上周听完了这本Colin Jost在2020年出版的回忆录,有声书也是由他本人朗读的。 书的前半部分大致按时间顺序讲了他的成长经历,后半部分是他加入SNL十几年间的一些故事。

书里面充斥着Colin拿自己开涮的段子,把自己的糗事一一道来,让我感觉他真的是内核稳定、完全不跟自己过不去的自信白男(褒义吗?算是吧,不过说实话我也有点嫉妒)。 所以虽然他写书的时候还不到四十岁(甚至还没跟斯嘉丽结婚),但是我觉得并无不妥。在我看来,只要在千帆过尽之后能做到跟自己和解,就已经可以写自传了。

而且为了能达到如今的成就,他也的确付出了常人难以企及的努力,所以的确值得大书特书一番。尤其是讲他刚接手Weekend update的那两章,从在几百万人的注视下如履薄冰,到现在在台上收放自如,我也是真心为他感到高兴。

此外书里还有一章让我印象深刻。Colin家族里绝大多数人都在纽约的消防部门工作,他的妈妈更是纽约消防局的首席医疗官(不确定我的这个翻译对不对)。 911发生时Colin已经去波士顿念哈佛,而他妈妈在那天就身处灾难的现场。书里对那一天的回忆真的令人动容。

最后,这其实是我完整听完的第一本有声书,Colin的演绎非常有趣,而且行文用词也很适合我的英文水平,总之收听体验很好,燃起了我对有声书的兴趣。

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Last week, I finished listening to A Very Punchable Face, Colin Jost’s 2020 memoir — narrated by Colin himself.

The first half of the book follows his life chronologically, from childhood through college, while the second half dives into his years at Saturday Night Live, where he’s worked for over a decade.

The whole book is packed with self-deprecating humor — Colin constantly makes fun of himself, retelling his embarrassing moments with zero shame. It made me realize how emotionally steady he must be: that kind of confident white guy who’s completely at peace with himself (is that a compliment? I guess so — though I’ll admit, I’m a little jealous). So even though he wrote the book before turning forty (and before marrying Scarlett Johansson), it didn’t feel premature at all. To me, as long as you’ve reached a point of self-acceptance after everything you’ve been through, you’ve earned the right to write a memoir.

That said, it’s also clear how much work it took for him to get where he is. The chapters about taking over Weekend Update were especially striking — how terrifying it felt performing live in front of millions, and how he slowly grew into someone who could stand there completely at ease. I found myself genuinely happy for him.

There’s also a chapter that really stayed with me: Colin’s family is full of New York firefighters, and his mother is actually the Chief Medical Officer of the FDNY. When 9/11 happened, Colin was already at Harvard in Boston — and his mother was at Ground Zero that day. His account of that memory is deeply moving.

This was actually the first audiobook I’ve ever finished. Colin’s narration is fantastic — sharp, funny, but also heartfelt — and his writing style is perfectly at my English listening level. Overall, it was such an enjoyable experience that it’s made me want to dive into more audiobooks.