Reboot

David Crader, the washed-up former star of a short-lived but popular teen television show, struggles with alcohol addiction and is prone to drunken public outbursts. His relationship with his six-year-old son is marginal at best, and his second ex-wife wants nothing to do with him. David’s current job is voicing a popular character in an online game that boasts a large, somewhat toxic social media following, but things seem to be looking up when he is given the opportunity to reboot his early-aughts teen drama. His first ex-wife agrees to fund the revival, and David starts reassembling the cast. He seems to be making progress when his personal problems, climate change, conspiracy theories, and a giant sinkhole send the plans into a tailspin. Taylor (Riding with the Ghost) presents the story as a faux memoir ghostwritten by one of the characters in the story. He introduces the concept of speculative nonfiction (similar to “alternative facts”) as a means of resolving many of the story’s conflicts. Taylor narrates his own work, nailing the comedic timing and voicing the quirky, insightful, and very funny characters with sincerity.