Everything Is Just Fine

By: Brett Paesel

Narrated by: Brett Paesel

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

In this brilliant, laugh-out-loud satire, image-conscious parents on a Beverly Hills junior soccer team struggle to keep up appearances as their private lives careen out of control.

"You'll wince, laugh out loud, relate to, and relish this unsparing satirical send up." (Wednesday Martin, New York Times best-selling author)

Coach Randy is working mightily to keep it together, and not simply with his vaguely unhappy wife, distant child, and a new boss who's eliminating half the sales force. This season's soccer parents are a demanding bunch. Diane's wine-fueled group emails are almost unintelligible; team mom Jacqui's enthusiasm for the league verges on manic; a divorced couple can barely conceal their murderous rage at each other; and another mom is laser-focused on schooling everyone on what constitutes a healthy snack option.

All the secrets and lies bubbling below the surface of their membrane-thin civility threaten to combust when Alejandro, a young, foreign assistant coach, refuses to play by the Beverly Hills code, which is to mind your own business and don't look too deeply into anyone's soul. Especially your own.

Brett Paesel brings hilarity and huge heart to a world that looks enviable and shiny on the outside but is, in truth, filled with aching for connection on the inside. In the vein of Perotta and Semple, everyday life in Paesel's deft rendering is anything but.

©2019 Brett Paesel (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Paesel's book is compulsively readable." (Publishers Weekly)

"Everything Is Just Fine is riveting, from Coach Randy's first hilarious e-mail to its stunning conclusion. Paesel is one of those rare writers who can make us laugh out loud while delivering a gut punch of truth at the same time." (Jill Soloway, author of She Wants It)

"Everything Is Just Fine is wonderfully entertaining storytelling. There's pain at the core of the best comedy, and the yearning and falling short of these characters is put to great use in this comic epic. Maria Semple meets Almodovar, with the funniest e-mail exchanges ever. I loved it." (Bob Odenkirk, actor and author of A Load of Hooey)

Great story but annoying style!

The story is great. The narrator read every single line and number from every text and email message. Way redundant and annoying!

I approached this with trepidation. . .

At the begining I thought I was going to hate the conceit of this book, but it turned out to be genuine, poignant, and the characters development was gradual and intriguing. Highly recommend.

Funny, compelling, and touching

I was hooked from the start with this book. I found myself driving and not wanting to stop just so I could hear more. Brett Paesel's writing is so smart, so clever, so compelling, I couldn't help but see these characters as real people. Paesel's narration is also very compelling and her voice is dynamic and wonderful for for an audiobook. I highly recommend this book.

Pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed!

I'll admit I didn't expect to like the book, I chose it in the 2 for 1 sale because the pickings were slim but I'm glad I did.

Who knew the world of kids soccer was fraught with so much hilarity, drama, cluelessness and pain.

The author paints an all too clear picture of how lives that are seemingly perfect, are truly a facade of insecurity and self doubt. I found bits of people I've dealt with my life including myself.

I enjoyed the format in which it was written. Mainly because it is the way we all communicate today. I also liked that the author included the voices and thoughts of the children. It made it not all about the parents and their inadequacies.

All in all, the book had a well paced balance of humor, empathy and redemption. It's relatable and I think most would enjoy it!

Meh

This might have been more enjoyable with a different narrator or narrators. Authors - with some exceptions - are not good narrators 😕