-
Ayoade on Top
- Narrated by: Richard Ayoade
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

pick 2 free titles with trial.
Buy for $18.97
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Grip of Film
- By: Richard Ayoade
- Narrated by: Richard Ayoade, Jesse Eisenberg, Jon Korkes
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gordy LaSure's passionate about film. He eats film, he drinks film, and sometimes he'll even watch a film. But most of all, he loves talking about film, and how they'd be a shit-ton better if only people would pull their asses out of their ears and listen to Gordy LaSure. Why are some films bad and some films terrible? How come just a handful of films (Titanic, Porky's, Dirty Harry) are any good at all? Gordy'll tell you How and Why, and he'll give you a shot of Wherefore on the side. And he doesn't shoot from the hip; he shoots from the gut.
-
-
Ayoade at his most Ayoade!
- By mary e head on 04-25-20
By: Richard Ayoade
-
James Acaster's Classic Scrapes
- By: James Acaster
- Narrated by: James Acaster
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James Acaster has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award five times and has appeared on prime-time TV shows like Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo and Russell Howard's Stand Up Central. But behind the fame and critical acclaim is a man perpetually getting into trouble. Whether it's disappointing a skydiving instructor midflight or hiding from thugs in a bush wearing a bright red dress, James is always finding new ways to embarrass himself.
-
-
Tales worth listening to.
- By Brendan S. on 01-31-18
By: James Acaster
-
James Acaster's Guide to Quitting Social Media
- By: James Acaster
- Narrated by: James Acaster
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a self help-book like no other. Because you are not helping yourself, James Acaster is helping you. When James quit all forms of social media in 2019 he felt like he'd been born anew, but he was worried he'd suffer withdrawal and get lured back online to compete in a never ending popularity contest with only one possible winner (f--king Zuckerberg). He knew that in order to stay clean he'd have to replace everything social media used to give him with three-dimensional real-life activities.
-
-
Trouble with tar.
- By Anonymous User on 08-20-22
By: James Acaster
-
The Book That No One Wanted to Read
- By: Richard Ayoade
- Narrated by: Richard Ayoade, Jarvis Cocker, Lydia Fox
- Length: 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hello! I'm a book! I can say with all modesty that The Book That No One Wanted To Read might be the most important book of all time. Why? Because it’s the first book to have been written by a book.
-
-
I wanted to read the book, best decision yet
- By Zeona Smith on 04-10-23
By: Richard Ayoade
-
Perfect Sound Whatever
- By: James Acaster
- Narrated by: James Acaster
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James Acaster wakes up heartbroken and alone in New York, his relationship over, a day of disastrous meetings leading him to wonder if comedy is really what he wants to be doing anymore. A constant comfort in James' life has been music, but he's not listened to anything new for a very long time. Idly browsing 'best of the year' lists, it dawns on him that 2016 may have been a grim year for a lot of reasons, but that it seemed to be an iconic year for music. And so begins a life-changing musical odyssey, as James finds himself desperately seeking solace in the music of 2016....
-
-
BEST BOOK ABOUT 2016 IN 2019
- By sophie on 08-29-19
By: James Acaster
-
Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: David Mitchell
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why is every film or tv programme a sequel or a remake? Why are people so f***ing hung up about swearing? Why do the asterisks in that sentence make it okay? Why do so many people want to stop other people doing things, and how can they be stopped from stopping them? These and many other questions trouble David Mitchell. Join him on a tour of the absurdities of modern life - from Ryanair to Richard III, Downton Abbey to phone etiquette, UKIP to hot dogs made of cats.Â
-
-
Good Book: Wrong Milieu
- By scott on 09-04-19
By: David Mitchell
-
The Grip of Film
- By: Richard Ayoade
- Narrated by: Richard Ayoade, Jesse Eisenberg, Jon Korkes
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gordy LaSure's passionate about film. He eats film, he drinks film, and sometimes he'll even watch a film. But most of all, he loves talking about film, and how they'd be a shit-ton better if only people would pull their asses out of their ears and listen to Gordy LaSure. Why are some films bad and some films terrible? How come just a handful of films (Titanic, Porky's, Dirty Harry) are any good at all? Gordy'll tell you How and Why, and he'll give you a shot of Wherefore on the side. And he doesn't shoot from the hip; he shoots from the gut.
