One More Thing: Stories & Other Stories

One More Thing: Stories & Other Stories
by B.J. Novak, 276 pages

I'm not typically a reader of short stories, though if intriguing enough, I will. The author is from "The Office" but I've only watched a handful of  episodes, so that wasn't enough of a draw. This book got great reviews, though and it's been circulating well since we received it, so I decided I'd give it a go. I started out listening to this on audio, because it was another lovely humor writer reading his own work, and this one also has guest readers, such as Mindy Kaling and Lena Dunham. Unfortunately, my checkout expired before I got through it and someone else was waiting, so I had to let it go. I finished it up reading the actual book, but I still plan to go back and listen to the portion I didn't finish. This book was that good.
The stories in this are not typical short stories. They are also not anecdotal ones, such as the likes of Augusten Burroughs or David Sedaris. This is just Novak showing us a bit of his warped sense of humor, short story style. Some are just a line or two. I don't think any were more than 20 pages.
This book was laugh out loud funny, you get to know Mr. Novak a little, as some stories were clearly based on parts of his life, and these are off the beaten path enough without being too weird. The book does contain a good amount of profanity (lots of f-bombs), so I wouldn't recommend it to the very young or the very old (unless your grandma likes this sort of thing).
Highlights:
 Julie & the Warlord: a young woman is on a date with a man she met online. Who is he? A merciless warlord from a 3rd world country. This story is just their dialogue, as they sit at a restaurant, eventually ordering chocolate cake for dessert.
The Man Who Invented the Calendar : suffice it to say, we could have ended up with 1000 day, 25 month years.
And probably my favorite of the whole book,  
Pick a Lane, which shows us the all too familiar scenario of one driver swerving between lanes, while another experiences road rage and continuously screams, "pick a lane!" You get inside the head of the person swerving, who, it turns out, really just can't decide which lane to drive in, as they both offer reasons to drive in them. I cannot count the number of times I've been that raged out person, screaming "pick a lane!" inside my car.
This is a quick, funny read for anyone who likes humor with a bit of the profane, and it's definitely worth checking out on audio.

Food: a Love Story

Food: a Love Story by Jim Gaffigan, 340 pages

Another entertaining audio book, read by the author himself. I recently reviewed Gaffigan's other book, Dad is Fat , which I also listened to in audio, and I found this one to be much funnier. This is probably because, as he points out himself, a fat man writing about food is just good.
Basically, this is just Gaffigan paying homage to all sorts of food, what he likes, what he doesn't, what he will eat even if it ends up killing him.
The food-related portion of his standup is by far his funniest material, so this book is just like an extended standup routine. It doesn't deliver quite as well as watching him, as his facial expressions are part of his humor, but it is still a quick and hilarious read/listen.
There is also a section where he highlights major cities he's toured and the great foods they're known for. Sadly, when he mentions St. Louis, toasted ravioli is the highlight, and I think St. Louis has much better to offer than that.
Any fans of humor or Gaffigan will enjoy this, and the audio is definitely worth the listen.

Dad is Fat

Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan, 274 pages

"Hot Pocket" comedian Jim Gaffigan humorously (of course) talks about becoming a family man. He and his wife are Catholic and have 5 children.
Some of the best parts of this book were his comparisons between newborns and terrible roommates, fitting his large family into a small NYC apartment, mentioning how extremely pale he and his children are, and of course, many references to eating habits, both those of his children and himself.
Gaffigan continuously praises his wife in this book, not only for being such a natural mother but also for being a wonderful wife. It's refreshing to hear a comedian who doesn't view his wife as a target for disrespectful jokes. He is also one of the cleanest comedians I've ever heard, and he still manages to be hilarious.
I was waiting for the downloadable audio version of his newer book, "Food: A Love Story" so in the meantime, I listened to this, and both are read by Gaffigan himself. It's kind of like listening to his standup, though I didn't find it quite as humorous as his standup. There's a particular voice he uses in his standup that was missing from this narration.
Overall, though, this was an entertaining read/listen, essential for any Gaffigan fan and anyone who likes to laugh.
 And if you haven't watched any of Jim Gaffigan's standup, you need to YouTube it. Seriously.

Here's a good start: Hot Pockets