HASSAN SHAH, writer, director.
The most wholesome (and surreal) moment I had in 2024 was meeting Christopher Owen in London. We connected virtually during the first wave of Covid in 2020, when I read two plays that he wrote and blindly contacted him. We stayed in touch via e-mail and Facebook, and more than four years later, we finally met in person. At the age of 87, he is more creatively active than most people I know, and he gave me two books that he wrote and got published -- both collections of excellent, witty short stories, with the quirkiest of characters. Writer, director, actor, so much experience in theatre -- the man is a legend. The first short story in Looking for Joan -- Misconnections - I truly, truly LOVED it. The whole story comes full circle -- begins with Adrian and Susie splitting, ends with them reconciling and coming back together. And in the middle, we meet the QUIRKIEST and MOST INTERESTING characters. The idiosyncrasies you give your characters are so interesting -- Delia, who's a writer and puts so much thought into using the right words and phrases; Janet, who's THAT annoying person in a group who just has too much to say and thinks they're all-knowing. The old man in the writer's group, who Adrian ends up meeting in the library -- Adrian meeting that man was like a circle within the bigger circle. I LOVED it. I also love the little scene we get between Adrian and Susie in the beginning before they split -- it's hilarious and shows us so much about their relationship. I also LOVE your style of humor -- I haven't read much P.G. Wodehouse but the humor reminded me of what little Wodehouse I've read. It's so quirky and witty and natural. This book is a great example of something that is so well and intelligently written, yet SO fun to read.
