Arbitrary Stupid Goal

By: Tamara Shopsin

Narrated by: Tamara Shopsin

In Arbitrary Stupid Goal, Tamara Shopsin takes the listener on a pointillist time-travel trip to the Greenwich Village of her bohemian 1970s childhood, a funky, tight-knit small town in the big city, long before Sex and the City tours and luxury condos. The center of Tamara's universe is Shopsin's, her family's legendary greasy spoon, aka "The Store", run by her inimitable dad, Kenny - a loquacious, contrary, huge-hearted man who, aside from dishing up New York's best egg salad on rye, is Village sheriff, philosopher, and fixer all at once. All comers find a place at Shopsin's table and feast on Kenny's tall tales and trenchant advice along with the incomparable chili con carne. Told in a sly, elliptical narrative that is both hilarious and endearing, Arbitrary Stupid Goal is an offbeat memory-book mosaic about the secrets of living an unconventional life, which is becoming a forgotten art.

This program is read by the author.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2017 Tamara Shopsin (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“ Arbitrary Stupid Goal is a completely riveting world - when I looked up from its pages regular life seemed boring and safe and modern like one big iPhone. This book captures not just a lost New York but a whole lost way of life.” (Miranda July)

I loved it.

I loved it. It let me experience an incredible time and place that I would otherwise be unable to. It does (oddly enough) remind me of what life was like growing up in the outskirts of tel aviv in the 90's. The store is a great place to be, and I've loved every dish I've had. My favorite - mac n cheese waffle grilled cheese general tso duck sandwich - is sadly gone. Thank you for the wonderful stories.

love the shopsins

The story of the Shopsins is one I never tire of. What a gift.

Such a joy

This is a terrific book -- I absolutely loved Shopsin's stories and her way of telling them. Rarely do I read a memoir that reminds me of my own childhood the way Arbitrary Stupid Goal did. Wonderful. So happy to have stumbled upon this title.

Absolute Must Read

it's a fun, lighthearted book full of wisdom and little life lessons we all can forget.

Sound effects hard in the ears

I enjoyed this book and the very original story that she shared. I listen to several audio books per month and the horn sound effect every time there was a photo or illustration in the pdf was just awful. Terrible choice for marking the PDF during the audio.

Great writing, bad audiobook formatting

What did you love best about Arbitrary Stupid Goal?

This is another great book from Tamara Shopsin. Her performance narrating is nuanced, pitch perfect and drives an excellently written story.
That being said, the 'horn' which notes to the listener to reference the attached pdf for images from the book is really annoying and takes away from the audio experience. No one will be listening in front of a computer to reference the images anyway so it seems out of place
The listening experience would have been improved by telling the audience to download the images after reading the book as a post-listening supplemental material.

What did you like best about this story?

Perfect snapshot of a complicated institution in the middle of a complicated neighborhood. Really enjoyed the short tangents that Shopsin would take into history to make a patchwork of history and memoir.

Have you listened to any of Tamara Shopsin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was my first time listening to her and I thought her performance was excellent!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes-- and it just took two sittings.

Any additional comments?

A great artist that I hope keeps producing great work.

Not very interesting

Someone thought it was a good idea to have a LOUD siren go off every few minutes to let you know that there's a photo you need to look at in the PDF. That on top of a rather live-less performance and a dull story.