When we arrived at the Algonquin Hotel last night, shortly before the reception for the annual Thurber Prize for American Humor, Larry Doyle and his wife were already in the lobby, chatting with his agent, Sarah Burnes, and we mentioned that unfortunately we would not be able to stay for the actual awards ceremony because of another commitment. Doyle advised, totally deadpan, we should stay to witness the scene he would create when he was passed over for the award by either of the other two nominees, Patricia Marx or Simon Rich. "It'll have been a conspiracy," he insisted preemptively. "Voter fraud!" we suggested.

Fortunately, that outburst never came to pass, as Doyle's novel, I Love You, Beth Cooper, was declared the winner of the 2008 Thurber Prize, which goes a long way towards sealing its reputation as the funniest book of the year. And it turns out that the novel, which began as a film treatment that wasn't going anywhere, has since found its way back to Hollywood, with Hayden Panettiere as the eponymous object of desire. (The film is scheduled for release in early 2009; we understand that the test screenings are already taking place.) Doyle, however, is happy to stay with his family back in Baltimore; during his years as a writer on The Simpsons, he recalled, he used to commute nearly an hour to work every morning—two hours if he took the freeway.

(photo: Scott Manning)