I don't think I will ever again read a book by an NPR journalist in print. It doesn't make sense! I have been listening to Ari Shapiro on the radio for years and I want to listen to him read his book, too. It's worth waiting for.
Boy did he have an interesting life! Always pretty optimistic with energy and a quiet determination, he managed things that would have tripped up other people, which is probably how he found success so young. That, and an insatiable curiosity about people, and the willingness to say YES to unusual requests is how he also ended up a singer in the multilingual band Pink Martini. For instance, after being declined from the usual NPR internship applications, he learned that Nina Totenberg, the Supreme Court reporter, goes outside the usual NPR system and has her own internship application. He applied and got it. And it's super important as a reporter to always say yes, to getting sent to war zones, to being gone for indeterminate periods of time, and for having a semi-public life, which wasn't always easy for Ari, who got some blowback from the public for being openly gay.
I'm not sure he was really open with his feelings--the book was much more about what he did and what happened to him--but in the end if you're just looking for a fun distraction, this is that. His life has certainly been super interesting so there's plenty of material without going deeper. And he's so young there's still lots of room for another book which I would very happily pick up and spend another many hours traveling the world with Ari. I wish I could be this open to new experiences and I wish I could be this focused on other people when talking with them but in the meantime, I can happily spend time with someone who is.
I borrowed this digital audiobook from the library via the Libby app.
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