We Learn Nothing

Publisher's Summary

In We Learn Nothing, satirical cartoonist Tim Kreider turns his funny, brutally honest eye to the dark truths of the human condition, asking big questions about human-sized problems: What if you survive a brush with death and it doesn't change you? Why do we fall in love with people we don't even like? How do you react when someone you've known for years unexpectedly changes genders?

With a perfect combination of humor and pathos, these essays leave us with newfound wisdom and a unique prism through which to examine our own chaotic journeys through life. These are the conversations you have only with best friends or total strangers, late at night over drinks, near closing time.

©2012 Tim Kreider (P)2014 Seneca and Marcus LLC

Very good

A very good collection of essays. I found them funny, thought-provoking, sad at times, but enjoyable. Kreider does a good job narrating as well.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

A fantastic listen!

The authors profound insights into himself and his experiences reached me on a very personal level. I laughed hysterically and even shed some tears thinking of my own experience. Thank you Tim Ferris for this recommendation.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Shouldn't have been written but glad it was

Some good stories some not so good. All in all though worth reading. The author too often assumes his own thoughts and motivations are the same as everyone else's he therefore applies motives to groups of people he clearly doesn't understand. This gets annoying and gives him an elitist air about him. All that said I am still happy that I listened to the book and would enjoy hanging out with him at the oyster bar he seems to like so well.

23 of 26 people found this review helpful

Exceptionally Beuatiful.

Tim's book is mind-blowing. The fact that he succeeds to narrate it in such a tone of voice that brings out all the intense emotions he regular convers in his writing is even further awesome. As one critic accurately put it, the stories Tim tells are some of the kind you only have with a best friend or a complete stranger, in a quiet bar, around closing time!!

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

Heartfelt work of genius

Tim does a great job describing many ethereal and ubiquitous aspects of modern life, down to survivalist vs the lazy and love in all forms.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

amazing book

loved it. his story telling ability perfectly captures things we all think... he just has a way of shining light on them

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Amazing

This book is great. You know it's good when an author gets into your head and changes the way you think. I recommend this book to anybody who wants to squeeze the juice out of life.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Amusing collection of essays

It is an amusing collection of essays that makes you ponder... a lovesick person wouldn't know the difference between a bold romantic gesture and stalking; it's the recipient who distinguishes that difference - when the recipient falls for the gesture or slaps the person with a restraining order. Some stories are not as relatable unless you've had friends who are drug addicts, love the rush of crazy relationships, or have insane murderous relatives. It's a "read and ruminate" kind of book.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

LOVE

I haven't read something like this in a long time - something that made me laugh out loud (often before the tears had dried from the previous essay or thought), while also making me really think about the big things in life (friendship, biology, gender, empathy).
This is a collection of essays. It's almost like being in the author's mind as he recounts and reflects on different moments in his life. It is not that he is offering up advice based on these moments, but rather revealing his own (often flawed) responses, thought processes and flat out confusion. It's intensely raw, and I found myself looking at my own life events, wondering how I would react to the same situations. He invites that way of thinking with his self-deprecation and easy writing style. I am delighted that I came across this gem, and it will most certainly be a repeat listen book for me.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

pinpusher

Great essays!

Laughed and cried. Related to many of the stories almost a little too much.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Could not stop listening.

Would you consider the audio edition of We Learn Nothing to be better than the print version?

Yes

What was one of the most memorable moments of We Learn Nothing?

Too many to remember one

What does Tim Kreider bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The right intonation

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

A cried a few times

Any additional comments?

Can't wait for another of his audiobooks!

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Thought provoking

Didn't really know east to expect from this book. It took a while for me to get into it, but then I started to enjoy the stories. Very funny, clever vocabulary, and very thought provoking.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

A genuine treat

An honest account of the things life can throw at us. Learnt about this through the Tim Ferriss Podcast and glad I gave it a go.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Superb and insightful

Unsurpassed insight into the human condition communicated with wit and humility. A 'must listen' audiobook.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Thought provoking and funny

An engrossing and engaging look back by the author at his life. I meant to listen to a little a day over a month but got sucked in and blasted through in a very few days. If you like to think, ponder or dissect what life is all about then this is for you.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Naked masterpiece depicting human nature

This book is like the morning after you wake up in a hangover (of not being drink but being your naked self as a human). You see in the mirror and there you are vulnerable, guilty and sort of laughing at yourself. Narration by Tim makes it what is - The masterpiece.

Favourite book, read wonderfully by the author

This is my favourite book, so obviously some degree of bias here.
If you don't know what this is, it's a collection of stories about the author's life, all conveying a message or a lesson he took from it.
They're really fantastic, varying in length from 12 to over 40 minutes, so great for listening in bouts.

The author himself reads the stories, in the way they were meant to be read. Do yourself a favour and get this, you won't regret it.

One of favourite books

I've listened to this a few times and still enjoy every chapter! being read by the author you feel effortlessly transported into his stories!

reflections that make me feel less weird

loved listening to it on my commute. it's filed with light reflections about unusual people and choices

Random but not lacking in charm

This is quite a strange book : I'm not quite sure why the author wrote it or I why I bought it. To read it is like sitting in a café with a witty and personable friend who is freely reminiscing about other friends and experiences he has had over his lifetime. If, like me, this sort of activity takes up rather less of your life that you would ideally like, listening to Tim Kreider is a pleasant substitute. Tim has some interesting things to talk about - being adopted and meeting his half sisters at age 40, having a close male friend who becomes a woman, being a life-long progressive in the USA - and he paints the feelings he experienced and then analyses them with wit and insight. He has a great turn of phrase at times 'I felt the opposite of heart-broken', and a balanced and intelligent outlook. I listened to the book while swimming, and would recommend it for a train journey as a light, companionable, quite brief listen.