Judges for the Thurber Prize, “the nation’s highest recognition of the art of humor writing,” announced their shortlist for this year’s award—especially notable, perhaps, in that all three finalists are regular contributors to The New Yorker. First there’s Larry Doyle, for the ‘high school flashback novel I Love You, Beth Cooper, then Patricia Marx and her novel Him Her Him Again The End of Him, and finally Simon Rich, whose collection Ant Farm actually includes several short pieces published in the magazine.
By the way, though the headline is technically correct, Marx is best known to New Yorker readers for her “On and Off the Avenue” articles on shopping—she hasn’t had a humor piece in the magazine since 2005’s “Audio Tour.” Doyle’s last contribution was back in May of this year, while Rich turned up earlier this month.