One hundred pages into “Clothing Optional,” the new book by “Saturday Night Live” writer alum Alan Zweibel, the author bravely reveals that he is the writer of “North,” a book made into one of the most critically panned films ever made, for which Zweibel also wrote the script. Released in 1994 and directed by Rob Reiner, the film tells the story of a boy who, having decided he no longer likes his parents, sets out in search of new ones. (Damn you, Alan Zweibel, I want my $6.50 back!) In an essay entitled “My Daughter Lindsay,” Zweibel discusses the scathing criticism he received:

“Recently, I got hurt. No, allow me to revise that. Recently, I got destroyed. Beaten to a pulp. Hammered. Nailed. Kicked in the groin. The stomach. The face. Chewed up. Spit out. And left for dead.”

He goes on to explain how his daughter wants to be a writer, and how he won’t discourage her, despite how hard it is to see something you’ve created with the best of intentions get torn apart. Zweibel also uses it as an opportunity to tell his side, how he thought he had done a good job writing “North,” and the depression that set in when everyone, even family members and his rabbi, told him it stunk.

“Clothing Optional” contains several personal essays like this, including the title one, about Zweibel’s delight at being assigned the job of writing about a nudist colony, as well as a touching piece about his relationship with SNL producer Herb Sargent, who took him under his wing, and Zweibel’s regret at not having a chance to tell Sargent how much he meant to him before he died.

There are also many made-up pieces, with a couple that fall in the gray area of true tales with exaggerations. Many of the bits are written in dialogue or script form, making them quick reads. There’s “Mrs. Glickman’s Deposition,” about an elderly woman who goes to court after a car accident impairs her sex life, and the amusing “Can I Have a Million Dollars?” where a guy explains to his multimillionaire friend how he needs to give him money in order to salvage their friendship.

While the personal essays are interesting and there are a few chuckles, “Clothing Optional” is itself like a “Saturday Night Live” skit: the humor in most of them falls flat, a couple are mildly entertaining and a few make you scratch your head. Then there’s the one that everybody talks about around the water cooler the next day. In this case, it’s the essay titled “I Saw Your Mother’s Ass,” in which a man explains to his wife his horror at seeing her mother naked. His wife figures her mother must have been embarrassed that he walked in on her in the bathroom, but he tells her that he wasn’t spotted.

“How’s it possible that you walk in on someone in the bathroom and they don’t see you?”
“Because she wasn’t in the bathroom.”
“But you just said…”
“I said that I was on my way to the bathroom.”
“Oh…”
“And I passed the gym, innocently looked in, and saw your mother on my stationary bike.”
“Naked?”
“Like a seventy-seven-year-old jaybird.”

Despite Zweibel’s sensitivity to criticism, he has opened himself up by releasing another book, and it must be said that “Clothing Optional” is tepid fare at best, though “I Saw Your Mother’s Ass” is a story sure to be passed around for years to come. It’s almost good enough to make one forget “North.”