Part of the appeal of actor and comedian Patton Oswalt’s standup comedy routine is his ability to wring every last possible laugh out of a premise, turning an amusing two-minute stint into a hilarious and highly quotable 10 minutes.

This is why it is so surprising that his first book, Zombie Spaceship Wasteland, is such a slender volume. Perhaps the answer can be found in the chapter where he describes the appeal of standup comedy versus a career as a novelist. “Five thousand words a day seemed silly, when I could bring a room full of drunks together with 15 perfectly chosen words, says the comedian who is better known for his role on the HBO comedy United States of Tara.

There are more than a few perfectly chosen words in Zombie Spaceship Wasteland. It isn’t exactly a laugh a minute, but the good news is: it isn’t supposed to be. Instead of taking the easy route and simply putting his act in book form, as many comedians too often do, Oswalt clearly understands the medium he is working in and takes full advantage of it.

His love of descriptive, detailed language that has served him so well in his comedy career makes for compelling reading, especially in the more autobiographical parts of the book. Early on, he paints a vivid picture of the Virginia suburban wasteland where he grew up, a place where his idea of excitement was petty larceny to pay for booze to stave off boredom while working at the local multiplex.

The characterizations of his co-workers are keenly observed and detailed. And in the midst of this sad, little Cineplex, you get a very real sense of the kind of claustrophobic boredom that begs for escape in books, music and movies. There is also a fascinating character study of an eccentric uncle who once electrified him with a spontaneous reading of Poe’s The Raven, and his description of his first headlining tour stop in Surrey, B.C. is as painful as it is morbidly funny.

There are little breaks into free-form comedy, almost as if to cleanse the palate before you dig deep into another pocket of Oswalt’s life. A personal highlight is an epic poem dedicated to his favourite Dungeons and Dragons character, Ulvaak, who withstood many monsters and demons, only to be defeated by his creator’s burgeoning interest in girls.

There is also a funny little chapter about bizarre wines and a series of absurd punch-up notes for an imaginary screenplay. By and large however, you’ll see only flashes of Oswalt’s standup style — his description of someone looking like the human equivalent of a punch in the face comes to mind — but I think that’s probably a good thing. Despite his protestations to the contrary, the strength of the writing and insightful characters make me think Oswalt does, in fact, have a really good novel in him somewhere, and Zombie, Spaceship Wasteland is not a bad way to pass the time until he writes it.