A fan of my blog recently told me how boring she thinks it is when I talk about other people’s work, so I’m not going to say one single word about my brilliant former teacher, Lynda Barry. Instead I’ll just post one of my favorite comics of hers.

Lynda Barry…. an inspiration.

This a new feature of the Julie Klam Blog. Novel, right? I thought of it the other day when I was asked by an interviewer who my influences were and I drew a complete blank. “Uh… like uh… smoked turkey or something?”

I’m always a little leery of talking about anyone who has blurbed my book because then everyone says, “Oh right, they’re friends, that’s why he/she did it.” I did meet Mr. Rakoff one time, he was brilliant, hilarious and kind while I was doofy and tongue-tied making jokes that fell flat. That’s what happens to me in the presence of genius. I start trying to show my worthiness and end up looking like a schmuck.

David Rakoff, who in his wiki-pedia entry is described as a “Canadian Jew,” is the author of Fraud and Don’t Get Too Comfortable and a frequent contributor to This American Life . I am not overstating it when I say I believe he is the funniest person in funny today. Funnier than any other writer. Funnier than any other David.

When I first started reading Fraud, I panicked because it was the only David Rakoff book around and it wasn’t that long and when it was over, I’d have no more David Rakoff to read. So I parsed it out to two pages a night, like a special flourless chocolate cake. And then I read it again and again and everything that made me laugh the first time cracked me up again on a totally new level (working under the assumption that there are seven levels of jocularity) and I would read parts out loud to an individual who had been looking forward to reading it to himself and was not appreciative of my constant onslault of spoilers.

So there it is. Except one more thing; David Rakoff looks a lot like the British singer Robbie Williams.

David Rakoff….. an inspiration.