-
-
Ayoade at his most Ayoade!
- By mary e head on 04-25-20
By: Richard Ayoade
-
James Acaster's Classic Scrapes
- By: James Acaster
- Narrated by: James Acaster
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James Acaster has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award five times and has appeared on prime-time TV shows like Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo and Russell Howard's Stand Up Central. But behind the fame and critical acclaim is a man perpetually getting into trouble. Whether it's disappointing a skydiving instructor midflight or hiding from thugs in a bush wearing a bright red dress, James is always finding new ways to embarrass himself.
-
-
Tales worth listening to.
- By Brendan S. on 01-31-18
By: James Acaster
-
James Acaster's Guide to Quitting Social Media
- By: James Acaster
- Narrated by: James Acaster
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a self help-book like no other. Because you are not helping yourself, James Acaster is helping you. When James quit all forms of social media in 2019 he felt like he'd been born anew, but he was worried he'd suffer withdrawal and get lured back online to compete in a never ending popularity contest with only one possible winner (f--king Zuckerberg). He knew that in order to stay clean he'd have to replace everything social media used to give him with three-dimensional real-life activities.
-
-
Trouble with tar.
- By Anonymous User on 08-20-22
By: James Acaster
-
The Book That No One Wanted to Read
- By: Richard Ayoade
- Narrated by: Richard Ayoade, Jarvis Cocker, Lydia Fox
- Length: 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hello! I'm a book! I can say with all modesty that The Book That No One Wanted To Read might be the most important book of all time. Why? Because it’s the first book to have been written by a book.
-
-
I wanted to read the book, best decision yet
- By Zeona Smith on 04-10-23
By: Richard Ayoade
-
Perfect Sound Whatever
- By: James Acaster
- Narrated by: James Acaster
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James Acaster wakes up heartbroken and alone in New York, his relationship over, a day of disastrous meetings leading him to wonder if comedy is really what he wants to be doing anymore. A constant comfort in James' life has been music, but he's not listened to anything new for a very long time. Idly browsing 'best of the year' lists, it dawns on him that 2016 may have been a grim year for a lot of reasons, but that it seemed to be an iconic year for music. And so begins a life-changing musical odyssey, as James finds himself desperately seeking solace in the music of 2016....
-
-
BEST BOOK ABOUT 2016 IN 2019
- By sophie on 08-29-19
By: James Acaster
-
Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: David Mitchell
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why is every film or tv programme a sequel or a remake? Why are people so f***ing hung up about swearing? Why do the asterisks in that sentence make it okay? Why do so many people want to stop other people doing things, and how can they be stopped from stopping them? These and many other questions trouble David Mitchell. Join him on a tour of the absurdities of modern life - from Ryanair to Richard III, Downton Abbey to phone etiquette, UKIP to hot dogs made of cats.Â
-
-
Good Book: Wrong Milieu
- By scott on 09-04-19
By: David Mitchell
-
Strong Female Character
- By: Fern Brady
- Narrated by: Fern Brady
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scottish comedian Fern Brady was told she couldn't be autistic because she'd had loads of boyfriends and is good at eye contact. In this frank and surreal memoir, she delivers a sharp and often hilarious portrait of neurodivergence and living unmasked.
-
-
Buy. This.
- By Matt Morton on 06-10-23
By: Fern Brady
-
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- By: Douglas Adams
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last 15 years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.
-
-
HHTGH - Lightly Fried
- By J. Medany on 05-08-05
By: Douglas Adams
-
Toast on Toast
- Cautionary tales and candid advice
- By: Steven Toast
- Narrated by: Matt Berry - as Steven Toast
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Toast on Toast - part memoir, part "how to act" manual - Steven Toast draws on his vast and varied experiences, providing the reader with an invaluable insight into his journey from school plays to RADA and from "It's a Right Royal Knockout" to the Colony Club. Along the way he reveals the secrets of his success. He discloses how to brush up on and expand your technical and vocal skills, how to nail a professional voiceover, and how to deal with difficult work experience staff in a recording studio....
