Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory

By: Raphael Bob-Waksberg

Narrated by: Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Full Cast

Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the creator of the beloved and universally acclaimed television series BoJack Horseman, a fabulously off-beat collection of short stories about love - the best and worst thing in the universe

Written with all the scathing dark humor that is a hallmark of BoJack Horseman, Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s stories will make you laugh, weep, and shiver in uncomfortably delicious recognition. In “A Most Blessed and Auspicious Occasion”, a young couple engaged to be married is forced to deal with interfering relatives dictating the appropriate number of ritual goat sacrifices for their wedding. “Missed Connection - m4w” is the tragicomic tale of a pair of lonely commuters eternally failing to make that longed-for contact. And in “More of the You That You Already Are”, a struggling employee at a theme park of dead presidents finds that love can’t be genetically modified. 

Equally at home with the surreal and the painfully relatable (and both at once), Bob-Waksberg delivers a killer combination of humor, romance, whimsy, cultural commentary, and crushing emotional vulnerability. 

Audiobook Table of Contents: 

• "Salted Circus Cashews, Swear to God" read by Raphael Bob-Waksberg 
• "short stories" read by Baron Vaughn, James Urbaniak, Kimiko Glenn, Colman Domingo, and Natalie Morales 
• "Most Blessed and Auspicious Occasion" read by Raúl Esparza
• "Missed Connection - m4w" read by Colman Domingo 
• "The Serial Monogamist’s Guide to Important New York City Landmarks" read by Natalie Morales 
• "We Men of Science" read by James Urbaniak 
• "Lies We Told Each Other (a partial list)" read by Kimiko Glenn and Raúl Esparza 
• "These Are Facts" read by Will Brill 
• "Lunch with the Person Who Dumped You" read by Stephanie Beatriz 
• "Rufus." read by Baron Vaughn 
• "Rules for Taboo" read by Will Brill and Emma Galvin
• "Up-and-Comers" read by Stephanie Beatriz 
• "Move across the country." read by Colman Domingo 
• "You Want to Know What Plays Are Like?" read by Emma Galvin 
• "the poem" read by Nicholas Gonzalez 
• "The Average of All Possible Things" read by Kimiko Glenn 
• "More of the You That You Already Are" read by Nicholas Gonzalez 
• "We will be close on Friday 18 July" read by Raphael Bob-Waksberg 

©2019 Raphael Bob-Waksberg (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

“This book is EXTREMELY MY SH*T. It’s a deeply weird and hilarious work of genius. I really f**king love it.” (Samantha Irby, author of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life)

“Raphael is the funniest male vegan who created an animated show about a talking horse working today. Run, don’t walk, to your local socialist knitting circle and tell them about this hilarious book.” (Rachel Bloom, creator of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) 

"This is exactly the kind of book you’d hope the creator of BoJack Horseman would write. Just as his animated show is a bleary-eyed tour de force composed of equal parts depression and fun, Bob-Waksberg’s debut story collection is wonderfully weird, pushing familiar stories to their absurdist limits (e.g., the couple who wants to keep their wedding simple with absolutely no goat-sacrificing). Yet each one has a chewy emotional center and a gut punch worth waiting for." (Maris Kreizman, Vulture, “12 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Summer”) 

One of the best on audible

This is probably one of the best audio books of had the privilege of listening to. The performance was varied with multiple actors, and felt like it was directed in detail the whole way through. You can tell that this is someone who has experience in TV and working with voice casts.

The book itself is very charming. In many anthologys, it can be hard to retain an interest. One story that you were invested in ends, and then you have to work to reinvest in another. Any falters in my interest were very short though.

The storys themselves made me tear up a few times. Waksberg has this great way of presenting information atypically, but in the way that best serves his message. He'll couch hard truths of relationships in a series of lies, and understate the most important moments. The lack of direct input at these crucial moments gives you quiet to take the text in a way that means the most to you. Honestly, this is a fantastic book and a standout in the format.

3 people found this helpful

Breaks your heart in the best way just like bojack

I am a lover of short stories, and a lover of the show Bojack Horseman. If you are either or both of these things, you will really love this book. If you are not a lover of either or both of these things, I don’t have much of an opinion about what you might feel reading this book.

3 people found this helpful

Absolutely amazing!

This book is an amazingly deep and beautiful collection of stories. I loved every minute of it! The performances are nuanced and moving, and the writing is so painfully relatable that it felt like it was plucked from my very own experiences. I can't recommend it enough!

5 people found this helpful

Incredibly funny and true

These stories are incredibly heartfelt and hilarious. Bob-Waksberg weaves a beautiful thread between complete fictional nonsense and the truth about humanity and ourselves. I'm recommending this book to everyone I know. I absolutely loved it.

1 person found this helpful

This book is awesome

Normally i only like regular novel length fiction. I never read short stories but this was on some audible best of list so I tried it and also I liked the title because i love a flawed character. These stories were so good. The premises so odd but at their core so universal. The performances were exactly right. The readers were perfect. Highly recommend. Dont read it. Listen to it.

1 person found this helpful

Loved it!

This is now one of my favorites that I’ve gotten on Audible. Being a fan of BoJack is what inspired me to purchase this book, but after this, I have become a fan of all things Raphael Bob-Waksberg.
My favorite story was Missed Connections -m4w. It was incredible moving to me and just amazingly written. All of them were, but that one has stuck with me for days after listening to it.
I would highly recommend this book of short stories to anyone and I look forward to more from this talented writer.

1 person found this helpful

Amazing

This book is real. Not all the stories are real and factual but the feelings they bring are real and true. And that’s hard to find sometimes. But I’m glad I can find it in this book.

1 person found this helpful

Hilarious!

My new favorite book. So funny and entertaining! I really hope the author writes another book of short stories, because I did not want this to end!

1 person found this helpful

Made laugh and cry

If you like Bojack Horseman or Undone, get this book asap. This book is a rollercoaster of emotions

Creative and Funny

Remarkably cast! I could listen to this audiobook multiple times! I loved every single narrator for this book. My favorite story in the collection is "The Average of All Things." It really captures that numbness we often feel after we've been hurt or let down. The ending to that story made me smile and almost cry. I also loved "The Rules of Taboo," "The Serial Monogamist...," and "the poem." Hands down my favorite short story collection.