This Just In: ‘SNL’ Star Colin Jost Is Seriously Bookish

Goodreads: It takes you exactly one paragraph into your memoir before you declare your love for books. Tell us a bit about the role books and reading has played in your life.

Colin Jost: Reading was always a big part of my life, even beyond school. I loved learning about other places that weren’t my hometown and I was always drawn to a great story, the same way I’m drawn to a great hook in a song.

And even when I was young, I liked books that had something dark or grotesque about them, starting with Stephen King and eventually moving to Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Angela Carter, and Cormac McCarthy. Even the authors I thought were the funniest, like Kurt Vonnegut, Evelyn Waugh, and George Saunders, definitely wrote darker comedy. I was also drawn to authors who used history as a backdrop in their work, like Michael Crichton, Joseph Conrad, and Michael Shaara.

GR: Tell us about the experience of writing your memoir.

CJ: I started by jotting down topics or moments in my life that I knew I wanted to write about. I kept a big running file for a few years without worrying about how to organize it yet. Then I wrote most of the book over the past two summers, when I could wake up and write every morning (sometimes straight through until late in the evening).

I set a goal of 2,000 words a day and didn’t go back and start editing until I was done with the entire book. I wrote around 500 pages, then edited it down to 320.

GR: Are you at all concerned that titling your memoir A Very Punchable Face might not bode well for your book tour?

CJ: My parents are very concerned about someone actually punching me. They keep sending me “alternate titles” even though the book was sent to the printer months ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if they went from bookstore to bookstore crossing out the title and writing “A Nice Boy” instead.

GR: Are there any memoirs that helped inform your approach to writing your story?

CJ: I loved Tina Fey’s and Amy Poehler’s memoirs, so those were definitely on my mind, and David Spade’s from last year really made me laugh. I also reread Paul Auster’s memoir, The Invention of Solitude, and Barbarian Days by William Finnegan. And I’ve always loved David Sedaris, so I wanted each chapter in my book to stand alone as its own story the way his do.

GR: In your book, you talk about going to Harvard and majoring in the history and literature of Russia and Britain, adding, “Which really just means: ‘I read a bunch of books and learned that Stalin was maybe Not a Great Guy After All.’” Tell us about your love of Russian literature, and is it still a passion?

CJ: Russian literature will always have a place in my heart, even though I rarely have time now to sit and “casually” read a Dostoyevsky novel. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is still one of my favorite books of all time; I reread it every couple of years. And I wrote my senior thesis on Vladimir Nabokov, so I’d love to go back and read his books again 15 years later. (If my brain can still handle it.)
 
As for Stalin, there’s a fantastic book called Koba the Dread by Martin Amis with tons of wonderful and terrifying details about his time in power.

GR: What’s the secret to writing a great joke?

CJ: There’s no real secret, but if there were, I certainly wouldn’t share it with anyone.

GR: Of your SNL co-workers, who would you say is the most bookish? Ever find yourself discussing books with any other cast members?

CJ: Kate McKinnon loves books, and before she was on SNL, she was a ghostwriter for a number of YA fantasy series. Bill Hader would always come by my office with new book recommendations, too. He’s constantly discovering great books. The truth is, when we’re at work we don’t have a ton of time to sit around discussing literature, but when we all retire hundreds of years from now, maybe we’ll start a book club!

GR: Writing for SNL must require you to keep your finger on the pulse of the times. What would you say you’ve learned about the viewing audience during your career at the show? How has that changed your writing style?

CJ: I just want to point out that the phrase “the pulse of the times” doesn’t sound like it’s got its finger on the pulse of the times.
 
I’m always learning more about how to write for performers (which is its own peculiar skill), and I’ve learned to listen to performers because they often know what lines or ideas will “work” with an audience better than the writer does.

GR: You say that you’re mentally preparing to leave SNL in the near future. What would you like to be doing next?

CJ: Fingers crossed it’ll be time travel, but I need a couple of solid days off so I can finish the machine.

GR: What are you currently reading and recommending to friends?

CJ: I’ve been recommending The Son by Philipp Meyer (after reading about how much John Waters loved it) and The North Water by Ian McGuire (which is immediately gripping and unsettling). I also loved all of Jennifer Egan’s books, especially A Visit from the Goon Squad.
 
I just finished Zadie Smith’s excellent short-story collection Grand Union. I’m currently reading The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson and Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others (one of which was the basis for the film Arrival).

GR: Do you think you’d write another book? If so, what would be the topic?

CJ: I would love to write another memoir someday, but I need to live another memoir first. I’ve done a lot of research and planning for a fantasy book, but I need a real chunk of time to finish it. (Hence the time machine.)