Publishers Weekly
03/30/2020
Comedian Papa (Your Dad Stole My Rake) offers a delightful set of upbeat and candidly humorous essays on the challenges of modern living. Society is “inundated, twenty-four hours a day, with news, images, and ideas of all kinds... and it’s messing with our heads,” he writes. His antidote: be grateful, relax, and stop trying to be perfect (“No one is happy all the time.... Whenever I see couples posting about how in love they are, I know they’re in trouble”). Papa, a Gen Xer who had a common-sense New Jersey Italian-American upbringing, is unapologetic about his passion for eating: “There’s too much happiness and history to put an end to it... who cares if you’re a little fat?” In “Let’s Go Back,” a touching departure from his straight-up humor, Papa writes to a deceased college friend about their shabby house share (“It’s hard when you outgrow something you love. It’s even harder when you lose the people that came with it”). In other essays, Papa recalls a river tubing accident (“It wasn’t awesome. Breaking a couple ribs on a rock at the bottom of a waterfall is stupid”), as well as the joys of living in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood in the 1990s. This collection is a clever respite for readers looking for lighthearted escape from their daily lives. (May)
From the Publisher
You’re Doing Great! is your no-nonsense go-to collection of essays to get you through the increasing noise and chatter of self-doubt and confusion in the new millennium. Tom Papa is a funny, empathetic guide and your new best friend." —Patton Oswalt
"When someone asks me to write a blurb for their book, I usually want to fake my death, but Tom is hilarious and this will be worth your time. Read it. Listen to it. Whatever, do what you want. According to Tom you’re doing great." —Whitney Cummings
“I like when Tom writes words and puts them in a row. It’s much better than listening to him say random words. Buy this book.” —Matt Damon
"I’ve had a lot of guests on my podcast but only one is really funny, a great writer, and brings me bread. All hail my friend, the Sultan of Sourdough!" —Joe Rogan
"A comedian muses on life, love, and simple pleasures ... in a collection of funny, warmhearted essays . . . reminiscent of E.B. White." —Kirkus Reviews
"Papa offers a delightful set of upbeat and candidly humorous essays on the challenges of modern living. This collection is a clever respite for readers looking for lighthearted escape from their daily lives."
—Publishers Weekly
NOVEMBER 2020 - AudioFile
Comedian Tom Papa sounds like his low-key, charming self doing stand-up. This audiobook is smoother than his live performances, but it's not too polished, and his vocal quality and understated emotionality are perfect for his brand of homespun humor. He complains about his own mistakes—overeating, erratic decision-making, letting others control him—and supplies a hilarious list of human foibles, injustices, and insults that almost everyone suffers. All of this is to illustrate the point of his message: In spite of these realities, we’re going to be okay; in fact, we are okay—even with our missteps, foolish choices, and self-delusion. Papa’s delivery is perfect because it suggests the kind of lovable NYC everyman who would care enough to have these kinds of thoughts and share them with the rest of us. T.W. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2020-02-10
A comedian muses on life, love, and simple pleasures.
Host of a daily SiriusXM show as well as a podcast, Papa gives ample evidence of his “ability to live on the happy side of the street” in a collection of funny, warmhearted essays whose overarching messages are, “we should be grateful for what we have” and “shouldn’t take life all that seriously.” The author is thankful for many things, including coffee (at the first sip each morning, he writes, “my entire being knows the day is about to improve”); baking bread, which he does with unabashed pleasure; a weekly date night, which he claims keeps a marriage happy; gathering for dinner with his wife and two daughters (“I just want to look up and see them and have them see me and realize we’re family. That’s why we eat together”); and indulging his desires at 7-Eleven stores, “crammed with everything you could ever need or want, just waiting for your arrival like delicious outposts on the modern-day prairie.” Papa encourages everyone to find someone to love, which, with 7 billion people in the world, should not be difficult. Love, he writes, is “finding someone whose flaws you can put up with.” Certainly, a few things annoy the author: loud, rude people, for example, who invade places that should be quiet and soothing, like breakfast rooms of motels. But if a few essays display irritation, most are generously encouraging. “Our minds are our worst critics,” he writes. “We do it to ourselves.” To keep thinking positively, Papa advises, “you need to avoid anything that can bring you down.” The most delightful essay is a nostalgic paean, reminiscent of E.B. White, to the funky, close-knit Manhattan neighborhood where he and his wife first lived: “we loved it, we loved each other, and even if we wanted to leave, our roots were growing deeper.”
Entertaining essays from a genial guide.
