My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places

by Mary Roach, Angela Dawe (Read by)

Overview

From acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author Mary Roach comes the complete collection of her “My Planet” articles published in Reader’s Digest. She was a hit columnist in the magazine, and this audiobook features the articles she wrote in that time. Insightful and hilarious, Mary explores the ins and outs of the modern world: marriage, friends, family, food, technology, customer service, dental floss, and ants—she leaves no element of the American experience unchecked for its inherent paradoxes, pleasures, and foibles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781480532311
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	09/02/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 5.10(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Mary Roach is the author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, and Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. She lives in Oakland, California.

Angela Dawe is an actor and improviser working with the Annoyance Theater and Second City in Chicago. Originally from Lansing, Michigan, Angela's career has encompassed stage, television, and film work, in addition to award-winning audiobook narrations, which include young adult, suspense, romance, and historical fiction titles.

Hometown:

San Francisco, California

Place of Birth:

New Hampshire

Education:

B.A., Wesleyan University, 1981

Website:

http://www.maryroach.net/

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Soap Opera 1

To Do or Not to Do 4

42 Minutes and Holding… 7

The Way I Can't See It 10

Picture Imperfect 13

Industrial Strength Shopping 16

Meet the Parents 20

She's Got Game 23

Don't Bring Me Flowers 26

Roomba's Revenge 30

How I Caught Every Disease on the Web 34

TV Dinners 37

Frequent Flierrr#*! 40

Hold Everything! 43

Night Light Fight 46

Picture This 50

Driving with Ed 53

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day 56

You Know the Drill 59

Check This Out 62

The Naked Truth 65

Bug Off! 68

Mr. Fix-It-Later 71

The Beer and Bacon Diet 74

Menu Madness 77

Is That What You're Wearing? 80

Good House Hunting 83

Counter Attack 86

Unpopular Mechanics 89

Congested and Confused 92

I Married a Pack Rat 95

Makes Scents 98

I Gotta Be … You 101

Furniture Fight 104

Can You Hear Me Now! 107

Cheaper Than Thou 110

The Grass Menagerie 113

On the Road Again 116

It's Your Fault 119

Taking Its Toll 122

A Kiss Is Just … a Pain 125

Caught on the Web 128

Dishing Dirt 131

Suite Dreams 134

And There's the Rub! 137

Nivea Man 140

Grape Expectations 143

Sit Back and Relax 146

Sleepless in Suburbia 149

Kitchen Confidential 152

Best Cheap Fun! 155

1-800-WasteMyTime 158

Dinner Party Debt 161

Garbage Gone Wild 164

Alarming Events 167

RV There Yet? 170

Yours, Mine & Mine 174

Gratuitous Gratuities 177

Color Me Flummoxed 180

Change Is Not Good 183

One Good Tern… 186

Talking the Walk 189

Editorial Reviews

11/15/2013
This collection of Roach's (Gulp) columns for Reader's Digest is a series of fun diversions; each story lasts only a few minutes. Roach writes both humorously and self-deprecatingly of the joys and frustrations of everyday life. Topics include a quagmire journey of the corporate phone tree; the inexplicable need to buy nonfunctional, nonsensical, and possibly malevolent gadgets; and doing battle with the passenger behind you in an airplane, followed by the inevitable defeat. Angela Dawe narrates with appropriate comic timing. VERDICT This quick collection is perfect for public libraries where material such as "Best of NPR" stories circulates well.—Tristan M. Boyd, Westbank Community Lib., Austin, TX

Library Journal - Audio

The author made her name writing pieces for Reader’s Digest and penning her own books, which take a lighthearted and funny view of her world. This collection includes the best of her articles, and they’re amusing and insightful. The problem is that narrator Angela Dawe performs as if she were on stage, not narrating a book. She speaks in a loud upper register that doesn’t have much range, making much of the book an exercise in differentiating the material while the voice remains the same. In short, there’s no nuance or layering to Dawe’s voice, just a freight train barreling down the tracks. A funny freight train, mind you, but a train nonetheless. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2013 - AudioFile