The Man Who Cancelled Himself

By David Handler

A witty amateur sleuth deals with a disgraced sitcom star and a deadly mystery: “Great fun” (Publishers Weekly).
 Lyle Hednut, known to America as Uncle Chubby, has been the top draw in television comedy for three seasons straight. He is three hundred pounds of good humor and wholesome charm, beloved by children and adults alike until the day the police find him enjoying the show at the wrong kind of movie theater in Times Square. The arrest destroys his image, but his sitcom is too popular for the network to shut down. About to start production on the fourth season, he decides to tell his side of the story, and hires Stewart Hoag—failed novelist and ghostwriter for the disgraced—to do the writing. Hoagy quickly sees that Uncle Chubby’s cheer is no more than an act. The comedy icon is thin-skinned, irrational, and prone to rage. With a man like that in charge of a TV show, it won’t be long before comedy violence turns into the real thing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MysteriousPress.com Open Road
• Release date: Jun 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781453259733

David Handler

David Handler was born and raised in Los Angeles. He began his career in New York as a journalist, and has since written thirteen novels about the witty and dapper celebrity ghostwriter Stewart Hoag, including the Edgar and American Mystery Award-winning The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald and the newest entry The Man in the White Linen Suit. David's short stories have earned him a Derringer Award nomination and other honours. He was a member of the original writing staff that created the Emmy Award-winning sitcom Kate and Allie and has continued to write extensively for television and films. He lives in a 200-year-old carriage house in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

Book preview

Reviews for The Man Who Cancelled Himself

[ecw0647 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

David Handler has written a series of Stewart Hoag mysteries in which Hoag is a ghost writer hired to collaborate on the autobiography of an individual. During the course of research and interaction with the subject he discovers a mystery which he then proceeds to solve (of course.) Hoag has been hired to work with Lyle Hugnut, star of the Uncle Chubby show (the puns just roll all over the place.) Lyle has been caught with his pants down in an adult theater and the network wants to cancel his show. His girl friend, Katrina, (well, never mind, I was about to make a joke about Hooters, but we'll skip that.) Soon weird things are happening on the set and the network sends "God" (Godfrey) to straighten things out, but actors get sick, one of the characters is killed, electrocuted while peeing into a urinal, and it looks like someone is out to get the Uncle Chubby show cancelled. Lots of puns and funny characters. Don't take it seriously; just enjoy the ride. I hope Handler's others are equally enjoyable.

I listened to this one on audio (Audible.com,) delightfully read by Tom Stechschulte, one of my favorite readers.