The Way I Heard It

I limited myself to reading one story per day to make this book last longer because I had a feeling it would be tremendous and I was not off the mark on that assumption! What a wonderful, easy way Mike Rowe has of telling a story and keeping you guessing and enthralled. I loved not knowing who was the subject of the short tales he shared until the very end ... some I guessed, many I did not ... all were terrific! This is a definite must read and must share book.

The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe is a very highly recommended collection of 35 of his favorite episodes followed by his personal stories.

As Rowe explains,"Like The Rest of the Story, the mysteries in this book tell some true stories you probably don’t know, about some famous people you probably do. Your job is to figure out who or what I’m talking about before I get to the end. Inside, you’ll find thirty-five mysteries pulled from my podcast. Think of them as tiles in a mosaic. Each of these mysteries is followed by a personal recollection. Think of those as the grout that holds the tiles together. Like the flap copy says: Mystery and Memoir for the Curious Mind with a Short Attention Span."

The Way I Heard It is a wildly show more entertaining collection of Rowe's favorite podcast episodes combined with a memoir. His personal anecdotes, stories, and memories, or the grout, is just as entertaining and delightful as the stories. Rowe has a personable, charming, down-to-earth manner which makes reading this a pleasure. Don't let the self-deprecating humor deceive you, the stories are all compelling and enticing, while the personal recollections are humorous, interesting, and diverting, as well as imparting some wisdom along the way.

Once I started The Way I Heard It, I looked forward to reading more, saying "just-one-more-chapter" and thus it ended way-too-soon. It was a pleasure from start to finish. The writing is excellent. The Rest of the Story segments are interesting, and Rowe's stories are varied, interesting, and entertaining. This is one of the best nonfiction books of the year, especially if I base my choices on sheer pleasure while reading. All I can say is read this book. The Way I Heard It would be a great gift.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Simon & Schuster.
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I don’t hand out 5 stars very often; usually only for books I’d keep on the shelf or ones I’d reread. Mike Rowe’s intro stories are so intriguing and his frequent suggestion to “google it” had me wanting more and I was googling things. His story telling provided enough summary to make me want to get more and the way he strings things together throughout the entire book is so well done that although it is bits and pieces of history and his own life it really does tie together in an extraordinary way. Bravo MIke Rowe!

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes an author just sees the world the same way you do. Mike Rowe sees what I see, but with more kindness. His is a heart-opening and mind-expanding perspective with lots of warm humor and humility mixed in.

I was expecting a bit of commentary interspersed with transcripts of the podcast. Maybe I'd glean some background information about how he came to write about his topics for "The Way I Heard It" (of which, I confess, I have not missed a single episode). There is much more meat in this book than what I expected. Mike makes other connections from history and shares fun personal anecdotes. It's just more of Mike, and he's a great show more guy: an American folk hero like Mr. Rogers or Garrison Keillor or his inspiration, Paul Harvey. This is delightful reading and would make a perfect holiday gift for someone who loves Mike Rowe or just loves great storytelling. show less

I gave this book to my dad a couple of years ago for Christmas, thinking he would enjoy it. (He's never told me if he read it so I don't know if I was right or not.) True to form, that meant I had to read it too. I used to listen to Mike Rowe's podcast, also called The Way I Heard It, and thought that it would be interesting to learn more about the charming, witty, and down-to-Earth host through this combination of podcast vignettes and memoir.

The vignettes are all stories he'd already told on the podcast rather than the new pieces I had hoped for. That's on me but it meant that having heard the podcast, I was already familiar with the bulk of the book. In and among the 35 stories from the podcast, Rowe has dropped short anecdotes from show more his own life. Readers get to know his parents, see the path he took through show business, from his years at QVC to hosting Dirty Jobs, and stop in at some of his other unconventional life choices along the way, finally culminating in the founding of his mikeroweWORKS foundation. He is a public figure and much of what he shares in the book has been shared elsewhere, on air or online, as well, so there's not a lot of new material here. It is a pleasaant read, filled with self-deprecating humor, a little bit Paul Harvey, a little bit memoir. Readers unfamiliar with the podcast and wanting just little snippets of stories where they can try to guess the subject as the tale goes on will enjoy this book and the way [Rowe] heard it. show less

4+ I first saw Mike Does on Dirty jobs, and enjoyed his humor, his willingness to try anything. Reading this I learned he is or was, a big Paul Harvey fan, as was my husband. Everyday my husband would stop and listen avidly until the end and the words, the rest of the story. This is what Rowe does here, tell stories, some of people well known, well maybe depending on the age of the reader, others not as familiar. They are surprising, little known, at least to me, events I their lives. I bet most readers will find a surprise or two within.

After each story. Mike tells us the journey his life has taken. He has done many different jobs, met many different people, from many walks if life. His life has taken some strange turns. His writing show more is as humorous, self deprecating as his show on TV was, he just seems to have a natural talent. A big plus is that this is a book that will appeal to both men and women, a book that will provide fodder for some good discussions.

I found this impressive, entertaining and interesting.

ARC from Edelweiss. show less

This book is chock full of trivial veignettes, each then creatively connected to an experience had by Mike Rowe.

As Paul Harvey told "The Rest of the Story," Mike Rowe tells, "The Way I Heard It." His emulation is gratifying both to him, and to readers.

The way I heard it...is that this will likely please you, if you are a Mike Rowe fan. (I am.)