I really enjoyed these essays from one of the best comedians around, Tom Papa. He was funny and relatable, and I laughed a lot.

I love Tom Papa on WWDTM, so when I got the chance to read his new book before it came out I jumped on it, but this book felt repetitive a lot of the times. Before I start complaining, let me start with the things that I did like:

Positives - Having recently moved to New Jersey, myself, I absolutely loved reading this and knowing exactly the place that he was talking about. Like when he said he bought his first car in Paterson, or when he talks about going to the beach in NJ. In fact, some of the Italian restaurants he mentions, I added to my list of "places I want to go" (hey maybe I'll see Tom Papa in real life!). He definitely captures the Italian influence in New Jersey and there's some essays that deserve a five star on their own, like "a wise ancestor called grandpa", "why we marry", and "finding religion".

But, and here comes the - Negatives - I think there's at least three essays about de-cluttering your house, at least 2 about cars, a lot about vacations with family. In sum, it felt like this was variation on the same themes (maybe this would be a better title).

Overall, I think this book works as a collection of essays sometimes funny, sometimes bittersweet, sometimes a bit unhygienic (IF THE JACKET SMELLS LIKE IT TRAVELLED A LOT WASH IT). I guess, I just wanted to it be a bit more concise.

Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!