#MeAsWell A Novel

Arnie Pepper is having the worst day of his life. The Pulitzer-prize winning sports columnist for the Washington Post has lived a thrilling prestigious and (mostly) blameless existence over nearly four decades of rubbing shoulders with athletic royalty at all the most prestigious sporting events of our times. Then one day within the confines of an impromptu gathering of fellow reporters he tosses out a characteristic one-liner. Overheard and subsequently posted on social media his joke goes viral. The ensuing hurricane of condemnation threatens to take his job and reputation alienate his daughter and decimate his obsessively observed inner world.#MeAsWell is the second novel from Peter Mehlman an essayist artist comic filmmaker and longtime writer/producer for the iconic television show Seinfeld. At once surreal and too real laughable and on point the novel examines the inner and outer turmoil that results when a well-meaning but iconoclastic public figure having failed to update his cultural operating system unwittingly runs afoul of the new rules of woke America.In everyday interactions and especially in his popular columns Peppers sense of humor has always been his fortune--the gateway to a comfortable life as a journalist and enriching friendships with everyone from Billy Jean King to Barack Obama. An early proponent of Title IX-and a devoted single father of a daughter-Pepper has long been a champion of womens sport. But now despite his best intentions he finds himself in the eye of a media storm that is turning darker and more dangerous his life threatened by a hilarious retort--or at least it seemed hilarious at the time.Early Praise for #MeAsWell A NovelMehlmans narrative is spirited political and both hilarious and sadly reflective of the digital culture that can befriend or betray on a whim. A witty culturally perceptive dark comedy.-Kirkus ReviewsPraise for Mehlmans first novel It Wont Always Be This Great It turns out that not only can Peter Mehlman write funny television he can write a funny book. Who knew?-Julia Louis-Dreyfus star of Veep and Seinfeld Anyone who writes for television gets frustrated that they cant write like Peter Mehlman. Now hes going to make novelists mad too. Mehlmans writing style is completely unique and creates an intimate bond between the narrator and the reader. You finish the book feeling as though youve made a new friend. - Aaron Sorkin Academy and Emmy-award winning screenwriter producer and playwright whose works include A Few Good Men The West Wing The Social Network and The Newsroom Equal parts moral dilemma subtle social commentary and journey of self-discovery Mehlmans tale of a man forced outside the comfort zone of his respectable decent low-impact relaxed-fit gluten-free world is both laugh-out-loud funny and deeply moving. -Publishers Weekly