Faithful

I went into *Faithful* expecting a dry recap of the Red Sox’s 2004 miracle, but what I got was a messy, hilarious, and oddly profound portrait of fandom as a kind of therapy. McLarty and Grupper are the secret weapon here—their back-and-forth feels like overhearing two guys at a bar, except instead of shot glasses, they’re clinking baseball cards and trade rumors. McLarty, voicing the skeptical O’Nan, grounds the narrative with a world-weary gravitas, while Grupper’s King channeling as the excitable fan is so infectious you’ll find yourself nodding along despite knowing the outcome. The pacing is brisk but never rushed, with the narrators’ chemistry making even the most granular trade-deadline debates feel urgent. My only quibble? The abrupt shift mid-book from weekly phone calls to a more linear narrative felt jarring, like the audiobook version got impatient with its own format. And though the production is clean, Grupper’s occasional over-enunciation (think every ‘R’ in ‘Grady Little’ ringing like a fire alarm) veers into distracting territory. Still, those nitpicks fade against the sheer joy of hearing two men argue, celebrate, and mourn like it’s 2004 all over again. If you’ve ever stayed up past midnight to watch a Game 7 or cried over a foul ball, this audiobook will feel like coming home.