Another bad review for the narrator

Any additional comments?
I will read this book again. I may even try to listen to it again. But there is no debating the degree to which the performance takes away from this audio book. It's not so much that Fiona Hardingham (somewhat comically) mispronounces words like Akron, its that she rarely delivers Klosterman's thoughts with the proper cadence. She constantly ruins his jokes and worse, she often makes his complex ideas very difficult to process. When Klosterman takes over the narration for the final minutes it is such a (short lived) relief.

The narration compounds the problems of the book. Unlike most of Klosterman's nonfiction this is not a book of essays. It would be fair categorize the book as philosophy although at times it comes closer to semiotics. I have no problem with this. These are both subjects I enjoy immensely. Unfortunately the book has a bad habit of raising interesting questions and then drifting away from them without addressing them satisfactorily. Gusty winds may exist.

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A VERY misleading waste of my money

Any additional comments?

I already bought and read the kindle version of this book -- I ONLY bought the audible version because I noticed Klosterman was one of the narrators. I love it when he reads his own work, because he usually drops in a lot of parenthetical asides, so it's like getting Bluray bonus features on a book you've already enjoyed.

This book is NOT "Narrated by Chuck Klosterman and Fiona Hardingham". This book is "Narrated by Fiona Hardingham (With an Introduction by Chuck Klosterman)". That is not a small difference. That is the difference between me spending or NOT spending $19 on a book I already own.

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Chuck only narrates the first 4 minutes...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I purchased this audiobook because I LOVE Klosterman. I realized 30 seconds into chapter 2, that what I LOVE, is Klosterman reading Klosterman. I am confident that Fiona Hardingham is a wonderful narrator but it feels jarring to hear her reading this material. I can only assume that the content is classic Klosterman but I cannot consume it in its current incarnation.

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I agree, Chuck must be the narrator!!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This is the second time recently that I have been eagerly awaiting the release of an audiobook by an author whom I adore to listen to read his own material. Bill Bryson not narrating his last was a great let down, and now this. I suppose Chuck would say that this is a very "first world" problem, and he would be absolutely right. None the less, one of my great pleasures in life is listening to Chuck Klosterman reading his great writing. His delivery, comic timing, and unique tone are all perfect for his material. Alas, he seems to have retired his voice. I suppose I may have to learn to read!!!

What didn’t you like about Chuck Klosterman and Fiona Hardingham ’s performance?

Fiona does a fine job, and she is a nice narrator in her own right. However, it's just not the same without Klostermans voice.

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Unbelievably wrong narrator

What did you like best about But What If We're Wrong?? What did you like least?

If Chuck would prefer us to read his work rather than listen to it he should have just said so.

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Why a British lady reading?

She's a great vocalist and it was a great performance, but it was very strange to listen to Chuck Klosterman as-read by a female with a British accent. It's like an irreverent joke carried far past normal limits.

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Good content, but not a good listen

Where does But What If We're Wrong? rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's classic Chuck, but I just couldn't listen because of the narrator. I'm so used to hearing him read and chat on podcasts -- that it was jarring and odd to hear another person perform his work. Skip the audio book and pick up a hard copy.

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interesting question - lukewarm answers

What disappointed you about But What If We're Wrong??

The question is interesting. I was expecting something along the lines of "Mistakes were made" or "Being Wrong". And there wasn't anything. The ability to string words together in a pleasant way does not substitute content. Firmly in the bottom 5% of books I ever came across.

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Why isn't Klosterman narrating his own book?

Chuck Klosterman is one of my favorite authors. But that's in large part because of his own very particular point of view. He writes in the first person and relates much of his material to his own life experiences.

So it's just weird and off-putting to hear a British woman essentially pretend she's Chuck Klosterman as the narrator of this book. It's distracting and there's simply no way for me to really get into the material since I'm constantly reminded with the first person form that this is someone reading someone else's work to me.

The book is great and I'll be buying the physical copy to read it properly. Don't bother listening to the audiobook version.

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Don't Listen To While Driving!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I am a huge Klosterman fan, but multiple times during this book I thought that he had either lost his touch or I was having a series of grand mal seizures. Chuck is great at microscopically thin-slicing a premise, dragging you through a labyrinth of seemingly unconnected thought-bites before expertly tying all the extraneous pieces together into a potentially worldview changing conclusion. Don't expect too much of that here. The vast majority of these thought experiments are discursive and left dangling, a maddening series of non-sequiturs. Even when he does close the loop it's mostly unsatisfying. He actually stated that Barack Obama was the greatest President during his lifetime because he was black and as a black man it was really difficult to get elected. True. But, for a guy who earns his living making fine distinctions, how could he not he not differentiate between getting elected President and actually being President. (And, unless you're 16 or under there is absolutely no way that you could make a substantive argument for Obama being the best during your lifetime).

Would you be willing to try another book from Chuck Klosterman? Why or why not?

Sure. Chuck is very talented and I'm sure he'll bounce back.

How could the performance have been better?

Having a British fembot read the book made the experience all but unbearable. Jane Austen, yes. Klosterman, no.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment.

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