I want to thank SNL for bringing my attention to Nate Bargatze. His first memoir, (hopefully, not his last) is hilarious and family-friendly. Nate is probably the cleanest comic since Seinfeld, a man Nate likes almost as much as Vandy football. (No, he did NOT got to Vanderbilt.) Anyway, if you love comedy, family craziness and laughing out loud, read this adorable memoir. And hope for more from Bargatze.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this digital e-arc.*

Big Dumb Eyes is a great extension to Nate Bargatze’s comedy skits. A more in depth look into his childhood and self. I read the whole book in his voice and really hope he plans to do the audiobook himself.
I laughed out loud quite a few times in this book! I just love him! Clean humor all the way through. He is a talented comedian.

I did struggle to keep reading as each chapter perfectly, humorously wrapped up and felt like an end each time. Still highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Hilarious. I love this comedian. Clean and funny. Loved his stories. It was lighthearted and fun quick read.

Thank you, Nate Bargatze, for making my Mother’s Day shopping so easy this year!

My family was living with my parents earlier this year while both of our bathrooms were being remodeled. At every chance she got, my mom became so excited to show me a different Nate Bargatze special. I’m pretty sure we watched the iced coffee segment 3 separate times during the month we lived there. Laughter is like medicine for the soul, and reading Big Dumb Eyes definitely brought me joy. I know Nate doesn’t like looking at words, but I’m thankful he wrote this and gave us the opportunity to peek deeper into his upbringing and home life. So many great stories inside these pages!

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

As a child of the 80's, this book was hilarious and very relatable. It was funny and clean. Nate is very funny and paints a picture of what it is like to be a child growing up in the 80's and 90's.

Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind by Nate Bargatze
A collection of personal stories and random musings from one of today’s most likable stand-up comedians—basically, Nate Bargatze doing what he does best… just in book form.
I’ve read a few books by comedians, mostly out of curiosity about what makes them tick. This one? It didn’t scratch that itch. It felt more like reading a transcript of his stand-up routine than anything deeper or more personal. The charm that works on stage just didn’t translate to the page for me—it was more cringe than clever. I’ll keep cheering him on as a comic, just not as an author.

Nate Bargatze is funny in person and funny in writing. Stories about his family and his comedy. Very enjoyable to read!

It was like reading a stand-up routine! Any fan of Nate's will really like this book. I love a good memoir. Hearing from the actual person about their life and upbringing. Nate's story was fun, lighthearted, and endearing. My only form of criticism, is that I would have like the story to have been told a bit more in order of his life. The stories were great and some super funny, but being told out of order, took me a bit out of the actual memoir genre. But thank you Nate for being open and honest and so darn funny!

All the stories were very average. Nothing stood out as too outlandish ... which is hard to write when your dad is a clown.

I like Bargatze's standup comedy, especially his guest spots on SNL. Nothing's better than George Washington! But this collection of stories from his youth was just okay. They were stories my friends and I would tell or share about growing up in a small town. I was expecting more stories about life experiences the average person wouldn't have had, not something most of us have had. If anything, I'm now very confused as to why his wife married him.

It's pretty obvious that most of the stories were "written" by voice-to-text. The cadence was in his voice, and it had a storytelling quality to it, but not a prose quality. So yeah, it's weird to read a book written by someone who adamantly says they don't read books.

I wanted more. More about how his career took off or some insight to something that wasn't just his childhood or normal homelife.

Message/Theme: 3 stars? Not sure there was one
Writing: 2 stars

I love Nate Bargatze's stand up, so I was really excited to check out his book. I did laugh out loud at moment's, and I could hear his voice in my head as I read, but it wasn't the same as his actual delivery. I plan to pick this up when it comes out as an audio book. I suspect I would have liked this book more.

Big Dumb Eyes is a hilarious and heartwarming collection of stories from comedian Nate Bargatze’s youth. With his signature deadpan delivery and self-deprecating humor, Bargatze brings to life a series of amusing tales that had me laughing out loud more than once. Whether he’s recalling awkward childhood moments or bizarre family encounters, his storytelling is effortlessly funny and deeply relatable.

