Patton Oswalt Commemorates The Publication Of His Late Wife’s New Book With A Touching Tribute

Patton Oswalt may have helped drum up the internet’s anticipation for Jennifer Lawrence’s fantastic interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday, but the award-winning Netflix comedian was also there to talk about something special. Specifically, the publication written by his late wife, true crime author Michelle McNamara: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer (which is now available on Amazon and wherever books are sold). Oswalt previously spoke to CBS’s 48 Hours program about the forthcoming study, and now it’s here.

Tuesday morning, the since-remarried comic shared a touching tribute to McNamara and her work on Twitter. “You did it, baby,” he wrote. “The book is excellent, the writing brilliant. You tried to bring kindness to chaos, which was your way.” Along with the loving commemoration, Oswalt also included a picture of a copy of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark resting atop McNamara’s grave.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly about the process of finishing McNamara’s book, Oswalt said the year he spent “[immersing] himself in her space” was “painfully blur,” but added that he had vowed he was “going to get this book done”:

Reflecting on that unimaginably difficult time, Oswalt apologizes repeatedly for having no specifics to draw on, only that he started “sending emails,” “making calls,” and encouraging all involved to “get this done.” He does remember being nervous about getting the book right, however. “Absolutely, yeah,” he says when asked. “It was her book and it’s an amazing book. I wanted to do right by her.”

When discussing the book with Colbert on Monday, Oswalt gave thanks to McNamara’s researcher Paul Haynes and the journalist Billy Jensen, both of whom “volunteered their time” to help him complete the book. “It creates this weird sensation of feeling like somebody could actually solve this,” he said of the unsolved serial killer case his late wife was investigating. “[The Golden State Killer is] the worst uncaught serial killer in California history, and I think she got very, very close to capturing him.”

(Via Patton Oswalt on Twitter and Entertainment Weekly)