-
-
Glorious performance from Matt Ber-Ray.
- By Stanley McHale on 11-18-16
By: Steven Toast
-
I, Regress: The Complete Series 1-2
- A BBC Radio 4 Comedy Drama
- By: Matt Berry
- Narrated by: Matt Berry, Alex Lowe, Katherine Parkinson, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Â
All 10 episodes of the dark, surreal comedy featuring Matt Berry's twisted regression therapist. Unorthodox, unpredictable and verging on the unprofessional, Dr Berry is a deeply disturbing hypnotherapist. His experimental regressive technique is both strange and terrifying and involves taking unsuspecting clients on unsettling journeys through their subconscious.
-
-
Matt Berry is no fool (occasionally a buffoon tho)
- By Max on 07-09-23
By: Matt Berry
-
Dishonesty Is the Second-Best Policy
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: David Mitchell
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Mitchell’s 2014 best seller Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse must really have made people think - because everything’s got worse. We’ve gone from UKIP surge to Brexit shambles, from horsemeat in lasagne to Donald Trump in the White House, from Woolworths going under to all the other shops going under. It’s probably socially irresponsible even to try to cheer up.  Â
-
-
Meant for UK listeners
- By Maggie May on 11-19-19
By: David Mitchell
-
Good Omens
- A Full Cast Production
- By: Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett
- Narrated by: Rebecca Front, Michael Sheen, David Tennant, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan.Â
-
-
Brilliant and epic
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 11-02-21
By: Neil Gaiman, and others
-
Garth Marenghi’s Terrortome
- Garth Marenghi’s Terrortome, Book 1
- By: Garth Marenghi
- Narrated by: Garth Marenghi
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When horror writer Nick Steen gets sucked into a cursed typewriter by the terrifying Type-Face, Dark Lord of the Prolix, the hellish visions inside his head are unleashed for real. Forced to fight his escaping imagination - now leaking out of his own brain - Nick must defend the town of Stalkford from his own fictional horrors, including avascular-necrosis-obsessed serial killer Nelson Strain and Nick's dreaded throppleganger, the Dark Third.
-
-
Truly visionary
- By Nishanth R on 11-18-22
By: Garth Marenghi
-
Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama
- A Memoir
- By: Bob Odenkirk
- Narrated by: Bob Odenkirk, Steve Rudnick, Leo Benvenuti
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bob Odenkirk’s career is inexplicable. And yet he will try like hell to explicate it for you. Charting a “Homeric” decades-long “odyssey” from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago to a dramatic career full of award nominations - with a side trip into the action-man world that is baffling to all who know him - it’s almost like there are many Bob Odenkirks! But there is just one and one is plenty. Featuring humorous tangents, wild characters, and Bob’s trademark unflinching drive, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama is a classic tale told by a determined idiot.
-
-
Not great
- By D. Moore on 04-12-22
By: Bob Odenkirk
-
And Away...
- By: Bob Mortimer
- Narrated by: Bob Mortimer
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bob Mortimer’s life was trundling along happily until suddenly in 2015 he was diagnosed with a heart condition that required immediate surgery and forced him to cancel an upcoming tour. The episode unnerved him but forced him to reflect on his life so far. This is the framework for his hilarious and moving memoir, And Away....
-
-
Why censor an autobiography? Please don’t do that.
- By Paul B on 02-07-22
By: Bob Mortimer
-
That Mitchell and Webb Sound: The Complete Series 1-5
- The BBC Radio 4 Comedy Show
- By: David Mitchell, Robert Webb
- Narrated by: David Mitchell, Robert Webb, Olivia Colman, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to the inside-out world of Mitchell and Webb, a strange and surreal place populated by misfits, eccentrics, talking animals and a few stray Radio 4 arts programme presenters. Included here are all five series of their fantastically skewed comedy show, packed with offbeat sketches and peculiar characters. Meet seedy snooker commentators Ted and Peter; poorly matched crime-fighting duo Angel Summoner and BMX Bandit; a cop who doesn't get results but, by God, he does things by the book; and some nervous Nazis who've just noticed their caps have skulls on them.
