August 30, 2022, 1:30pm
Saturday Night Live recently solicited recommendations for hosts, via the show’s Twitter. Whether this was a genuine request or a bid for engagement is anyone’s guess—I’m going with the engagement because I have no joy in my heart—but regardless of intent, I do have some thoughts. It should obviously be a writer, because if DOJ v. PRH taught us anything, it’s that everyone cares about writers (except Jonathan Karp). But which writer? Some thoughts:
Joyce Carol Oates. Not only is she an extremely prolific author who was once name-checked on Sex and the City, JCO can set off a Twitter discourse like no one else. (Skeletons! Autofiction! FOOT!) I don’t agree with everything she says, but I have no doubt that she would be top-notch TV.
Ottessa Moshfegh. She’s already a model, plus she’s controversial, plus she’d definitely say some soundbite-worthy shit in her monologue.
Amanda Gorman. She’s young, telegenic, and arguably the most famous poet in the country. This is a gimme.
Paul Beatty. The Sellout is simply one of the funniest novels of the past century. The SNL writers’ room might not know what to do with Beatty’s caliber of humor, but if they could figure it out, the results would be brilliant. (Or disastrous, but in a brilliant way.)
Deborah Eisenberg. She was a delight on Search Party!
Brit Bennett. In addition to having written two bestselling novels and having a cameo on Insecure to her name, Bennett recently manifested the dream job of countless millennial children (or at least the one writing this list)—American Girl book author. Her power…
Maia Kobabe. Maia Kobabe’s graphic memoir Gender Queer is being banned in schools and libraries across the country. Let’s give them as many platforms as we possibly can.
Joy Williams. She provided her responses to a Lit Hub Questionnaire via typewriter, and I think that’s exactly the energy SNL needs.
Colleen Hoover. This one is purely realistic—this week, three of the top five spots on the New York Times best-seller lists were occupied by Hoover’s books. She’s a phenomenon, and if there’s one thing SNL responds to, it’s a phenomenon.
Jonathan Franzen. Duh.