What's With Baum? by Woody Allen

Baum is a terrific pleasure to read and some of his best fiction, flowing like the new Woody picture we have been waiting for. His first novel at the age of 89 is intelligent and laugh-out-loud funny, with surprising tension.

"Lately, Asher Baum has been talking to himself."

After all, who else should he talk to? A spry fifty-one, it's not dementia or delusion, but a rut he is in. Does anyone care that he is constantly pushing a rock up a hill - "and if I ever get up there, what have I got? A rock on a hill." He wants his books to have an impact, but the last two were panned as turgid. At the country house of his wife, Connie, he wanders the woods wishing he were back in New York, preferring the lights of Broadway to the stars. Connie grew up a spoiled Hollywood child and now puts her son Thane above all else. Baum always avoids the refined little putz, with his vintage suits and blond hair, looking like a Hitler Youth. Thane openly regards Baum a loser. After years of mediocrity, Thane has written a sensational bestselling book, film rights sold, while Baum just found out his publisher is dumping him over complaints from a journalist. Thane is bringing his new girlfriend Sam, who works for his publisher, and Connie is thrilled they are engaged. When Baum meets Sam, he is instantly smitten by her intelligence and beauty. She reminds him of his first wife, Nina, a Barnard student whom he left after falling for her twin sister—also, his beautiful third wife, Tyler, whom he never got over. Sam seems to be on Baum's side, and they hit it off—how can she desire that pretentious narcissist? Back in New York, Baum meets with his writer friends and discovers a slight problem with the spoiled little prince's renowned book. No matter what he does now, that Pandora's bookshelf is illuminated, and there is no way to stop the fallout, even if Baum wanted to.

For fans of Woody's films, there are countless endearing tropes revisited here: Autumn is the best month; the country offers little, especially when you get a tick; beautiful intelligent sisters; Manhattan still holds him in its grip; a writer falls for the star of his Broadway show; a talentless writer becomes a Hollywood millionaire; a woman falls for the artist and not the man —and if Thane was inspired in any vague way by Mia's son Ronan, celebrated author of a successful book, there is plenty of delicious revenge. Baum has a romantic cynicism, and as a fan, this exceeded my wishes. I read it twice.

2025 / Hardcover / 192 pages