Novelist and creative nonfiction writer Jonathan Ames is no stranger to television—he is a recurring guest on The Late Show With David Letterman—but on Tuesday, Showtime will air the author's long-awaited pilot, "What's Not to Love," based on his essay collection of the same title, published by Crown in 2000. Unfortunately, that's as much as anyone will see of Ames's work on the cable network. Although Showtime commissioned the adaptatiion, which was completed by Ames himself, the pilot was not developed as a series. On its Web site, Showtime describes "What's Not to Love" as an "original adaptation about the sexual peccadilloes of the writer (playing himself) as he experiences masculinity first hand and lives to write about it. Based on Ames's inflammatory, exquisitely worded, and often tastelessly brilliant columns for the New York Press." It can be seen tomorrow at 11:30 PM.
Ames is author of the novels I Pass Like Night (William Morrow, 1989), The Extra Man (Scribner, 1998), and Wake Up, Sir! (Scribner, 2004) and the essay collections My Less Than Secret Life (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2002) and I Love You More Than You Know (Black Cat, 2006). His next book, the graphic novel The Alcoholic, will be published next year by DC Comics.
