Nobody Asked for This by Georgia Toews
Canadian | CBC Books | | Posted: February 13, 2025 1:31 PM | Last Updated: February 13
An aspiring comedian painstakingly comes to understand that not all experiences can be turned into comedy
Virginia is twenty-three and a stand-up comedian. In between working the rounds of Toronto's small comedy club circuit and auditioning for paper towel commercials, she is tiptoeing around her depressed roommate and childhood friend, Haley, and having biweekly dinners with her bereaved stepdad, Dale, while trying to manage her own grief at the loss of her mother. She is also secretly working to get the green card that will be her ticket to L.A. and, she hopes, a glittering comedy career.
But when Dale tells her that he wants to sell their family home, and when a date with a fellow comic turns into a shattering encounter, she is forced to confront the limits of comedy — and friendship. Not every experience can be neatly packaged into a "bit," and not every friendship is meant to last.
By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Nobody Asked for This reaches into the messy depths of love, friendship, grief and trauma and, like all the best jokes, is utterly unpredictable.
But when Dale tells her that he wants to sell their family home, and when a date with a fellow comic turns into a shattering encounter, she is forced to confront the limits of comedy — and friendship. Not every experience can be neatly packaged into a "bit," and not every friendship is meant to last.
By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Nobody Asked for This reaches into the messy depths of love, friendship, grief and trauma and, like all the best jokes, is utterly unpredictable.
(From Doubleday Canada)
Nobody Asked for This is available in March 2025.
Georgia Toews is a Toronto-based film, television and fiction writer. Toews' previous work include her debut novel Hey, Good Luck Out There.