TOWN OF MANLIUS – A Manlius author has recently released a book tailored to both hopeless and hopeful romantics.
“A Sense of Humor,” written a decade ago by Paul Devito, is now seeing the light of day thanks to the independent, London-based firm Olympia Publishers.
Boasting a Claude Monet painting on its cover, the work of fiction is not full of one-liners as the title may suggest, but it does touch on the balance of humor and depression to show the highs and lows of moods, said the author.
Penned steadily and entirely at a Starbucks coffee shop over the course of three years, this 16th book of his is claimed to be the last he will have written for the foreseeable future, though his penultimate effort is next up for release.
“It’s a short book, but it took a long time,” said Devito, now 65. “I put a lot of care into it.”
Like his previous works, “A Sense of Humor” falls into the category of romance, a subject he said has long been at the forefront of his life.
Its 128 pages bring the reader into the thick of a “tricky” love triangle between a graduate student, a woman he’s seeing and the blonde head of the Modern English department he’s fallen for.
Devito said the book sprinkles bits of philosophy and religious theory into its “fast-paced” prose but that it also brings up such subjects as burnout, seminar room anxiety, the concept of “language in motion,” and the writings of Virginia Woolf.
Inspired by Devito’s time as a student, teaching assistant and professor at local colleges, not to mention his various travels inside and outside the country since the age of four, “A Sense of Humor” is anchored in dialogue and “perceptive” characters who stand up for themselves when challenged.
Having grown opposed to “stuffy” books while studying literature at Syracuse University, where he later instructed in the company of writers like Raymond Carver and Tobias Wolff, Devito said his latest release is a “fun” and strategically worded read.
The paperback novel can be purchased on Amazon, but since it will be arriving from England, delivery may take a week or longer rather than two days.