-
-
Not British but I love Brit humor.
- By Max on 07-11-23
By: David Mitchell, and others
-
Beyond the Wand
- The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard
- By: Tom Felton
- Narrated by: Tom Felton
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tom Felton’s adolescence was anything but ordinary. His early rise to fame in beloved films like The Borrowers catapulted him into the limelight, but nothing could prepare him for what was to come after he landed the iconic role of the Draco Malfoy, the bleached blonde villain of the Harry Potter movies. For the next ten years, he was at the center of a huge pop culture phenomenon and yet, in between filming, he would go back to being a normal teenager trying to fit into a normal school. Speaking with great candor and his signature humor, Tom shares his experience.
-
-
So enjoyable
- By Lisa Suit on 10-22-22
By: Tom Felton
-
David Mitchell: Back Story
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: David Mitchell
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Mitchell, who you may know for his inappropriate anger on every TV panel show except Never Mind the Buzzcocks, his look of permanent discomfort on C4 sex comedy Peep Show, his online commenter-baiting in The Observer or just for wearing a stick-on moustache in That Mitchell and Webb Look, has written a book about his life.Â
-
-
One of the Funniest, Clever Brits around
- By Delia on 08-30-13
By: David Mitchell
Publisher's summary
At last, the definitive audiobook about perhaps the best cabin crew dramedy ever filmed: View from the Top starring Gwyneth Paltrow.Â
In Ayoade on Top, Richard Ayoade, perhaps one of the most 'insubstantial' people of our age, takes us on a journey from Peckham to Paris by way of Nevada and other places we don't care about. It's a journey deep within, in a way that's respectful and non-invasive; a journey for which we will all pay a heavy price, even if you've waited for the smaller paperback edition.Â
Ayoade argues for the canonisation of this brutal masterpiece, a film that celebrates capitalism in all its victimless glory; one we might imagine Donald Trump himself half-watching on his private jet's gold-plated flat screen while his other puffy eye scans the cabin for fresh, young prey.
More from the same
What listeners say about Ayoade on Top
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wesley
- 12-13-19
Listened for an hour and a half, didn't laugh once
It's really strange, because I know this guy from clips on the Graham Norton show, and I find him very funny in that setting. In fact, the clip on Graham Norton of him plugging this book, is the very reason I decided to buy the audiobook. But....it's just dull. I get the premise is that it's a satirical take on those overly pretentious literary books, but it's just not very fun. The audiobook is only 4.5 hours, I listened to roughly 25% of it, and I did not laugh once. This is a cheeky take on "high brow" books, but, to quote Richard Ayoade in this very book. "I dislike people intentionally trying to insert cheekyness into things." The fact that he's doing it on purpose, doesn't make it funny. He rambles, and rambles, and brings up boring side topic after side topic, and then states that he's only discussed the first 60 seconds of the film. I genuinely groaned when he told me that the past 15 minutes of audiotime, where he prevaricates constantly, only covers the opening 60 seconds....and then starts the next paragraph with yet ANOTHER side story about a fictional birthday of his when he was like 6 years old.
I just, I don't care. It feels like he's just writing to hear himself write, and forgot that he's supposed to be discussing this film in a funny way.
I generally enjoy British humor, and one of my favorite authors (Terry Pratchett), was a master of dry, witty humor, that would have me rolling on the floor with the delivery of it. But this...this is just dull. Incredibly dull and pretentious. And the fact that it's pretentious by design, doesn't save it from being pretentious.
Again, not sure why the big disconnect, as I really find this guy funny in a live, social setting, where he has other people to react off of, and talk with, and generate organic humor based on a social setting. But, his prose writing? Just has none of that humor and wit.
