The Dangerous Animals Club

By: Stephen Tobolowsky

Narrated by: Stephen Tobolowsky

Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

If you ran into Stephen Tobolowsky on the street, you would not be mistaken: Yes, you’ve seen him before. A childhood dentist? A former geometry teacher? Your local florist? Tobolowsky is a character actor, one of the most prolific screen and stage presences of our time, having appeared in productions that range from Deadwood to Glee, from Mississippi Burning to Groundhog Day.

But Stephen Tobolowsky, it turns out, is not just an actor; he is also a dazzlingly talented storyteller and writer. He has earned a devoted base of fans for his original stories, told in front of live audiences as well as in a popular podcast. Now, for the first time, he has assembled those stories here. The result is creative mitzvah, a work of art, and a narrative feat that combines biography and essay, ranging in tone from the hilarious to the introspective.

To read these pages is to enter an astonishing world that, like all art, is universal yet individual, familiar yet disquieting. A dangerous world, indeed.

©2012 Stephen Tobolowsky (P)2012 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"Stephen Tobolowsky has found his true calling as a storyteller. He is candid, insightful, often profound, and very, very funny, especially when he recounts his adventures in show business. By blending sharp memories of his childhood with astute, adult observations of the world around him, he weaves a spell not unlike Jean Shepherd or Garrison Keillor… but he has a voice all his own, and I love it." (Leonard Maltin, film critic and author)

"I LOVE THIS!" (Sarah Silverman)

"Great storytelling, beautiful stuff." (Rian Johnson, director of The Brothers Bloom and Brick)

Left Me Craving More

What a marvelous book. Filled with joy,hope, some tears and fears. The narration added so much to an already wonderful book. I truly thank the author for sharing his wisdom and insight and personal stories. This is a 10 Star book if there ever was one

Excellent Stories Told By a Master

What made the experience of listening to The Dangerous Animals Club the most enjoyable?

The Dangerous Animals Club is a fantastic book, both in audio format, as well as hardcover. If you're familiar with Stephen Tobolowsky or The Tobolowsky Files podcast, you'll immediately recognize these stories, albeit in greater detail / length. He also spins the stories together in more of a single timeline than with the podcast episodes, making the book feel more like one cohesive story, comprised of many smaller pieces.

If you're not familiar with his stories, you owe it to yourself to give this a listen. I've rarely (if ever) found such well-told stories that can make you laugh out loud and tear up at the same time. The manner in which the stories are told endear the author to the reader, making you connect to the stories personally. While immensely entertaining, the stories are filled with innumerable life lessons.

Having the stories read by the author makes this infinitely better. If read by anyone else, these amazing stories would have fallen flat.

All in all, The Dangerous Animals Club is story-telling at its best. I don't feel that there's much else to be said about this wonderful book, which will be reflected in the brief nature of the rest of this review.

What other book might you compare The Dangerous Animals Club to and why?

I'm not sure what to compare these stories to. Other famous story-tellers like Garrison Keillor and Baxter Black are fantastic in their own right, but considerably different in their delivery and content.

I've really never seen / read / heard anything similar to these stories.

What about Stephen Tobolowsky’s performance did you like?

Everything.

(see above)

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

Absolutely, if given the time to do so.

Any additional comments?

Be aware that, while most are completely family-friendly, a couple of the stories contain some language that may not be appropriate for younger listeners, specifically "A Wager With Freddy." Great story, but you may not want to listen with young ears around.

I'm a regular Tobo fan

I've always really loved Tobolowsky as one of the nation's preeminent "It's that guy!" actors. Now I love him as a great storyteller, with a really interesting life.

I also never had a fan that the group "Radio Head" ultimately owes Tobo for their name. But that's another bit of trivia.

:)

Extremely entertaining. Buy this book. Many laugh out loud moments. I'm glad the author was also the narrator. I wish this guy was my uncle.

I loved this book

Thoughtful, wise, generous in its conclusions and full of the mystery of life. The author allows all kinds of intelligence to manifest and respect in his way of seeing the world and our life paths.

Love this book

I loved this book from the moment it started to the moment it ended and Stephen's voice made it all the more enjoyable. The reason I gave the story 4 stars is because I wanted to hear more about Ann. Perhaps she is more of a main character in another book of yours. I will have to read or listen to them in order to find out.

yawn

I heard this man on NPR. He proved that Terry Gross can make anyone sound interesting.

Not as funny as I had thought

This book was just average for me. I expected it to be funnier I think. I had not heard of this author before and maybe those who know of his acting work will feel differently. There were a few inspirational tidbits; I enjoyed some stories and thought others were tedious. The narration was good as the author read it himself; that isn't always a good thing, but in this case, it worked. The story that most stood out for me was number 15. I found the story interesting and the lesson at the end was a good one.

Got unnecessarily ugly political

It was mildly entertaining to start, though hardly profound.

But in chapter 3 started to get mean spirited about the author’s religious and political views.

Who needs that? Not me. Wrong place for that. And since the narrator is the author, you can’t blame interpretation.