One More Thing

Stories and Other Stories

By: B. J. Novak

Narrated by: B. J. Novak, Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, Jason Schwartzman, Katy Perry, Lena Dunham, Mindy Kaling, Julianne Moore, Carey Mulligan, Emma Thompson

Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

B.J. Novak's One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories is an endlessly entertaining, surprisingly sensitive, and startlingly original debut that signals the arrival of a brilliant new voice in American fiction.

A boy wins a $100,000 prize in a box of Frosted Flakes - only to discover how claiming the winnings might unravel his family. A woman sets out to seduce motivational speaker Tony Robbins - turning for help to the famed motivator himself. A new arrival in Heaven, overwhelmed with options, procrastinates over a long-ago promise to visit his grandmother. We also meet Sophia, the first artificially intelligent being capable of love, who falls for a man who might not be ready for it himself; a vengeance-minded hare, obsessed with scoring a rematch against the tortoise who ruined his life; and post-college friends who try to figure out how to host an intervention in the era of Facebook. Along the way, we learn why wearing a red T-shirt every day is the key to finding love, how February got its name, and why the stock market is sometimes just...down.

Finding inspiration in questions from the nature of perfection to the icing on carrot cake, One More Thing has at its heart the most human of phenomena: love, fear, hope, ambition, and the inner stirring for the one elusive element that might just make a person complete. Across a dazzling range of subjects, themes, tones, and narrative voices, the many pieces in this collection are like nothing else, but they have one thing in common: They share the playful humor, deep heart, sharp eye, inquisitive mind, and altogether electrifying spirit of a writer with a fierce devotion to the entertainment of the listener.

With special appearances by Lena Dunham, Jenna Fischer, Mindy Kaling, Julianne Moore, Carey Mulligan, Katy Perry, Jason Schwartzman, Emma Thompson, and Rainn Wilson.

©2014 B. J. Novak (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"It is Mr. Novak’s gift for channeling the way we talk and think today that propels many of the funnier tales here...his precisionist eye for detail, his ability to capture the odd thoughts that burble through his characters’ minds...Mr. Novak is nimble at showing how easily the ordinary can morph into the extraordinary and adept at making us see the surreal in the everyday." (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

"Baseline clever and fresh, at best spectacularly perceptive, and always commanding, Novak’s ingeniously ambushing stories of longing, fear, pretension, and confusion reveal the quintessential absurdities and transcendent beauty of our catchas-catch-can lives." ( Booklist)

"The bulk of Novak’s stories are comedic, and more than a few are surprisingly tender.... Written by an author in complete control of his craft." ( Publishers Weekly)

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.

The ordinary becomes extraordinary

Would you listen to One More Thing again? Why?

Yes, it's a fantastic book and a light reading too, so I would read it again

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Because the narrator is the author, I guess no one could read it like him. Other than that, you can practically see him acting as he brings the words to life. The special feature of other artists also enriched the performance.

Any additional comments?

I love how BJ Novak has that comedian/writer eye for observing the normal and ordinary things with peculiar lenses. It's smart and fun, and it makes us stop to look at small things in the everyday life.

meh..

I really wanted to love this book of short stories but I just couldn't get into it. I thought it was cool to have his friends be a part of it, reading portions of the book but the stories were all over the place. I guess I just didn't get it. maybe I'm missing something? I guess I wanted more about him in those stories not just random writings. even then, they weren't particularly funny.

missed the mark

For me, the stories could have been better sticky for the language used. This could have been an enjoyable clever group of short stored, but instead there was unless vulgar language sprinkled throughout. it was so beyond I needed, and just destroyed the stories for me. The writers could have been suggestive in a way that could have gotten the point across but instead they were just vulgar. and I know no one can be funny or clever without using the f word these days but come on. So, this is just a warning for those who listen unless you are ok with it, no children should be around. You make your own choice. Just my two cents worth

Hoped for witty. Received less.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

These are not witty vignettes but pretentious random thoughts wrapped in one liners. Disappointed. Cannot recommend, sadly.

So many funny stories

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

So many great actors lend their voices to the audio version of the book. Rain Wilson, Jena Fisher, and Mindy Kaling (The Office) all do a few pieces that are all funny.

Entertaining short stories!

I loved some stories and could have done without some others, but overall enjoyed the audiobook and had a lot of fun with the acting brought to each character.

On my second listen!

BJ Novak is a genius. As soon as I was done, I shared with my husband and friends. These stories, brought to you a' la Aesop's Fables-style, are hilariously detailed. He goes down the rabbit hole many times-the way people think-but always comes back to the plot. It is nice having multiple voices playing out the lines. Feels more like a radio play.

Some hits, many misses

It saddens me to write this review because I truly wanted to like this collection of short stories. Out of respect for the author, let me start with the highlights.

Novak does a good job narrating the entire book, and the appearances of several big names is a wonderful addition. To that point, there is something magical about Rainn Wilson's voice that captures a listener's attention. The brevity of his tone combined with his wonderful baritone compliments this read perfectly.

The book is sprinkled with thought-provoking short stories intended to move the reader through many elusive aspects of the human condition. Novak's writing is often insightful, wry, and heartfelt. Several stories had me investigating my own perceptions of human interaction and the "why" of our place within this world. In addition, the ever-present, witty (and often cynical) humor of Novak pervades many short stories.

Unfortunately, the book has a lot of filler material that wander through inane mental masturbation exercises without any resolution or point. I listened through the entire text in hopes to find the gems - and there are some wonderful beauties; however, there are about just as many so-so stories. I found myself "tuning out" a lot.

If Novak cut half of the material out of this book, I would recommend it. As it stands, you have a lot of grunt work to find a few great and insightful stories here.

BJ is a genius

Seriouslybut I didn't like being required to write more words in this review :-) that is rather annoying to me right now