Droll Tales

I’ll admit: *Droll Tales* frustrated me at first. Smyles’ stories often end just as you think they’re about to explain themselves, like a magician walking offstage mid-trick. But by the third listen, I realized that’s the point—these aren’t puzzles to solve, but moods to inhabit. The audiobook’s production is flawless, with each narrator bringing a distinct flavor: Huber’s deadpan is perfect for the more clinical absurdities (like the story about a woman who communicates only in footnotes), while Gilbert’s lilt makes even the bleakest moments feel like a private joke. Davis, meanwhile, turns a tale about a man arguing with his reflection into a full-blown dramatic monologue. My two critiques? The pacing occasionally stumbles when a story’s brevity clashes with the narrator’s cadence—Emily Lawrence’s deliberate delivery in the ultra-short ‘The Cat’ feels *too* measured, robbing it of spontaneity. And Smyles’ reliance on repetition (a stylistic tic) can grate in audio form; what reads as rhythmic on the page sometimes feels like a stutter when spoken aloud. Still, the highs outweigh the quibbles. The standout, ‘How to Be a Good Wife,’ is worth the price alone—a satirical manual that starts as a parody of 1950s domesticity and morphs into something far stranger, thanks to Gilbert’s pitch-perfect timing. If you’ve ever finished a story and thought, *Wait, what just happened?*—and loved it—this audiobook will feel like coming home.