Nate has proven to be hard to dislike. He followed the playbook that Brian Regan laid out for everyone, but took it to the next level. Self-deprecation notwithstanding, Nate is pretty smart.

Thank you Hachette Audio for this advanced audiobook! This was such a great listen! I love Nate Bargatze - I can't make it through his comedy specials without uncontrollably laughing out loud. While the narrated storyline has a different vibe than stand-up, I thoroughly enjoyed getting more insight and background to some of the funny stories/jokes I've already heard.

I don't think I am the audience for this book, and that's okay! I started it, laughed, and then never had the urge to pick up and keep listening. I am happy for Nate and am glad he narrates his own story. I am sure lots of people will appreciate his balance of humor and reflective storytelling.

I loved listening to Big Dumb Eyes in his voice—he’s my favorite comedian, and hearing him tell his own stories made it feel personal, funny, and totally engaging. The delivery was great, and there were so many moments that had me laughing out loud. I knocked off one star mostly due to some repetition that, while intentional, felt just slightly annoying at times. A few parts also felt a bit random, though that’s not exactly a bad thing coming from a stand-up comedian—it kind of added to the charm. Overall, a great listen and definitely worth it if you’re a fan.

I've been a fan of Nate Bargatze's for years. I've seen him live twice, once in a fairly small venue and once in an arena. This wasn't as funny as his stand up, but it was still an enjoyable memior that delves deeper into his life than a joke ever could.

Laugh-out-loud funny and dumb in the most endearing way, Big Dumb Eyes is everything you'd want from Nate Bargatze on the page. His signature everyman humor shines through in a collection of ridiculous, relatable, and genuinely sweet stories. Whether he's talking about his tennis ball gear shift or debating the definition of "shopping" with his wife, Nate delivers with perfect comedic timing and charm. It’s delightfully absurd in places, surprisingly wholesome in others, and never takes itself too seriously. A perfect read when you need a mood boost—or just a reason to laugh until you cry.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

If you are familiar with Nate's standup, then this is exactly what you think it will be, and it's everything I wanted. I am not an audiobook fan under normal circumstances; this is the first audiobook I have listened to in years in fact. But when I heard he was narrating his own book, I knew this was the exception, and I am so glad I did. It is basically a 6 hour stand up, sprinkled with some feel good. It was the perfect drive to work distraction from real life that I was looking for!

I love Nate and his shows are hilarious! I love how he has clean comedy. This was the perfect book for him to write about his life.

I’ve been a fan of Nate Bargatze—a clean comic with a slow Southern drawl—so I was excited to listen to the audiobook version, narrated by Nate himself.

True to form, the book is light, funny, and self-deprecating. Nate admits he doesn’t like to read, so he includes blank pages (or in the audiobook, elevator music) to give readers a break. His delivery and timing make the stories about his childhood and comedy career especially entertaining.

While I didn’t laugh as much as I do during his stand-up, I was consistently amused. This is a fun and easy book to listen—especially on those days when the world feels heavy. It’s not a literary masterpiece, but it doesn’t try to be. It’s just Nate being Nate, and sometimes that’s exactly what we need.

My thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the recording of this book.

I had fun listening to this audiobook filled with silly antics and southern charm. The special touches of sound effects that he puts in made the listening experience more enjoyable and added to the stories. Would only recommend if you are a true fan of the comedian since it is more story based and not comedy based.

I like Nate Bargatze and I appreciate his "clean" humor so I was excited to listen to his memoir narrated by himself. There were cute stories from his childhood to help explain his career path as well as sweet accounts with his wife and daughter, but overall it fell kind of flat for me. I didn't have any laugh out loud moments as I had anticipated.

2.5 stars

I really enjoy Nate Bargatze’s standup, so imagine my disappointment when I barely chuckled while listening to all 6.5 hours of him narrating the audiobook. I thought his whole “I’m not too smart” schtick was just that, a schtick, because comedians have to be inherently intelligent to come up with funny insights/jokes. Especially if you purposefully avoid being offensive or crude like Nate does - that’s takes effort and skill. But maybe he really is telling the truth about his relative “smarts” because he says at the end that he took two years to write this, and he really doesn’t have much to show for it.
- There’s five chapters of “random food things” and none of them are funny
- There’s literal filler blank pages (yes that is narrated)
- There’s a recounting of every dog he has ever partially taken care of (also none of that was funny or interesting and I love animals)

On top of the boring filler, I also got the major ick when Nate very early on mentions how his dad’s mother was this awful abusive parent and yet the dad was the one who apologized when she was on her deathbed. This is told as if it’s perfectly normal and as a touching moment. Um, I think your dad needs therapy Nate and maybe this should have been cut from the book until he works that out.

Oh and Nate also mentions listening to Joe Rogan 🤢 so yeah. Don’t really recommend unless you really really like this comedian and also can lower your expectations.

