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Using Yelp reviews to write the Great American Novel

Using Yelp reviews to write the Great American Novel

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Comedian tells divorcee's story through restaurant recommendations

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Sometimes, all you need to become famous on the internet is to use it in a way that was never intended. That's how comedian Gregg Gethard has been slowly attracting attention, with the literary novel he is writing in Yelp reviews.

nostalgic monologues as conventional reviews

Earlier this year, Gethard began crafting wistful, first-person reviews under the name of Karl G. His first entry touched briefly on Karl's meeting with his ex-wife in a bar called Ugly Moose, before seguing into an actual appraisal of the location. "I would recommend The Ugly Moose to anyone looking to navigate the separated-to-divorce aspect of their married life," Gethard-as-Karl writes.

His entries have since grown in size and complexity. In July, he penned one of his longest submissions: a nostalgic monologue about a failed marriage masquerading as a conventional review of a florist. Whether this is Gethard's attempt at another fifteen minutes of fame — he was once a contestant on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? — or just a cheeky response to frustrations about novel-length Yelp reviews, his write-ups remain both unusual and strangely appealing.