One hundred and eighty degrees in a different direction, tonally and otherwise, is the deeply sarcastic Suburgatory: Twisted Tales from Darkest Suburbia by Linda Erin Keenan, the title from which the ABC comedy took its inspiration and name. In the book, Keenan plays the role of the intrepid reporter and reveals odd anecdotes from the alien nation that is suburban parenthood. Many of Keenan’s edgy and sometimes profane articles are send-ups of situations or people she observed when Keenan, the former career-centric Manhattanite, was dragged by her husband to the ‘burbs after they had a child. A significant chunk of the book involves Keenan’s self-deprecating humor, mocking what has become of the formerly hard-charging CNN producer now that she’d gone native. It was a fun jaunt after the weightiness of Blueprints.

Lunatics, by contrast, is on an entirely different planet than the two other books. By humor columnist Dave Barry and Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live writer Alan Zweibel, this strange novel was inspired by Barry’s experience at his daughter’s soccer games and Zweibel’s experience with his son’s Little League. The two writers assumed the voices of the two main characters and alternated writing chapters in their characters’ voices. Zweibel wrote the part of Philip, a mild-mannered, married pet store owner and father who made a controversial call as a referee at a youth soccer game that changed the outcome of the playoffs. Barry gave voice to the other character, the hot-headed Jeffrey, who went into a rage after Philip called Jeffrey’s daughter off-sides after she made what would’ve been the tying goal in a playoff game.

Out of their unhealthy obsession with youth sports, the unlikely pair formed an involuntary team as their story hurtled from a suburban book club where the women had perhaps a bit too much vino (and barely talked about the book), to being on the run from police in Central Park, to assisting in a Cuban revolution and playing starring roles at presidential nominating conventions. While Lunatics can spark genuine laughter, especially at the beginning before it launched off into absurd locales, if you’re not comfortable with jokes about flatulence, bodily functions and crazy journeys, this might not be the read for you, although a soccer dad you know might thoroughly enjoy every part of it.

Originally posted on ModernMom