In the first episode of season 1, host Rebecca Thandi Norman welcomes comedian and writer Josh Gondelman to discuss the classic kids' comedy book, Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. They dive into how to structure jokes for kids that still resonate with adults and to how this book is reflected in Josh's own work. How does a comedian build his comedic sensibility? Books are a pretty good start!

Read Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Subscribe to Josh's newsletter, That's Marvelous!

Read Josh's book, Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results

Resources we discussed off-mic:

Labour Notes

How Things Work by Hamilton Nolan

Salvo by Kim Kelly

Jacobin articles by Alex N. Press

Have questions or comments? Get in touch: [email protected]. Follow along on Instagram at @bookimprintpodcast.

This podcast is hosted by Rebecca Thandi Norman, produced by Kate Krosschell, and sound engineered by Winther Robinson. Title music is by DJARTMUSIC.

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