I don't recommend this book, even with how short it is.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
72 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michelle Sharpe
- 11-22-19
If you love Ayoade, this is a must.
Listened to this in the span of a day. I’ve never seen View from the Top and I never plan to watch it. I feel like I understand it better than any other movie after listening to this book though, and I feel like I understand Richard Ayoade as well as myself.
Seriously though, I was laughing out loud at some of the parts in this book. The entire premise is ridiculous and entirely too much time, energy, research, and introspection went into writing a book about a truly mediocre 89 minute movie that no one remembers or saw at time of release. But that’s why we love Richard Ayoade and that’s why this audiobook is so great.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
26 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rob
- 09-26-19
Unbelievably witty
You don't need to have seen the movie. Highly recommend the audiobook, as Ayoade's delivery is key to the humor.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Piers Sharpe
- 09-29-19
A toilet book about a film no one’s seen
I could’ve read Steinbeck, Hemingway or literally anything else I might discuss with friends over coffee, but instead I chose to spend 6 hours watching Top and listening to Ayoade’s critique of it (peppered with bits about him to make up the page count), acquiring a new set of references I won’t be able to exchange with anyone. Top’s bad but not in a ‘so bad it’s good’ way, more like ‘so mediocre I want it to end’, so quite an audacious move by the author to require such gruelling pre-work for a toilet book. Giving five stars to encourage more people to watch Top just in case it’s the next The Room and I’m too frustrated to realise it yet.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Client d'Amazon
- 02-05-20
Uneven and overwrought
I like Richard Ayoade's TV work and delivery and so I was confident that I was going to enjoy this. I didn't. The concept of imputing non-existent complexity to and generally deconstructing a God-awful film would seem to be a premise full of comedic possibilities but it needs to be handled with a Morriso-Iannuccist-Marberian-Couganical sensibility for it to work, particularly over 4 hours 39 minutes. I hate to say it but this audiobook ends up being almost as difficult to listen to as the film is to watch (I watched the film in advance of listening to the book - it's truly diabolical and ripe for mockery). A lot of the writing in this audiobook seems overworked and way too wordy as if the guiding principle was a desire to impress rather than a desire to make laugh. This needed to be harshly edited. Not sure how it ended up so highly rated. Richard Ayoade is much better than this work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rocketboy1313
- 01-29-20
I am a fan of Richard Ayoade as a TV Personality
When I heard about this book on the Graham Norton show it sounded like a lot of fun, using the loose outline of critiquing a forgotten sub-par movie as a means to tell humorous stories and asides. Joke's on me I guess.
I was an anticipating the film critique being a much smaller aspect of the book. That it was a sort of meta-joke, merely used as a way of moving between other articles. My anticipation was way off and I did not find that aspect of the book (the titular aspect of the book) all that funny. It got old quick and no matter how witty Richard Ayoade is (and he is) I could not give the tiniest shit about this movie and the jokes just started falling flat.
I am disappointed, but I guess I have no one to blame but myself. My expectations were skewed (and I am coming off a David Mitchell collection that I really enjoyed) this book was not in a position to impress me. I can't recommend it unless you are really interested in the idea of reading a scene-to-scene riffing of a movie you will likely never ever bother to see.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DangerKitten
- 11-06-19
Only Richard Ayoade could pull this off...
I usually wouldn’t be compelled to buy a 4+ hour dissertation on Veiw from the Top and it’s personal cinematic and cultural/social significance...but Richard Ayoade...so I actually pre ordered this...and was more than pleasantly surprised. I remember the movie and it’s strange semi ensemble cast(lots of cameos and big names in bit parts) but never read so much into it now. Richard does a wonderful job of making you question both his taste level and your own while doing a great job at making his case and convincing you by the end that this movie truly was under-rated and you must watch it, while still taking the absolute piss out of the whole thing, (especially Gwyneth and Goop). mMaking you thankful that Richard is not political because the man could get some truly ridiculous things to pass if he put his mind to it. Brilliant, odd and thoroughly entertaining
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Geoff in London
- 02-15-20
Breathless admiration
In studious detail the author offers a focused analysis of the 2003 commercial flop "View from the Top". The comedic prose is so dense, I listened at 90%-speed so I could catch all the humour without having to rewind. This book treats the forgettable film, its cast, acting, plot, lighting, camera shots, with a kind of mockumentary seriousness as if this film were Very Important, and forms the basis of his view of life, existence, and the meaning of it all.
