Exploded [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Tom Bodett (Author, Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1996

Known as the voice of Motel 6 and author of The Free Fall of Webster Cummings, Bodett looks at the windfalls and calamities that disrupt our ordinary lives so that we can never be the same again.

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

Tom Bodett has that easy-going, conversational tone that creates an intimacy between himself and his listener. The first cassette is all charm and giving as he graciously shares his musings. On the second cassette an adversarial note enters. This is due partly to darker subject matter and partly to a game played in the live performance. Bodett's voice, suddenly abrasive, directs the audience to choose from what is apparently some visual list of routines. Listening at home, it's difficult to follow the action, and a sense of being left out intrudes. The audience members, however, seem to enjoy themselves. S.B.S. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Audio Literature; abridged edition edition (December 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574530852
• ISBN-13: 978-1574530858
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,065,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Books on Cassette > Radio Shows

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Tape, November 20, 2001

By 

llama lee (Roseville, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Exploded (Audio Cassette)

The exploded portion of the story is fascinating. Some of the reviews did not grasp the physical aspect of the telling of the story. You have to picture Tom in front of a live audience with twelve note cards in his hands. On each card is a portion of his
story. He then throws the note cards up in the air to simulate an explosion. Then tells the story in random bits and pieces as he picks up the cards. The joy of this is you as the listener have to assemble the story in the proper order in your mind. You need to pay close attention and you find yourself becoming more involved in the story than any tape I have ever listen to. I think this is a masterful bit of storytelling and a brilliant way to express a tale. As Tom reminds us, we do not remember a story from start to finish but in bits and pieces. So he tells the tale of being exploded in random parts. The listener is responsible to assemble the puzzel. Every friend or family member that has heard it thinks it's great and has purchased their own copy. I have many tapes but this is by far my favorite.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A continuous low-level stimulation of your sense of humor, March 30, 2006

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Exploded (Audio Cassette)

In many ways the simple things define our lives, how well we live them and how we view our role in the world. In this tape, Bodett uses his very special brand of gentle humor to discuss "events" in his life. He talks about the air conditioner in his apartment that is right over the door and drips on the landlady, and how the glass falls out of a window and nearly hits her. Another story concerns an old chair that he has redone and has grown attached to. Not that it is all that comfortable, just that he likes it and refuses to part with it. When he moves, the homeowner says "it was here when you moved in so it will stay here when you move out." His reaction is to steal the chair.
In a story that will make sense to nearly every man, he talks about his infatuation with a girl who won't make time for him. In order to at least see her on a regular basis, he rents an apartment near where she works so he can watch her walking to and from her job. Naturally, she goes off to school and he doesn't see her at all.
There is a never a time when Bodett is flat out hysterical and rarely does he stimulate your funny bone to laugh out loud. However, he is someone who can keep your sense of humor at a continuous low level of stimulation, which was true for me every minute of the tape. He reminds me of Will Rodgers, he manages to pack a great deal of wisdom about life and how difficult it can be into a story that often doesn't seem to have a great deal of meaning.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tongue-in-cheek view of a defining moment in author's life, April 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Exploded (Audio Cassette)

Tom Bodett tells the (ostensibly) true story of
how he faced life and death, and made what
must have been the most difficult decision of his
young life, detailing his days as a "mountain man"
in the mid-70's.