Woke Up This Morning

The Definitive Oral History of The Sopranos

By: Michael Imperioli, Steve Schirripa

Narrated by: Michael Imperioli, Steve Schirripa, full cast

Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

The definitive oral history of the landmark television series and streaming hit The Sopranos, packed with untold stories from behind the scenes and on the set. Stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa - whose Talking Sopranos podcast has become a sensational fan favorite - talk intimately with virtually everyone who has been involved with the show. And they're ready to spill it all.

Who made the phone call that got HBO to launch The Sopranos? What’s the significance of all those eggs? And, what the hell ever happened to the Russian? Michael Imperioli, Steve Schirripa, and the entire cast and crew of The Sopranos have all the answers - and they’re revealing where all the bodies are buried.

Inspired by the incredibly successful Talking Sopranos podcast, The Sopranos stars Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) and Steve Schirripa (Bobby Baccalieri) will finally reveal all the Soprano family secrets in a surprising, funny, and honest new book. Woke Up This Morning will be the definitive behind-the-scenes history of the groundbreaking HBO series that became a worldwide cultural phenomenon, ushered in a new Golden Age of Television, and to this day continues to be one of the most binged shows of all time.

Expanding on the podcast with exclusive interviews with the cast, crew, producers, writers, directors, and, of course, the series creator David Chase, Michael and Steve will tell all the incredible stories that The Sopranos fans have been waiting to hear for more than 20 years. The book will cover the entire history of The Sopranos series from the original concept pitch and casting to the infamous cut to black - and answer many of the thousands of fan questions sent to the podcast, as well as dispel some widely propagated myths and reveal things no one outside the show would even know to ask.

The audiobook edition is read by Michael Imperioli, Steve Schirripa, Adam Grupper, Aspen Vincent, Chris Ciulla, Christina Delaine, Dan Bittner, Eliza Foss, Eva Kaminsky, Fred Berman, Geoffrey Cantor, James Lurie, Jason Culp, Kathleen McInerney, Lisa Flanagan, Nancy Peterson, Oliver Wyman, Richard Ferrone, and Suzanne Toren.

©2021 Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Not a fan of the "fake" arguing or stilted dialog

If you have listed to the Talking Sopranos podcast you will know that Michael and Steve get into it sometimes over fan theories. Steve doesn't believe any of them and Micheal gives credence to some of them. I'm not a fan of that on the podcast but at least it feels organic. In this book it's dated and forced. In two years no one will know about the podcast and these reenacted arguments will sound even more out of place than they do today.

Also, the dialog between Mike and Steve is stilted at times. Maybe it looks good on paper but spoken aloud it doesn't sound like they are having a conversation. In some places it sounds like Michael is mailing it in.

The book itself is okay. If you listened to the podcast you probably already heard 70% of the content. Still, well worth the credits if you have a ton of them like I do.

Just wonderful…

This audiobook is so well done. I miss the show but this audiobook along with the hardcover version let me relive the experience of The Sopranos. Thanks Michael and Steve and thank you David Chase for letting us experience

Must Listen

A must listen for Sopranos fans. This was a fun listen, getting some inside info on the filming of such a great show!

A Must Listen for any Sopranos fan

I loved this book! The Sopranos was one of my favorite series that I have ever watched. It always felt like a great novel that you never wanted to end. The storytelling and actors were excellent and kept you on the edge of your seat each week.

This book was such a “love letter” to this beloved series. It was so much more than just a “behind the scenes” book. Because it was written and performed by Michael Imperioli and Steve Schurripa, you felt like you were really getting some first hand recounts and some amazing stories about the show and the cast members. The authentic friendship between these two actors is touching and entertaining, and the respect and love that they have for each other, the other cast members and crew, and the show as a whole is evident.

Michael Imperioli is a very eloquent writer and reader, while being funny and charming. Steve Schirripa is a tell-it-like-it-is writer, who made the stories come to life with his enthusiasm and passion.

This is a MUST-LISTEN if you are a Sopranos fan, and if you haven’t watched the series, go do that first and then come back and enjoy this Audible.

Liked it, for the most part.

I only recently discovered the Talking Soprano podcasts. I was excited about the prospect of starting with the first podcast and working my way to current episodes. Then I noticed that most podcasts ran well over 2 hours, which I found a daunting prospect for binge-listening. So rather than feeling disappointed that Woke Up This Morning is derived from those podcasts, I was thrilled. The Sopranos was such a wonderful series, and I loved learning about the many facets of its production as related by the actors, directors and behind the scenes staff. But that leads to my one disappointment with the book. The actual voices of participants in the show are not recorded in the audio version, either in most cases or in all of them. I found it disconcerting to hear Steve and Michael fake speaking to the individuals they interviewed and have the responses delivered by actors who in many cases sounded nothing like the real people they were meant to portray. That was rather off-putting. But most importantly, the content remained interesting and enlightening. I’m not sorry I added this book to my library. I’ll take my time enjoying the podcast episodes so that I can listen to the actual cast and production staff.

Loved it!

A must-listen for all Sopranos fans. I can't say enough good about this book! it brought back so many memories, I'm binge- watching the show again!

Highly Recommended

This is a must read or listen for all Soprano fans. The absolute best! You feel like your in the episodes. Great Job. Much Love. Cent Anni.

Why not use the actual people?

Perhaps it was too expensive, but obviously, the real people were interviewed for the book. Aside from Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa, none of the actual voices are used. Still a great story and a must for a fan of the Show?

Amazing book

I loved how in depth the book got on the show, how so many of the actors, actresses and crew got to participate in the book. You felt like you were apart of the crew while reading this book

TRULY FOR SOPRANO LOVERS

This was a great audio book told by two of cast members and their interviewing key players of the show.