New teeth : stories /

Rich's uneven humor collection (after Hits and Misses) features a series of clueless narrators trying to grapple with life while everyone else deals with it just fine. The author makes the most of this conceit in the amusing "Screwball," about Babe Ruth's lack of understanding of the world outside baseball. In "Chip," an office robot becomes obsolete after complaints about "his" "inability to socialize." Less successful stories include the toothless satire "Revolution," in which the privileged 14-year-old narrator thinks his valet is "grateful for the condescension" the narrator pays him in the form of requiring his presence at all times, even while using the bathroom. Rich can wring a laugh from irony, as in "Laserdisc," about a man who treasures his collection of films on the outdated format ("John would utter a phrase so erotic it was essentially physically irresistible: 'You know, I actually have that on LaserDisc' "), but the stories tend to be one note. "Beauty and the Beast" feels like an extended commercial break for Disney, and "Case Study," a riff on The Elephant Man, gets silly, but not in a good way. Arguably the best entry is "The Big Nap," which is like The Big Sleep told from a two-year-old's point of view. If only the rest of the stories had been as clever. Agent: Daniel Greenberg, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary. (July)

Many of these 11 stories from gifted humorist Rich explore the joys and trials of parenthood. Two pirates are all at sea when they discover a stowaway little girl and must add a bit of niceness to their nastiness. A screenwriter reluctantly abandons work to be the Beast in his daughter's obsession with the Disney-fied fairy tale, but he realizes something about the film that helps transform him into a less-beastly father. When simian superhero Clobbo learns that Empire City no longer needs him, he discovers a new role entertaining his granddaughter with bubble wrap on a Facetime call. A young woman raised by wolves returns to human society at 18 and has a normal life, only interacting with the wolves when they visit for Thanksgiving, and eventually she learns to accept their differences. A story about a medieval king's not very bright son hiding among peasants during a revolution was adapted for Rich's TV series, "Miracle Workers." In his sixth collection of stories, and eighth work of fiction since 2007, Rich presents parody, absurdity, observational wit, the sudden shift in a familiar premise, and a surprising touch of sweetness and charm throughout. Fans won't find anything quite like Rich's earlier "Unprotected," with the point of view of an unused condom in a young man's wallet, or the macabre twist in "The Tribal Rite of the Strombergs," when a Scrabble game ends in ritual human sacrifice. A couple of pieces are even a bit clunky. But there is much to smile at here, and "The Big Nap" (nodding to Chandler), which uses noir style for a toddler detective on the trail of his baby sister's lost unicorn, Moomoo, is so consistently funny, so exceptional in its imaginative use of parody as to be near genius. A fertile mind provides many smiles in this entertaining collection--and more than a few out-loud laughs. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.