So why not? This author is prepared to go to extreme lengths (the length of this book, anyway) to perpetuate a farce, and once I'd trained my brain to listen closely enough, it was a jolly flight of satirical thrills.
We are never entirely sure what the author really thinks of Gwyneth Paltrow or her film; but he writes as though he thoroughly loves and admires her/it, and imbues his prose with absurdly high praise, attributing endless qualities to it all -- much as all fans do for all their obsessions. That's the adventure you'll go on. The book is self-referential in its comedic analysis, and so there's a slight nod to reality so you don't think Richard Ayoade is insane. Instead it's a fine work of modern wit.
You need not have seen the film ahead of time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sarie
- 10-28-19
The Story Audio Books Were Made For
A reading of a book about a movie that no one has seen. Loved it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ana Lanari
- 12-16-19
It's funny but I found it a bit much
it's very funny and vert well told but I noticed I ended spacing out a lot.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Lisa
- 09-10-19
You don’t need to have watched the film
Brilliant, loved it , was reluctant as I do t know the film but it doesn’t matter, I know all about it now.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
37 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- ellefinn2308
- 09-07-19
Wonderfully unique, just like its author/narrator
I love this so much. Ostensibly a scholarly critique of the 2003 Gwyneth Paltrow film A View from the Top, it's actually so much more, touching on many and diverse subjects such as hair height and Happy Eaters. It's masterfully read by the sublime Mr Ayoade and be warned if you are listening to this in a public place - you WILL laugh out loud. A lot.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
24 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Alison Smith
- 09-06-19
Brilliantly read and performed
This quirky, earnest and hilarious study of the film "View from the Top" is amazing, as only Richard Ayoade could present. Pleasure to see him interviewed by Adam Buxton at The RFH last night (5.09.19) to launch it and I binge-listened to it in one day! It's not a Tolstoy, as he points out! Recommended to anyone who loves bantering during a sub-standard film and who'd love to be nearly as funny as Richard.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- G Spicer
- 10-07-19
Perfect bedtime listening
Admittedly listened to this more times than necessary but Ayoade's voice has a way of lulling you to sleep. I've come to rely on this as a means of nodding off. Somehow Ayoade is the only person who could pull off a book all about a film no one has heard of and at the same time interweave hilarious and adorable anecdotes of his childhood.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Benjamin Stephen Davies
- 12-31-19
Very funny
Got to be honest, I had my doubts leading up to this... but this is one of the funniest audiobooks I’ve ever listed to.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 09-24-19
Perplexing
I would pay to hear this author read a shopping list. At times that wasn't far away from my experience of listening to this book. The plot of an obscure Gwyneth Paltrow film acts as a strange framing device for snatches of autobiography and reflections on the world. I nearly choked with laughter on more than one occasion, but also frequently found myself losing the thread of what was going on. I might watch the film before trying again (although it sounds terrible).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Miss L E Turvey
- 09-17-19
and so I watched View from the top
Richard reading this made it for me. Very funny in places and the digressions into his own life stories are fab. His observations on GP's career along the way are also hilarious, if cutting. Hadn't seen the film, but he makes you want to, and yep, it's really bad.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- jeremy John
- 09-10-19
up lifting , nice one Top one
I haven't laughed out loud for time and it tickled every funny box. Brilliant & original
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Imspartacus
- 05-20-20
Drivel
Worst audio book I’ve wasted time on and I like him normally !