The book feels like sitting down with a friend who has an endless supply of funny, slightly ridiculous memories. It’s full of charm, wit, and a tone that stays true to the Nate we know from stand-up. I sincerely hope this is just the beginning and that more books are on the way—Bargatze’s voice is a welcome one on the page as much as it is on the stage.

This book was pure Nate Bargatze. it would be
Even better as an audio book. I did read it thinking about how Nate would be saying it,

As a long time Nate fan I knew I would enjoy this. It was hard to read the stories and not read them in his voice. There were a few repeats from other times I have watched and listened to him, but lots of new material too. He is one of the funniest men out there and the fact that he does it all in such a clean, entertaining way is outstanding. Even though it would blow his that this is book number 42 for me this year, I think in a weird way he would be proud to have made my list!

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I am a fan of Nate’s style of comedy, mixing humble stories of his life with silly situations, and some xennial flair. I was really curious to read what he’d consider worthy to be in a book. And make no mistake, this is 100% written in his voice. You can hear the cadence and style with every word. I was a little reluctant to start reading this one. Not that I don’t like him, but it’s hard to be funny for a couple hundred pages no matter who you are. And I’m sorry to say I was right to be apprehensive. As much as I enjoy his stand up routines, there were a few themes that popped up that made me uncomfortable. One is religion. I get it, the south is steeped in it. But that doesn’t mean I want to read about it in a book from a comedian. Another is about his grandmother, which he admits is an abusive alcoholic who abused his dad. It’s not the description that’s the issue, it’s the story of his dad visiting on her deathbed asking for forgiveness for “not being a better son”. Coming from my own abusive past, this jangled a lot of nerves. Everyone deals with their issues differently but this feels like a dangerous vignette to appear so casually. This is all in the first 10% of the book, too.

Overall, it’s ok. Nothing that really blows the doors off. And truly, I don’t think it was meant to. It’s a collection of stories. Some are funny and heartwarming, like the Men in Black story with his little sister. Some are a product of their time where you truly had to be there or like alive during that era (church basketball, old blue, McDonald’s menu change). Others are sad like the cliff story, his dad’s childhood and poor Cosmo the cat. And the whole Vanderbilt sports story. (Yay sports ball?)

If anything by the end of the book, it’s much easier to understand how Nate ended up in stand up. With family like his, it truly was the only possible outcome.

I think Nate Bargatze is hilarious. If you've never seen some of his stand-up, you're missing out. His self-deprecating humor and his "normal guy" delivery are really, really funny.

However, I think the delivery is what's missing in this book for me. I tried to love it, and some places I did laugh out loud. But overall, reading the book just didn't work well for me. I think in this case, the audiobook would have been 100x better.

2.5⭐s from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lynnlee Publishing for an advanced copy of the book. It's scheduled to be published on May 6, 2025.

I was introduced to Nate Bargatze's comedy on Saturday Night Live, where he did his now-viral George Washington sketches. These are, in my opinion, sheer genius, but throughout this book, Bargatze tries to convince us that he is just the opposite. This is the approach he takes in his standup as well - painting a picture of an ordinary guy from a small town who was dumb enough to flunk bowling in college - a guy who also had a fall as a child and broke his skull, which (he claims) is the reason that he isn't the genius he wanted to be.

All of the chapters here are slice-of-life stories, from his own childhood to having children of his own (I particularly liked the chapter on his daughter's birth, where he swears he is not going to cut the cord, but guess what). Much of the book is, as Bargatze describes it, "light, funny and relaxing." His style is low key and modest. It's not until you get to the end of chapters that you realize you were laughing the whole time.

I admit to having a bit of trouble with his occasional use of improper grammar ("me and Laura went to the store"). It reinforces the stereotype of an ignorant southern kid, and it bothered me because his whole shtick is trying to convince you that he is not a genius when in fact, he is.

I very much enjoyed this book and look forward to more Nate Bargatze in the future. Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.