The New One

Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad

By: Mike Birbiglia, J. Hope Stein

Narrated by: Mike Birbiglia, J. Hope Stein

With laugh-out-loud funny parenting observations, the New York Times best-selling author and award-winning comedian delivers a book that is perfect for anyone who has ever raised a child, been a child, or refuses to stop acting like one.

In 2016, comedian Mike Birbiglia and poet Jennifer Hope Stein took their 14-month-old daughter, Oona, to the Nantucket Film Festival. When the festival director picked them up at the airport, she asked Mike if he would perform at the storytelling night. She said, "The theme of the stories is jealousy."

Jen quipped, "You're jealous of Oona. You should talk about that."

And so Mike began sharing some of his darkest and funniest thoughts about the decision to have a child. Jen and Mike revealed to each other their sides of what had gone down during Jen's pregnancy and that first year with their child. Over the next couple years, these stories evolved into a Broadway show, and the more Mike performed it, the more he heard how it resonated - not just with parents but also people who resist all kinds of change.

So he pored over his journals, dug deeper, and created this book: The New One: Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad. Along with hilarious and poignant stories he has never shared before, this audiobook is sprinkled with poetry Jen wrote as she navigated the same rocky shores of new parenthood.

So here it is. This book is an experiment - sort of like a family.

©2020 Mike Birbiglia and J. Hope Stein (P)2020 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

"Fusing good humor and raw honesty with selections from Stein's evocative poetry, Birbiglia narrates his journey into parenting...Hilarious, relatable, cringeworthy, and effortlessly entertaining." (Kirkus, starred review)

"This is a brilliant, funny, big-hearted version of he-said, she-said. Birbiglia and Stein trade jokes and poems and splendid storytelling about their roundabout stumble into parenthood. It's hilarious, humane, often beautiful, and absolutely captivating." (Susan Orlean, staff writer at The New Yorker and New York Times best-selling author of The Library Book)

"Mike Birbiglia and Jen Stein are the best collaborators since Emily Dickinson teamed up with her long-winded comedian friend. I'm joking because I cannot express how much this book affected me and how many times it made me cry." (John Mulaney, comedian)

"Wise and wise-assed, the comic hit of the year." (Mary Karr, best-selling author of The Liar's Club, Cherry, and Lit)

"Birbiglia and Stein have not only survived parenthood, they're making their most hilarious and truthful art yet. This book might save your best friend's life." (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Pulitzer Price-winning writer of Hamilton)

Courage to trust us!

By revealing your deep secrets regarding the struggle to parent you gave us license to admit our own struggles, even if that is only admitting it to ourselves. I wrapped every word around my heart and let these beautiful admissions and insights deep into my soul. You are so brilliantly funny and more honest than a repentant Catholic in a dark confessional. I can really say that I love you, Mike Birbiglia. You have given me hours of joy, a lifetime of wisdom.

A One-In-A-Million Book

I LOVE this book and highly recommend to everyone! Hilarious, real, and beautifully narrated by the authors of the book.

Mike Birbiglia brings the comedy

A great read with Mike narrating his own story. It's one huge show to listen too. His wife's poems were excellent and went well with the story. I have five kids, man... I understand your pain...

Interesting and funny, some sound issues though

I love Mike Birbiglia and really enjoyed the book. However, every single time his wife read a poem, i had to turn up the volume— then turn it back down once it was him again. I was surprised professionals would create a book with two different volume levels depending on who’s speaking. Got very irritating. Otherwise, an enjoyable read.

Wonderful

I love Birbigs. So much. Yes he makes me laugh out loud. But even more than that, he makes me feel connected to the human experience. It’s such a warm, cathartic experience. I recommend this book enthusiastically, and anything else he does! Plus, Jen’s poems in this book are so beautiful and really add a magical touch.

So great!

Saw Mike do this show 3 times live! It’s always hilarious. His reading performance is fantastic. And there’s extra in the book that’s not in the show. Anyone would love this.

True to Life

This is a great story age babies and love.
Reviews are minimum of 15 words

Funny. Touching. Dynamic

Funny. Touching. Dynamic. A great read overall. I enjoyed it and didn’t put it down till I was done.

Funny, heartwarming, and most importantly funny

Mike is a master storyteller that turns vulnerable moments into hilarious anticdotes. It’s emotional, heart warming and beautiful. But all of that would be null and void if it wasn’t funny, but it just so happens to be very funny. It’s rare for a comedian to write a book that doesn’t give you the sense they’re either just bragging or someone else wrote it for them. But Mike’s humor is unique and relatable to every reader.

All the thread counts! Baby changes everything!

I’m a mom. And I knew my kid would change everything and so did my husband, even though he did not feel my overwhelming need to be a parent. Mike and Jen (does the nickname Clo get explained in other shows or books?) try to lie to themselves that their baby will not change everything. But in a twist that will surprise hardly anyone, Una does change everything. And it’s hard and it’s painful, insane, lonely, smelly and bizarre. But with a lot of work, some of their newfound lives are downright wonderful and awesome in that dumbstruck, awe-inspiring meaning of the word. Sleepless babies, poopy diapers, zombie parent half-life, these are very real things that very much suck. But a baby’s laughter is nuclear fusion level magic. It could birth fairies or melt the hearts of the cynical, overworked, lonely and lost. Parenthood is not for everyone. But this book is thirst-quenchingly beautiful. It’s soul food for any parent but especially the ones who might be burnt out, a bit delusional, pondering the fraying ties of their marriage or partnership and reworking their personal image with the impossibly huge role of parent, and trying to take tiny bites as life rolls over and through them. The poetry of this book ripples through my brain all the sweeter for the dulcet tones of Clo. Mike’s storytelling prowess is as powerfully delicious as pizza. Sometimes the toppings are bitter truths, and sometimes my heart gets overstuffed with all the feelings slices. While I do think even low-quality pizza can be enjoyable, and many a book about the life of new parents can entertain and spark thought, this entry in the genre is first rate, scrumptious stuff. Some parts simple and straightforward, some parts delicate and winsome. Gourmet etiquette notwithstanding, I want to stuff my mind and my heart with this book repeatedly and make book angels in the words, just as a child (or Mike Birbiglia) might dream of making pizza angels plopped on a huge pie, arms swathed in cheese and sauce, head pillowed by dough. Put this book in your brain and your belly.
(Disclaimer: the writer of this review does not recommend physically eating this book or the device playing this audiobook. Such action could result in injury or death. Learn about metaphors!)