Nate Bargatze is one of my favorite comedians and I was thrilled to discover he was releasing a book. I was even more excited to receive a review copy of the audiobook. I started listening right away and could hardly stop, finishing it in less than 12 hours.

Big Dumb Eyes (definitely not Big DEMISE) is a wonderful collection of personal tales, thoughts, and honest confessions.

Nate himself doesn’t like to read books and is surprised this book exists.

“ Every book is just the most words. How it never lets up and it’s just more and more words until it’s like, what are you talking about? Please just make it stop.“

He tells us we’re in for a good time (in spite of all the words).

Nate Bargatze is famous for his clean, relatable humor and deadpan delivery. He finds comedy in everyday situations like family, parenting, and awkward situations. His book mirrors this style with light, funny stories about his hometown in Tennessee, his friends, family, and even his old car.

Just like in his stand-up comedy, the content of the book is clean, light, funny, and relaxing. It’s filled with stories about his hometown in Tennessee, his friends, his family, and even his old car.

Bargatze indicates that we can read the book from start to finish, or pick a random chapter here and there, and we will be just fine. Read it anyway we want.

It is easy to see why Bargatze is currently one of the highest grossing, stand-up comedians.

Overall, this audiobook was a delightful listen that I highly recommend to fans of Nate Bargatze and anyone who appreciates great comedy and personal storytelling that will have you laughing out loud.

5 Stars!!!

I laughed, I cried due to laughing, and honestly just felt better about life. The audiobook narrated by Nate makes the book even more enjoyable. In his typical deadpan humor style Nate tells stories about his life. Everyday stories that end up making you laugh and feel like you arent alone in your human experience. Being from the south I found his tales even more relatable. His wit and storytelling shine throughout the book.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys laughing and finding the joy in this little thing we call life.

I think Nate Bargatze is utterly hilarious, and would happily watch any of his comedy specials over and over again. I should also say, that I really appreciate that his humor is “family friendly” while my kids might not get all the jokes, I’m never worried about them hearing something too mature for them.

For this book, I HIGHLY recommend listening to the audio version. I think so much of why Nate is so funny has to do with the delivery and how he leans into his Tennessee accent. I’m sure if you are familiar with him already, you’d “hear” his voice when reading the physical book as well, but I do recommend audio for the best version.

Nate Bargatze's Big Dumb Eyes is a delightful audiobook that captures the essence of his stand-up comedy. Narrated by the author himself, the audiobook is as funny and enjoyable as his live performances. Bargatze's storytelling shines through, especially when he shares anecdotes about growing up in Tennessee during a simpler time. His humor is both relatable and heartwarming, making this audiobook a must-listen for fans of comedy and personal stories alike.

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!