same custom. The two people on the date would take turns verbally listing all the TV shows they liked. If they both liked the same show, they’d exchange memes from it. But here’s the thing: GIFs did not exist yet. So instead of texting the other person a funny moment from the show, you would say out loud, “Do you remember the part when…,” and then you would perform the meme yourself, using you face and body to imitate what an actor had said and done.” (7)

“They needed to find some other place to eat, but neither of them had Internet access, so their only option was to physically search for food, by walking around and looking in random directions – like, truly the same process used by animals.” (8)

Mario, about Mario turning 40, and he’s got back problems from breaking blocks with his head so much.

Some are funny but a little more poignant, like Time, in which time is speeding up all across the world, but the narrator can slow it down by paying attention to his child. Relateable! And Tooth Fairy, which is also basically about parenting and your kids getting older, but from the point of view of a fairy who basically works for a mob boss. I really liked The Mission, in which the narrator is an older man who is writing to a Nigerian scammer, but it’s really a story about him and his daughter.

So parenting and aging are themes, which might be part of why a liked it. Simon Rich is amazing at being hilarious and still making a point. I would read his writing just for the jokes, but the deeper themes make it something special.