The Best Strangers in the World is a witty, poignant book that captures Ari Shapiro’s love for the unusual, his pursuit of the unexpected, and his delight at connection against the odds." — Ronan Farrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author of the New York Times bestsellers Catch and Kill and War on Peace
“Listening to—and now reading—Ari Shapiro is both revelatory and comforting. Revelatory in how he coaxes out and shapes a story, comforting that he is actually doing so. He is a beacon of idiosyncratic frankness and curiosity in an increasingly banal and complicit journalistic world. Here, though, it is he who is the story, and his scoop is letting us meet his true self: as good and kind and effortlessly brilliant a man as you could hope to meet. Every page exudes his utter positivity and made me long for another adventure with him.” — Alan Cumming, New York Times-bestselling author of Not My Father’s Son: A Family Memoir and Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life
"Personal and contemplative, but also funny and at times devastating, The Best Strangers in the World will instill a newfound appreciation for the hard work journalists do and a sense of awe for the scope of history they get to observe up close." — BookPage
“Ari Shapiro takes us with him from his boyhood in Fargo, North Dakota, to a globe-trotting journalistic career. The wonderful tale he tells is through the eyes of the people he has met as strangers and the stories of their humanity. Along the way there are lots of laughs and tears and important reflections that will change how readers see the world, too.” — Nina Totenberg, New York Times-bestselling author of Dinners with Ruth
"What makes Shapiro’s memoir so remarkable is its meta-reflection about his place in the world and his growth as a human being....He is contributing to a necessary public conversation, centering voices that make us beautifully, imperfectly human." — Jewish Book Council
“This book is the dinner party conversation you're always hoping to have—empathetic and erudite essays that circle the globe but find time to zero in on sparkling, tiny details. With his breathtakingly vast set of talents, interests, and experiences, Ari Shapiro is one of the most interesting people you’ll encounter. But his beguiling memoir invites the reader to look outward with him. Like a true journalist, he isn't the story. Rather, The Best Strangers in the World captures snapshots of our complex world and its endless capacity for beauty. Infused with queer magic, intellectual curiosity, and music, Shapiro’s writing voice, like his reporting and performing voices, greets you like an old friend and invites you into a space you never want to leave. — R. Eric Thomas, author of Here for It, or How to Save Your Soul in America
“The book keeps on giving, chapter after chapter, in turns humorous, introspective, or deeply serious, weaving together personal anecdotes, behind-the-scenes secrets, and heartbreaking profiles from war zones and refugee camps. Shapiro says he's built his radio career on ‘empathy, connection, and listening’— qualities that ring true in his writing as well." — Booklist (starred review)
“Shapiro’s confident, clear voice and self-deprecating humor, familiar to his many fans, translates well to the written word. His writing will resonate with many and is a treasure for biography readers. Highly recommended.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“This collection’s success is due to the author’s companionable, ever sincere tone, his willingness to be vulnerable, and his unwavering magnanimity. A clever and compulsively readable crowd pleaser.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Smart, humane and just a bit quirky, The Best Strangers in the World is exactly the kind of memoir one would expect from Ari Shapiro....The eclectic quality of [these] stories paints a vivid picture of his wide-ranging career and will leave readers and listeners eager to hear the many stories to come.” — Shelf Awareness
"In brisk and lucid prose, Shapiro recounts the ups and downs of his impressive résumé. … Shapiro’s style is engaging and unfussy, and his spotlighting of other people—mostly those whose stories he’s told on NPR—adds depth and empathy to the proceedings. Longtime listeners and first-time callers alike will delight in this collection." — Publishers Weekly
2023-01-28
The longtime host of NPR’s All Things Considered offers a topical and sanguine memoir in essays.
“The best stories should surprise us,” writes Shapiro, “they should defy our expectations and veer in directions we weren’t expecting.” The author sets a high bar for himself, and he mostly succeeds. This work encompasses subjects ranging from Shapiro’s coming out when he was a teenager to his four years covering the White House. The opening piece is ostensibly about nature, but it serves as further introduction to Shapiro because it enumerates his driving, lifelong curiosity. “My parents raised me to believe that the more you learn about the world,” he writes, “the more interesting life becomes.” By extension, “the best journalists…enjoy the feeling of moving from ignorance or confusion to understanding.” This ethos has guided Shapiro throughout his two decades at NPR. Other essays delve into more personal territory, including “You Can’t See Schvitz on the Radio,” describing how the author sweats profusely. Throughout, Shapiro comes across as appealingly relatable and, like any human, fallible. A singer in the band Pink Martini since 2009, he relays entertaining vignettes about this unexpected turn. “Going on tour feels like a reality TV show where nobody gets kicked off,” he writes. The author’s sense of humor is also on full display. Of his appearance in a photograph taken the day he accidently interrupted a meeting that included Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2010, Shapiro compares himself to “a meerkat who wandered off the savanna into the Oval Office.” The organization of the essays feels random, which results in a lack of a flowing narrative arc. Still, the topics are varied and interesting enough to make the montage coalesce, and the writing is engaging. This collection’s success is due to the author’s companionable, ever sincere tone, his willingness to be vulnerable, and his unwavering magnanimity.
A clever and compulsively readable crowd pleaser.
