The Naked Storyteller, Thomas’s second novel, is an intelligent romantic comedy about a flabby, frustrated teacher who sledgehammers his way to love and happiness. Harry Tyke is a 52-year-old, divorced grade six teacher who has resigned himself to the wrong career, the wrong home, the wrong life. Dubbed “Beast” by his students because of his size and frumpy appearance, Harry begrudgingly attends a teachers’ conference where he unexpectedly ends up in a storytelling workshop taught by a smart, sexy ex-teacher named Olga. Olga’s workshop––along with her red, high-heeled shoes––awakens Harry’s long-dead romantic side and hurls him into stories from his past, including his decision to give up on his dream of being a novelist to please his parents, a decision this classroom-weary teacher can no longer live with as he sags into his fifties. Through this unlikely leading man, Thomas brilliantly pokes fun at contemporary ideas of what makes a happy and productive life and questions the mindless use of technology in the lives of children.