The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Sittenfeld, Curtis. Romantic Comedy. Random House, 2023.

Romantic Comedy is a romance novel set in both New York City and Kansas City, Missouri. It is set in the years 2018, 2020, and 2023, and it explores the romantic and internal life of the protagonist, Sally Minz. The first and third chapters are told from the first person perspective of Sally while the middle chapter is told in the form of emails between Sally and her love interest, Noah.

The novel starts as Sally Milz awakens in 2018 to find that her coworker, Danny Horst, on the late night comedy show, The Night Owl (TNO), has begun a relationship with a celebrity, Annabel Lily. This upsets Sally because she does not believe that a male celebrity would date a less attractive woman, and she does not believe that Danny is worthy of Annabel. The novel moves forward a few months to when Noah Brewster, a musician, appears on TNO. Sally believes that he may be unintelligent and that he likely is vain and self-absorbed.

The cast at TNO work many hours, including overnight, in the days before a live episode is set to air. Sally, a writer for TNO, pitches numerous sketches for the episode featuring Noah. One of these is called The Danny Horst Rule, and it satirizes this belief of hers that famous women are attracted to less attractive men, but the same does not hold true for famous men. She names it this because of Danny’s relationship with Annabel. She also creates two other sketches, and all three are selected to be on the show. She wants Noah to play Danny Horst, but he believes sketches are funnier if the host makes fun of himself. Noah later comes to Sally’s office and asks her to help him with a sketch he has been writing. She is impressed with his skills.

Sally continues to spend time with Noah as well as with coworkers Danny, Viv, and Henrietta. The latter three are her closest friends on the set. When she watches Noah practice, she thinks it seems like he is serenading her, but she does not believe this could be possible. The show airs, and Noah and Sally speak at the after after party. They get along well, but when Sally believes Noah may be about to kiss her, she insults him so that he will go away. She does not want anyone to see her kissing Noah.

The novel flash forwards two years to 2020, and the entire middle chapter consists of emails sent between Noah and Sally during the lockdown portion of the pandemic. He initiates the email exchanges, and the two have not spoken since the after party. They each reveal intimate details about their lives. Noah tells Sally about an accident that took the life of one of his bandmates, and he talks about his unhappy childhood. Sally tells Noah about her father who died when she was a child, and she explains how her ex-husband never thought she had potential as a writer. Noah asks her if they can speak on the phone.

The novel then continues on in prose again from the first person point of view of Sally as Sally is on her way to visit Noah in California. She is nervous about their encounter and does not know what it means. She stops shortly before arriving at his house to change her clothes and freshen up. When she arrives, she wonders why he does not kiss her right away, but the two hug. Later, she leans in and kisses him. They kiss for a bit, but then he pulls away. This happens again, and he explains that he does not want to spook her. She tells him that it is okay, and they have sex numerous times.

For the first couple of nights, Sally sneaks away to use the bathroom in a far off guest bathroom and then spends the rest of the night in a guest bedroom. Eventually she feels comfortable enough to spend the whole night in Noah’s bed. She does not know what to make of their relationship. Sally gets spooked when paparazzi take her photo because Noah drops her hand, and she thinks this means he is embarrassed by her which is not the case. When Noah offers her an office and wants her to move in with him, she gets upset because it would require her to give up her whole life and identity. She goes to a hotel to get some space. While at the hotel, Noah texts her without pressuring her. She wants to stay with him in California, but she is unsure.

She gets a text from her aunt saying Jerry, her octogenarian stepfather, has Covid and is very sick. She tells Noah, and he charters a private jet and accompanies her to Missouri. He also has his assistant get a concierge doctor to go to Jerry’s home and check on him. When they get to Jerry’s house, he is covered in feces and is very ill. Noah helps Sally care for him, and he bathes the man. Noah also goes to Target for some supplies, and Sally asks him if he knows how to shop at Target.

Jerry recovers slowly, and during this time, Sally realizes that he is a real person just like she is. She agrees to be his girlfriend. Eventually when Jerry is better, the two move to California, and Sally begins work on a screenplay that eventually is produced in part by Nigel, the creator of TNO. Sally and Noah get married, and Jerry eventually moves in with them on their Californian estate. Sally says she will try to be okay with Noah’s career overshadowing hers and with Internet trolls criticizing her. She also tells Noah that she will not push him away when she feels insecure.