Josh Gad

Road trip audiobook! I'm driving to Wisconsin for a graduation party, and having Olaf the snowman talk to me on the way seems like a good distraction.

In addition to giving some behind-the-scenes for his big hits -- The Book of Mormon Broadway musical and the Frozen animated film series -- Josh Gad spends a good chunk of time recounting his success in high school forensics competitions. I found this part very relatable, as I too competed in public speaking back in the (very, very long ago) show more day.

I was less interested in his takes on Covid-19 and the war in Gaza, but these bits at least didn't last too long.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, though it wasn't as humorous as I expected and Gad's ego seemed a bit overinflated at times. It helped the mile pass quickly enough though.

p.s., I realized part-way through my road trip that as I envisioned the stories in my mind's eye I was actually visualizing Harvey Guillén from What We Do in the Shadows instead of Gad. Afterward, I looked them both up, and boy are they similar looking. Separated at birth?

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents:

Foreword / by Sacha Baron Cohen

Book I. Of Childhood Dreams, Teenage Schemes, and College Themes
1. How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love to Clown
2. Forensics Can Be So Much More Than Cutting Up Dead Bodies
3. Man Up

Inward / by Josh Gad's Inner Voice

Book II. Of Growing Men, Mormen, and Snowmen
4. Spell Check
5. Highs and Lows
6. Hello!
7. It's Just Snow, Man!

Book III. Of Adulthood, Parenthood, and Avoiding White Hoods
8. Just Kidding
9. Hath Not a Jew Book-Writing Deals?

Howard / by Ron Howard

Book IV. Of Movie Magic, Something Tragic, and Stage Comebacks
10. Controversy and the Beast
11. But Wait, There's More!
12. A Murder, an Icon, a Pandemic
13. Homecoming
Afterword: One Last Thing

Onward / by Mel Brooks

Acknowledgments show less

Not every memoir needs to be written. This wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t particularly insightful, inspiring, revealing, or entertaining. It sits somewhere between comedy and memoir, yet never fully commits to either, always skirting around deeper introspection. There are personal truths here, some genuine insecurities laid bare, but nothing truly immersed me in his experiences or made me feel invested. It reads more like a detailed CV, a highlight reel of the famous people and moments that show more shaped his career, rather than a heartfelt reflection on the journey itself. I always hope for a bit more soul in a memoir, something that makes me feel alongside the author, but I didn’t get that here. It’s a pleasant enough read, but not one I can enthusiastically recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the access to this book. show less

Let me first start by saying that I love the idea of more Jewish graphic novels about Jewish mythology and folklore. Now, I was super excited to read this book since I had heard about it but it was so underwhelming. The 4th wall break was jarring after a storyline that felt like so many holes were missing and was being rushed through.

This book is too long. Massively too long. However, this is more of a second grader book than a storytime book, so the length is understandable. In this our main character, Tony really wants a Pictureface Lizzy, which is a type of smart device. All her friends have one and she really really wants them too. She feels constantly left out. Her parents finally get her a Pictureface Lizzy, and while she does have fun with it, she also learns and gains perspective that you can do more than play show more with an electronic toy, and that sometimes real life adventures are better than the ones lived online. I like the message in this book. Overall, I like the book. However, it does not sound like Josh Gad. The last line of the book, I’d say Josh wrote that but in general if someone were to blind, read this to me and say select from four creators, I never would’ve picked it to be Josh Gad. show less