Nate Bargatze has always been the kind of comedian who doesn’t need to yell or swear to get a laugh. He just tells you a story—usually something very normal that spirals into absurdity—and suddenly you’re dying over a conversation about whether sushi was invented in California or feudal Japan. (Spoiler: he’s not sure either.) That’s the magic here. It’s not big, dramatic punchlines. It’s him trying to explain to his wife that yes, he did go grocery shopping—he just went to one aisle, and it was the candy aisle.

Big Dumb Eyes is basically a printed version of that lovable, bewildered guy we’ve seen onstage. It’s full of short chapters that feel like standalone bits: there’s the time he lived in an apartment that was basically a rat hotel, the saga of his busted Mazda with a tennis ball for a gearshift, and his slow realization that “adulting” mostly means arguing about chores and pretending to understand health insurance. Additionally, he’s joked for years that he doesn’t read books. He even has whole bits about how reading is hard. So the fact that he wrote one? That’s comedy in itself. But here’s the twist: he built in a workaround.

I enjoyed the audio version. Nate reads it himself, and there’s just no substitute for his timing, his tone, and that sweet spot between confused and confident that only he can pull off. It's like hanging out with your funniest friend who also maybe once fell on his head.

Reading Big Dumb Eyes feels like flipping through a scrapbook of someone else’s most embarrassing, ridiculous memories—and realizing you’ve basically lived them too. Bargatze doesn’t pretend to be wise or edgy. He’s just baffled, like the rest of us, and he’s somehow made a career out of it.

It’s also worth mentioning: this is maybe the least offensive comedy book you’ll ever read. No vulgarity, no shock jock energy—just clever, observational humor that’s relatable whether you’re 22 or 62. You could give it to your parents, your kids, or that one coworker who always plays it safe with HR. And they’d all laugh.

Bottom line? Big Dumb Eyes is like a stand-up special for your brain. If your brain is a little tired, a little distracted, and desperately in need of something fun that doesn’t require a whiteboard or a glossary, this is your book. Or audiobook. Or both.

Nate Bargatze is one of my favorites. With that being said, this didn't live up to my hopes. Maybe I was expecting too much. My husband loved it. I was driving while we were listening and there was a lot of traffic. I'll blame my thoughts on that. It was great having the author read the book.

Thank you for the ARC of this audiobook! I've recently become a fan of Nate Bargatze's through his stand up specials and SNL hosting appearances. He's a very easy comic to root for and relate to and his (audio)book matches that energy. I thought some passages were watered down bits of his stand up routine, but I enjoyed the deeper dive into his family - especially his dad. It can be a bit slow at times, but overall I enjoyed it as a fan and would recommend to people who love memoirs of comedians.

Big Dumb Eyes
by Nate Bargatze
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This audiobook was hysterical! I loved his narration of the book and highly recommend listening instead of a print copy if possible! He really can make daily life so funny! Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio | Grand Central Publishing for the digital advanced listeners copy!! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Add it to your TBR!

Nate Bargatze is one of my favorite comedians so I was thrilled to receive an ALC of his book. He reads the audiobook himself and I am so happy I could listen to his delivery while reading it. He is absolutely hilarious and his storytelling is so entertaining! My family lives east of Nashville close to where he grew up and I lived in NYC the past 8 years so I also feel a personal connection to so many of his stories. The pacing of this is a bit slower than his stand-up (understandably so, as it is a book) but still packs a punch and had my laughing out loud multiple times. Bargatze is able to make the everyday mundane into hilarious comedy and it is quite a gift. He also shares many personal stories so you learn quite a bit about him in the process. If you like his stand-up and sense of humor, I think you will definitely enjoy this book as well. I highly recommend listening to him read the audiobook himself as his delivery of his own jokes can’t be beat! 5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley, Nate Bargatze, Grand Central Publishing, and Hachette Audio for the gifted ALC. This is a voluntary and honest review.

Nate Bargatze is probably my favorite comedian. His timing and laid-back demeanor is so funny to me!

I requested the audiobook because I knew Nate was reading it, and I really wanted to hear his story from his own voice. It was so worth it! It made me feel like I was right there with him as he was telling each story. His perspective was always so funny.

Me and my husband have tickets to see Nate on tour this summer and I cannot wait!

Nate Bargatze's first book - an audio book he narrated - had its funny moments. But Big Dumb Eyes wasn't quite as funny as his comedy performances. I'd describe it more as a sweet and touching memoir interspersed with its fair share of his characteristic humor.
As he tells you at the outset, it isn't necessary to listen to any of the book's chapters in a particular order- each is his own story drawn from experiences in his life. If you're a fan of his I think you'll enjoy the book. Don't expect any big guffaws - but there will be plenty of smiles and chuckles as you listen to it.

I absolutely enjoyed listening to this on audio. If you've ever enjoyed his standup you will love this book! His comedic timing makes him very funny and the book is clean just like his stand up. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone especially the audio version.