Don’t waste your credits or time
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Luke Fisher
- 12-06-19
Ayoade on top form
Simply put this is a marvellous book. It is so rare to find something that actually makes you laugh out loud. It's witty, clever, charming, and although I'm sure is a great paper read, Richard Ayoade's narration upgrades it to truly first class.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Womble
- 01-02-20
Top Top
I wasn’t sure what to expect,
and I’m still not really sure what I got,
but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- dimensioneer
- 09-22-19
Almost made me want to watch the movie... almost.
Genius! What more need I say. I've not had the 'pleasure' of watching the seminal classic View From The Top and now I never have to. Mr Ayoade's attention to detail and nuance have made for a beyond entertaining, in-depth review of what I daresay would ordinarily be referred to as 85 odd minutes of cinematic tripe.
The author's turn of phrase and ever-so-dry delivery made this a fantastic listen. Highly recommend this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 09-21-19
Brilliant
I got the recommendation for this book from Russell Brand’s podcast interview of Richard Ayoade which is hilarious. The book had me laughing out loud to myself in my car. A wonderful review of the amount of self deception required to believe Gwyneth Paltrow as a blue collar worker, at the lack of confidence in the intellect of the general public. You will enjoy it!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Malachy
- 09-13-19
Ayoade at the Top of his game
This is an amazing experience that everyone needs to witness with their eyes and ears.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Celine
- 01-18-22
Broken a record!
I've never laughed for as long as I have while listening to this book. The movie is certainly not one I would've normally picked to watch but hearing Richard describe and analyse it made it so entertaining.
I'll definitely give it a few replays!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Annissa Jones
- 06-11-23
Amazing! Worth every penny
I saw Ayoade discussing this book on a talk show and knew I had to read it but then saw I could also hear it read by the Author and knew I couldn't pass it by, and I have not been disappointed. This is the first review I have ever written in all the years I have listened to Audible because this man is hilarious, in how he writes and how he delivers and reads them. Usually, when someone wanders from the point they are discussing or waffles on about a vaguely related personal experience but that is the whole point of this review. The funniest thing you will hear this year.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 06-09-23
Just brilliant
I haven't laughed out loud on the bus for many years - probably due to the lack of travelling on said buses due to covid but still, this brought back fine memories of stifling a laugh while an old lady looks at me curiously.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 05-17-23
hilarious
Hilarious genius. I laughed out loud at least once every five minutes. Brilliantly written, ridiculously clever.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- SnootynSweet
- 03-30-23
Ayoade all Over
If you've come across Ayoade before then you'll know what to expect. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I know what to expect when I buy butter, and surprises are not what I look for. In fact I might go so far as to say that surprise is the last thing I want in a daily product. If I get a surprise from my butter I take it back to the shop. I can definitely believe when it's not butter and I want no part of substitutes, no matter how unanticipated they purport to be.
In the same way Ayoade on Top is extremely unsurprising. The writing is not a surprise. The language, register and style are what I have come to expect. The quirky manner of the author reflects the idiosyncrasies I have come to enjoy in other Ayoade experiences. The narrator, far from clashing with my preconceptions bore a remarkable resemblance to how I imagined the author would sound. Far from being tedious or repetitive, this novel lived up to my expectations in that rich, creamy way that goes so well spread evenly and not too thickly during breakfast or a light lunch.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 03-05-23
Really fun listen.
Ayoade is brilliant. Now the big question of do I watch the movie or not?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Grip of Film
- By: Richard Ayoade
- Narrated by: Richard Ayoade, Jesse Eisenberg, Jon Korkes
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gordy LaSure's passionate about film. He eats film, he drinks film, and sometimes he'll even watch a film. But most of all, he loves talking about film, and how they'd be a shit-ton better if only people would pull their asses out of their ears and listen to Gordy LaSure. Why are some films bad and some films terrible? How come just a handful of films (Titanic, Porky's, Dirty Harry) are any good at all? Gordy'll tell you How and Why, and he'll give you a shot of Wherefore on the side. And he doesn't shoot from the hip; he shoots from the gut.
-
-
Ayoade at his most Ayoade!
- By mary e head on 04-25-20
By: Richard Ayoade