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"NNNNN: A Novel" by Carl Reiner; Simon & Schuster ($21)
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If Carl Reiner were known only for creating, writing and producing "The Dick Van Dyke Show," he still would have secured his place in the American pantheon of comedic giants.
The father of actor-turned-filmmaker Rob Reiner has also directed movies ("The Jerk"), acted ("Ocean's Twelve") and written numerous books, from semi-autobiographical novels to children's stories. With "NNNNN," he returns to the world of novels with a mischievous, often intriguing tale of a writer whose alarming tendency to talk to himself puts him on a globe-trotting trail of self-discovery.
Like many sitcoms that try to resolve things in less than a half-hour, "NNNNN" attempts to wrap up a highly implausible story into a tidy little 205-page package. Less an Escher drawing than a bundle of clever, incompatible ideas, "NNNNN" aspires to work as a mystery, a family drama, a comedic tale and a statement about race, marriage, fidelity and overuse of the word "schmucko." But what Reiner has written is a lightweight novel as memorable as a marathon session of TV Land. It's a breezy read that is non-fattening but lacking any real nutritional value.
Reiner's first novel in more than a decade tells the knotted tale of Nat Noland, a semi-successful novelist reinventing the story of Cain and Abel - with the older sibling more interested in hooking up with a dusky beauty than killing his brother. This is his fifth novel, so Noland gives it the five-lettered working title of "NNNNN."
As Noland struggles with the book, he realizes that he is increasingly chatting, even arguing, aloud to himself in a variety of voices. He seeks the professional help of Dr. Frucht, a Viennese psychiatrist who resembles a kiwi.
Faster than you can trip over an ottoman, Nolan stumbles upon Gertrude Trampleasure, an attractive "empathologist" whose office is across the hall from Frucht's. When she tells him that he bears a striking resemblance to a former lover - that the men could be twins - she sets Noland off on a journey that turns more unbelievable with every page.
Noland, who was adopted as an infant, finds Gelliar Grimshade, the head of the agency, who knows the secret of the writers' origins. Grimshade also reveals the reason why someone out there is the spitting image of Noland, which, while upping the intrigue, is beyond hard to swallow.
Reiner's writing voice has the same old-school comedic tone as his work on Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows" in the 1950s and "The Dick Van Dyke Show" in the '60s. The jokes are broad, and his love of alliteration informs the names of half of the characters in the book. At times, such as when Noland begins a one-man dialogue, "NNNNN" works less as a novel than a transcript for a weathered comedy routine from the Golden Age of television.
With a book built on a family secret worthy of an episode of "Dateline NBC," Reiner might want to pare down some of Noland's unconvincing chatter. Note to Reiner, who is 83: Noland is in his early 40s, but the only people who use the word "sexy" in place of "sexual" - such as in "there's too much sexy stuff in movies" - were most likely alive when FDR was still president. And did Reiner have to slip in a reference to "When Harry Met Sally?" - one of his son's films?
"NNNNN" has its moments, striking the same tone as many of his better-known efforts in TV and film. But rest assured, there are not enough N's in the title to represent every nit worth picking from Reiner's novel.
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(c) 2006, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.). Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.
