A fugitive soda machine, the recovery of a chronic apathetic, a super hero who interviews for a job in a larger city, and the trial of the Cat in the Hat. Food as nuclear material, a black-mailing trick-or-treater, the last comedy club in America. "I'm Right Here, Fish-Cake" is full of the odd and the unexpected.

Imagine "The Far Side" in prose as matter-of-fact as James Thurber's and you have some idea what Jeffrey Shaffer's humor pieces are like. Shaffer employs his rich imagination to make the strangest situations and people seem just the way things are. He makes readers laugh as well as see things differently.

Shaffer's humor comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from monologues and stories to letters, personals, even play-by-play. The pieces are full of parody, satire, storytelling, farce, surprises and flights of fancy, with a touch of pathos added for good measure. And lots of smiles and laughs.

"Publishers Weekly" noted that this book was being published "in almost giddy defiance of all the humor trends in publishing." If you're tired of repetitive, predictable humor, Shaffer is the guy you've been looking for. Just like Catbird had been for years.

Jeffrey Shaffer is a sit-down humorist in Portland, OR. HIs humor has appeared in such places as "The New Yorker," "The Wall Street Journal," "The Christian Science Monitor," "Portland Oregonian," "Seattle Times," "Detroit Free Press," and "Baltimore Sun."

[T]he humorous essay is the free throw made just before the buzzer: If you sink it, you both score and win the game. If you don't, you begin to consider another career. Jeffrey Shaffer ... has a good record at the line in "I'm Right Here, Fish-Cake."
—Karen Karbo, Portland Oregonian

In this quirky collection of short humor pieces ... the reader is treated to a peek at life in a parallel universe. Satirizing every mode of communication and literary genre ... he zeroes in on the modern American psyche with laser accuracy and loving affection. Here is mind candy that's actually good for you, high in intellectual fiber but easy to digest. Devour it in one sitting, or ration it out and savor every bite-size nugget."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)