It gets better, and better, and better, and better

Starting off this book, I said "oh noooooo" to myself. The Tortoise and the Hare has been done, it's not clever, every essayist has re-done that story. Novak's version wasn't great, I was dreading the rest of this book. Then he surprised me. The stories not only got better, they kept getting better. I loved this book.

Novak's stories are full of just really smart humor. It is a glimpse into the mind of a super observant guy who then has the talent to turn his observations into approachable, clever, and funny stories. I don't think I've ever used the word poignant before, but many of these stories are. They are deep and thoughtful while being witty and modern. I found myself thinking about several of the stories and telling people about them. His stories about John Grisham and Elvis (both fictional) were just awesome, and I also really loved "Missed Connection," "Outran the Rain," and "Confucius."

It's not just that the stories are great. They rhythm of the stories are masterful. There's no tedium or predictability that often come with essays or short story collections. The order they are put in allows the reader (listener) to laugh out loud, and be surprised, and look forward to the next story, and wish for more--it was really smartly done.

I know us "listeners" of books are in the minority, but in this case, we win the prize. The narration of this book makes it just that much better. Mindy Kaling, Rain Wilson, and Jenna Fischer are such a treat, and Novak's narration brings the stories to life even more.

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Quirky Bursts of Humor

One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories is a collection of 60+ short stories, some just a line or two and some that you can really sink your teeth into. Novak is a stand up comic and performed these stories in front of an audience while he was working on the book. These stories are smart, literary pieces that showcase Novak’s quirky sense of humor. Novak definitely has some writing chops, and his stories are observant, clever, intellectual, and whimsical. There’s a range of stories and moods that keep you on your toes and entertained. Novak’s humor is offbeat and surprising and his stories thought provoking. There are even some discussion questions at the end of the book that made me laugh.

The book starts off with a story about a rematch between The Tortoise and The Hare that kicks off the book on a high note. I also really liked Missed Connection, No One Goes to Heaven to See Dan Fogelberg, and Julie and The Warlord. His humor is daring and bold, as you can also see in stories like The Comedy Central Roast of Nelson Mandela.

Though these stories are smart, witty and thoughtful, Novak makes them accessible. There’s something for everyone in these stories, and the short story format makes it easy to fit in whether you have time to read a little or a lot.

B.J. Novak performs most of the narration of this almost 7-hour audiobook. The stories lend themselves well to audio especially considering Novak perfected these stories before a live audience in the first place. His comic timing, energy and tone brought the stories to life and I think he was the best person to narrate this collection. Novak performs probably about 90% of the book, and there are some celebrity friends that also join in the fun. Mindy Kaling, Jenna Fischer, Emma Thompson, and Rainn Wilson perform some of the stories and made the book even more special. I don’t think I recognized Katy Perry’s voice in the book so I’ll have to go back and listen to her performances. There are audiobook credits at the end of the book so you can find out who reads each story.

The humor in One More Thing is fresh and different. It wasn’t haha lol funny for me personally, but more on the clever and insightful side. Keep in mind the humor is on the adult side – I don’t want you to be surprised by any choice words if you’re listening with any young and impressionable ones. On that note, B.J. Novak also has a children’s book coming out this fall called The Book with No Pictures.

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Creative, original, funny

I really, really enjoyed this book. It’s a collection of short stories (some very short) that really shows off B.J. Novak’s talents. He’s creative, original, funny, and a good writer. The audiobook version was especially enjoyable, featuring Novak himself reading most of the stories, along with fellow “The Office” cast members Jena Fisher, Mandy Kayling, and more.

My three-star rating is probably more of a three-and-a-half. The reason I don’t rate it higher is the inconsistency of the stories. Some just completely fell flat for me -- maybe because I wasn’t listening on the same plane as he was writing, and thus not really his fault. ☺

Fortunately, the flat stories are among the shortest, and it’s never very long to the next creative gem.

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Rollercoaster

Some of these stories were fantastic--clever, relatable, hilarious. Some fell flat and should've been shelved. I'd recommend it for a light thrill ride when you hit the good ones. Narration was excellent across the board.

