Odd Things & Essays From the Seinfeld Writer Who Coined "Yada, Yada" and Made "Spongeworthy" a Compliment
A collection of outrageous and entertaining essays and accompanied by colorful trademark doodles, Mandela Was Late traverses the inner universe of a satiric genius who maybe should be getting out of the house a little more often. Wrapped in his cocoon of Hollywood residuals, battling his own (mounting?) foibles day by day, former Seinfeld writer/producer Peter Mehlman somehow manages to see the world a little more clearly than the rest of us.
Ride along through the arc of time drawn by six separate moving violations; only in L.A. can you mark life’s mileposts by the traffic citations you receive. Share the thrill of being nominated for an Emmy, and the agony of not winning... early in the evening. Meet a fictive pundit who becomes famous for publishing blank space; a detective who is ready to reopen the O.J. Simpson case and bust it wide open; a parole officer responsible for the newly won freedom of Nelson Mandela; and a Philip Roth who lengthens his literary career by resorting to ‘roids. Go “star trekking” across the urban wilds of Manhattan, hunting celebrity big game; dodge potholes along a memory lane that feels very familiar in spots and bizarrely antic in others; and remember where you were the first time you heard that infamous number... 69. Read and laugh and shake your head. Nothing is sacrosanct, including other people’s kids.
"Mandela Was Late will make you laugh and you will find more than once you can relate to his stories in a “yeah that happened to me” or “yeah I feel the same” kind of way. It was a true pleasure to get a firsthand glimpse into the mind of this master of satire. Keep writing Mr. Mehlman; we are waiting for more." --Jaime Martinetion, TheCelebrityCafe.com
Watch BLANK, winner of the LA Comedy Festival. Starring: Arianna Huffington, Malcolm Gladwell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Henry Waxman, Tom Wright, AJ Langer, and Peter Mehlman as Eugene Brusca. Based on an essay in Mandela Was Late, written and illustrated by Peter Mehlman, available in both original Color and less expensive B&W.
For more info, please see www.pmehlman.com
