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What Members Thought
I'd heard some of these stories on public radio and around the internet, and thought they were funny. And like, pretty much any one of these stories, if I'd seen them posted individually on McSweeney's, I'd probably "like" it or maybe even retweet it.
But when they're all put together, the overall effect is like, Okay, I GET it. I get it, you have an ironically reverent irreverance toward pop culture/politics/issues of import. I GET IT.
The audiobook might be more interesting because it's read by ...more
But when they're all put together, the overall effect is like, Okay, I GET it. I get it, you have an ironically reverent irreverance toward pop culture/politics/issues of import. I GET IT.
The audiobook might be more interesting because it's read by ...more
This was more of a 3.5. I listened to the audiobook and it was great for a few longer drives and weekly chores, so I bumped it up to 4. In print, frustration with the two-line, probably back-of-the-napkin jokes might have caused me to give up on the whole thing, but with audio, i moved along to the next fun part without having time to let my annoyance fester. These aren't deep stories, and they mostly fit in with Novak's projected image, but I appreciate that they were fiction, not just observat
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This book is really clever. It's not memoir, so don't expect Bossypants or Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me. The stories range in length from pretty long to almost one-liners. Some of them are thoughtful, and others are laugh-out-loud funny. He's a great writer, and he makes some astute observations wrapped in unique characters and weird (a blind date with a warlord) plotlines. In one story, John Grisham's latest book is published with the title The Something because his new editor didn't send
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To be honest, I went from LOVING THIS BOOK and finding it the most hilarious thing ever to not even finishing it because the schtick got a little bit old for me. As the old adage goes, it's not you, it's me. I just don't have the capacity for comedy writing that most people have, I don't enjoy stand up, etc. I really ate up all the audio version of stories read by B. J. Novak and Mindy Kaling on NPR and other sources, and as I said really enjoyed a lot of this book. I just got tired of it and ha
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While none of these stories are personal, I feel like I better understand BJ Novak. Each story seems a little like the premise for a bit, the beginning of a comedy sketch that pushes the boundaries. A comedy roast of Nelson Mandela, a kid who wins the prize in the cereal box and it messes with his family dynamic, an adorable story about the origins for the classic math train problem, a variation of the life after death story, and more. My favorite parts are the "discussion" questions that are sp
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I can't get Novak's "The Office" character out of my head while I read this. Most of the stories fit that character's dry and dark humor. But just like in "The Office" sometimes I liked him and sometimes I didn't. I liked his children's book "The book with no pictures" and heard him read this on NPR. I was a little disappointed.
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Jan 11, 2014
Melle
marked it as to-read
Mar 25, 2014
Marissa
marked it as to-read
Aug 02, 2014
Heather
marked it as to-read
Nov 04, 2014
Eunice
marked it as to-read
Dec 25, 2014
Megan
marked it as to-read
