Clara’s Verdict
Randall Munroe has made a career out of applying rigorous scientific thinking to questions no sensible person would think to ask, and How To is the full expression of that project in audiobook form. The joke – if you can call it that – is that the book offers earnest, technically accurate advice for doing mundane things in the most catastrophically impractical ways imaginable. How do you move house? You could hire a van, obviously. Or you could use a series of cranes, a barge, and a modified trebuchet. Munroe will tell you exactly how the trebuchet option works, and he will be correct.
Wil Wheaton is an inspired choice of narrator: geeky in the best possible sense, with a dry comic timing that makes the absurdity land without overselling it. At six hours and fifteen minutes, this is a delight from start to finish.
About the Audiobook
Published in September 2019 by John Murray, How To follows Munroe’s earlier hits What If? and Thing Explainer in its core methodology: take a real scientific or engineering concept, follow it to its logical extremes, and see what comedy and genuine insight emerge. The chapters range from landing a plane (useful) to crossing a river by boiling it (inadvisable) to getting rid of a book by subducting it into the Earth’s mantle (ambitious).
What prevents this from being merely a collection of clever jokes is Munroe’s underlying seriousness. The absurd scenarios are built on real physics, real chemistry, and real engineering constraints. By the time he has explained why destroying the moon would be a poor approach to time management, you will have learned something genuine about orbital mechanics. The audiobook format suits this material particularly well: Wheaton’s narration carries the energy of someone reading aloud to an audience who is genuinely enjoying themselves.
The Narration
Wil Wheaton – actor, writer, and vocal audiobook advocate – is essentially perfect for Munroe’s material. He delivers the scientific passages with a straight face and the comic payoffs with impeccable timing, never condescending to the humour or underlining it too heavily. The slightly bewildered, earnestly enthusiastic quality he brings to the narration matches the voice of the text with unusual precision. At six hours and fifteen minutes, it never outstays its welcome. A genuinely enjoyable performance.
What Readers Say
UK listeners have rated this 4.6 from seven reviews, with particular enthusiasm from parents who have shared it with scientifically-minded teenagers. One reviewer calls it “really quirky – for fact-loving kids and adults,” noting that her son reads out extracts to the family. Another describes it as having “fully captured his imagination,” drawing comparisons to the What If? books. One older listener – “at the advanced age of 57” – is disarmingly self-aware: “This is the kind of book I would have read when I was 11, but it is good for a chuckle.” The consensus is that Munroe’s humour works best for the curious-minded, regardless of age.
Who Should Listen?
Essential listening for anyone who finds joy in the intersection of rigorous scientific thinking and complete absurdity. Munroe’s fans will need no persuasion; newcomers should note that this requires no scientific background – just a willingness to follow a thought experiment wherever it leads. Wonderful for long car journeys, particularly with teenagers in the back. Find How To on Audible UK.
