Okay, hey everybody, how you doing? Welcome to The Other People Show. My name is Brad Listy, and I'm here in Los Angeles, California. I have Sam Talent on the program today. He has a novel out called Running the Light. It is on Too Big to Fail Press, and maybe you've heard of it.

There's some buzz out there about this book, especially in the comedy community.

Running the Light is about a ruined human being, a comedian named Billy Ray Schaefer.

He's a lifer, he's a road dog, he's got a checkered past. And the story takes place over seven days,

and it wrecked me. This is a very good novel, and it hit me harder than I thought it was going to hit me.

I think whenever I pick up a book, I'm always hoping that it's going to, you know, do something major to me, but I try not to get my hopes up.

And with this one, I was a little bit tempered.

Maybe there was a part of me.

I don't know.

I was just tempered.

And then I read it and I couldn't put it down and it knocked me over the head.

It's a terrific novel. Doug Stanhope, the comedian, calls Running the Light quote, one of the best books I've read ever.

The best fictional representation of comedy in any medium.

Running the Light has sold 15,000 copies or close to it, right out of Sam Talent's garage.

This is his press. He published the book.

It's very rare for me to talk to somebody who is self-published.

It's an arbitrary designation, but I have to have markers when I'm trying to book the show.

And typically I'll talk to somebody who self-publishes only if their book has found a readership of unusual size like this one,

or is generating excitement and interest in a way that feels strange.

And this is certainly the case for this book.

And I can see why.

And I'm excited to introduce Sam to you. If you've never heard of him before,

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