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Vulgarity for its own sake

Some of the stories were interesting and had decent messages. Others were really obscure and inappropriate. I don't understand why people feel like they have to use the f word for impact. It's bad writing. And it really just doesn't make sense: bad language only deters certain readers/listeners. I doubt any significant number of people dislike a book because it wasn't jam packed with four-letter words.

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On Fleek

Any additional comments?

I'm typically not a fan of collections of short stories. I feel this way largely because I almost always think the story ends right when it is getting to the good part which is irritating. Then while I am irritated that the story is over, I am required to think about something completely different when the new stories starts. I have an irrational resentment of this micromanagement of how I enjoy creative minds. So, I typically do not read or listen to short stories. BUT, B.J. Novak's book does not suffer from this problem. Stories are full, flushed, and funny. Definitely, give this a try, and laugh at the ridiculous outrage and twists of fate to which you are introduced.

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Skip the print - go for the audiobook

Would you consider the audio edition of One More Thing to be better than the print version?

Absolutely

What did you like best about this story?

The variety of stories and variety of delivery due to the number of narrators.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

These stories were written to be read aloud, and these actors do a great job.

If you could take any character from One More Thing out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Sophia. You have to listen to understand.

Any additional comments?

I have listened to this three times now, and will probably listen many more.

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And now for something completely different

I have to say, i was extremely sceptic when i started listening. when i was listening to the first few stories, the main impression was - come on - Alice Munro writes great literary short stories, The Curious case of Benjamin Button, is a brillian Novella, and F.S.F wrote more of those, why am i wasting my time on something that sounds like materials for a really funny, but still, at most a comic TV series?

When i reached a story about a dating war lord and a story about John Grisham, i started laughing out loud, and got other people to listen in with me.
As of the Artifical intelligence story, i started truely appreciating the writing (for more than some short sketch writing).

So for sceptic literature lovers - this is not F.S.F, or Alice Munro, or Raymond Carver, it's different, completely different.
Contemporary, i would say :-)
Touching, relevant, talks to the reader.
Most importantly - despite my reservations, i truely enjoyed the listen. (as the previous reviewer said, there's also a benfit of a brilliant performance, feels like it was written for an audio recording).

on a side note, the 3rd story - "no one goes to heaven to meet...." reminded me of a book i read by an Israeli Author - "The World of the End".

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Hilarious and Sometimes Emotionally Painful

Would you listen to One More Thing again? Why?

I plan on listening to it again. There's a lot I may have missed the first time around and I think the messages in many of the stories will be more poignant depending on where the reader/listener is in their life.

Who was your favorite character and why?

This is a collection of short stories so there are many characters. I'd say that the writer/narrator is my favorite character because they are all extensions of him.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is his first novel and he does a great job!

If you could take any character from One More Thing out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Can I skip picking one of a multitude of random characters and just take B.J. Novak to dinner?

Any additional comments?

It was a little difficult to get used to the format but I got over that quickly. This is a collection of interesting, funny and often poignant short stories. Some are just for fun and most ask some interesting philosophical questions. I recommend the audiobook version specifically because the author is the narrator and the collection of actors who read for it are fantastic. It's kind of like a radio play and I loved it. Definitely entertaining and worth a listen.

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Incredible

Would you consider the audio edition of One More Thing to be better than the print version?

I don't have the print version. But hearing Ryan read it is the best.

What was one of the most memorable moments of One More Thing?

There are some stories that were stunningly good/evocative, and I brought a friend over to listen to them while we made breakfast. She loved them too. There are several stories in the 60+ (some are only a minute long and are sort of a stand-up bit, but many are plenty long) that are beyond excellent; many more that are excellent; and a few that are merely very good.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Nope.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I wanted to stretch it out. It's got a density to it, and I don't mean density where you have to dissect it like a text in a fourth-year English class. I mean I need to pause it after the story is done in order to process and think about the implications it raised, or the disruption it caused in my head.

Any additional comments?

This is the best book of short stories I've ever read, and that's from someone with a literature degree who has read a number of anthologies. Highly, highly recommend.

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