MARCH 2019 - AudioFile
This audiobook is derived from the RISK! podcast, which encourages people to take risks by disclosing personal stories. Its slogan is “True Tales, Boldly Told.” Sadly, the “boldly told” feature got lost in the conversion of the podcast to an audiobook. Instead of allowing each author to tell their story, as is the case in the podcast, only three narrators, including host Kevin Allison, deliver the 37 stories. The narrators deliver solid performances, with Sarah Mollo-Christensen being a standout. Those not familiar with the podcast will enjoy hearing the emotional, personal tales. But as good as the narrators may be, they can’t provide the storytelling gravitas of a person who has had the experience and is for the first time revealing it. Compare Lili Taylor’s podcast reading of “The Duel”—an account of the day her bipolar Dad toyed with the family cutlery—with the version on the audiobook, and you’ll get an idea of what could have been. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
07/02/2018
Allison, host of the Risk! podcast, collects stories from the podcast in which people talk about defining moments in their lives. Dan Savage writes regretfully in his essay “The Stranger” about letting “things go too far and too fast”while having sex with a younger and less experienced young man. In, “Dylan,” Kyle Gest describes how being bullied led him to drop out of high school, and how thoughts of his bully, who was later convicted of murder, still haunt him to this day. Some stories evoke both laughter and sadness, such as comedian Marc Maron’s “Hookers ’n’ Blow,” about a sexual encounter with a sex worker that made him panic about getting AIDS, and his realization that he probably hired her because “I see now that if I’m not in some sense of panic... I don’t know what to do with myself”; at one point during his anxiety attack he realizes that the lump he felt in the woman’s breast could have been cancer. Each storyteller is brutally honest, and each essay is guided by the belief—as stated by Morgan in “Always a Woman,” her essay about transitioning—that “this is my truth, and I’m not going to hide.” These fascinating, affecting confessionals are sure to reach readers beyond the podcast’s scope. (July)
From the Publisher
Brit + Co, "12 Books You'll Want to Read on the Beach This Summer"
Amazon, Best Books of the Month
AOL.com, "14 Beach Reads"
Kobo, Most Anticipated Nonfiction, Best Books of the Month
"RISK!
gives a platform to stories rarely heard, to people rarely represented and their most insane experiences. This book pushes us to live lives that inspire stories like these, to take risks you wanna live through to tell the stories about."—Ilana Glazer, co-creator and co-star of Broad City
"Electric, daring, bold, ribald, terrifying. And that's just the first five stories."
—Dan Kennedy, host of The Moth storytelling podcast
"RISK!
will move you to live fiercely and share your wildest truths!"
—John Hodgman, actor, humorist, and New York Times bestselling author of Vacationland
"Evoke[s] both laughter and sadness...These fascinating, affecting confessionals are sure to reach readers beyond the podcast's scope."—Publishers Weekly
"Powerful...The writers in RISK! are unafraid to bare their souls. These stories prove that when you take a chance--in storytelling and in life--anything can happen."—Lisa Lampanelli, Comedian and playwright
"From out-there tales of cannabalism and almost murder (yes, really) to provocative stories of identity and gender, this collection will make you gasp out loud and perhaps inspire you to live a little larger."—Mind Body Green, "The 5 Books You Won't Be Able to Put Down This July"
"RISK! uncovers life at its most hilarious and terrifying. Each story leads readers over a tripwire and leaves you thinking, 'Wow...'"
—Glynn Washington, host of WNYC's Snap Judgment
"If you love hearing about real life stories that range from embarrassing to heartwarming to sometimes shocking, you're going to love RISK!"—Brit + Co
MARCH 2019 - AudioFile
This audiobook is derived from the RISK! podcast, which encourages people to take risks by disclosing personal stories. Its slogan is “True Tales, Boldly Told.” Sadly, the “boldly told” feature got lost in the conversion of the podcast to an audiobook. Instead of allowing each author to tell their story, as is the case in the podcast, only three narrators, including host Kevin Allison, deliver the 37 stories. The narrators deliver solid performances, with Sarah Mollo-Christensen being a standout. Those not familiar with the podcast will enjoy hearing the emotional, personal tales. But as good as the narrators may be, they can’t provide the storytelling gravitas of a person who has had the experience and is for the first time revealing it. Compare Lili Taylor’s podcast reading of “The Duel”—an account of the day her bipolar Dad toyed with the family cutlery—with the version on the audiobook, and you’ll get an idea of what could have been. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
