Inappropriately Human

21 Short Stories

By: Andrew Heaton

Narrated by: Andrew Heaton

“We would like to teach your species a type of orgasm that cures cancer.”

So say just some of the aliens and robots who appear in Inappropriately Human. Award-winning comedian Andrew Heaton brings wit and warmth to his vision of humanity, the supernatural, and bureaucrats in his debut short story collection.

Learn the pitfalls of settling resurrected Neanderthals in Detroit. Explore the work-life balance of a professional who assumes other people’s hangovers. Or the travails of a State Department diplomat posted to a planet with relentless boredom and allergies. Discover the challenges time-travel regulators face when everyone tries to kill Hitler.

©2021 Andrew Heaton (P)2022 Andrew Heaton

Very enjoyable

Nice mix of clever stories across a spectrum of genres. Humorous and thoughtful.
Excellent narration.

Mostly good

Short stories can be hard to write and get right. You have very limited room. My luck with stories has not been great. I consider myself lucky if half are decent. Decent, not great. I would say that here about two-thirds are great. And maybe a sixth are decent. The rest suck. Which is really great for a short story collection. The stories are unique and have ideas that I've never come across earlier. I'm so tired of the spaceships and space wars. It's been done to death. Even though there were two stories here with aliens, they were fresh and interesting.

Tremendous

Mr. Heaton has outdone himself. Quirky, Whimsical, Thought-Provoking, and Novel. This collection of short-stories will surely bring a smile to your face.

unexpected hilarious

I picked this buck up on a whim. I don't normally go for comidy books, but I saw it in the science fiction section, listened to the sample and loved both the absurd sample and amazing voice.

truly had lots to offer different people. my personal favorite short story is Re:your timeline infractions. had me bent over laughing at work so hard I had to stop listening and take 5 minutes.

This book has something for everyone in it. I can't wait to read more from this Andrew.

Delightful

Delightful diversion deliberately detailed deviation of devilishness

Great job Andrew I still think you are a time traveling robot alien. There is no other explanation as to how much work you accomplish

Entertaining sci fi from the thinking man’s nerd

Andrew excels at storytelling, providing interesting plots that make you think about what makes us human while adding just enough humor to make the medicine go down easy. Lots of varied stories and topics here but I enjoyed “smoothheads don’t fit” the most, I’m not aware of much content involving this particular idea but the idea fascinates me.

Eclectic, engaging fun with Heaton

I found out about Inappropriately Human through the author's podcast The Political Orphanage, which aired a sample story (Re: Your Timeline Infractions). After listening to that and the sample provided on Audible (from The Man Behind the Curtain), I knew I had to have this book. Many of these stories are sci-fi or apocalyptic, but not all. The Man Behind the Curtain (a slice-of-life adventure) and The Whistler (a spooky supernatural thriller) stood out as favorites. Most of the stories are humorous or at least contain humor. Some are heartwarming, and some are dark. I enjoyed the variety.

Two critiques: The book is a bit heavy on the cussing/vulgarity for my taste, although this didn't come as a shock considering Heaton's comedy writing style. The stories vary in length, from vignettes or comedy monologue-style pieces to the written equivalent of a TV show. This is fine except that in the case of about three or four stories the narrative suddenly cuts off without any resolution, just as the story was starting to gain traction. I don't like being left hanging, and I'd like to see Heaton develop some of these stories further. The concepts are interesting enough for a fuller treatment.

Heaton's narration is great. I love it when authors record their own audiobooks, and I find Heaton's voice pleasant to listen to.

This collection is loads of fun, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes Andrew Heaton, irreverent sci-fi, humor, or is just in the mood for something eclectic and different.

Thought Provoking Funny

I thought , I related, and Laughed thought out these stories. Anticipating his next pieces of work!

bee boo bop....

this book about AI and a society reliant on ever expanding technology is equally about how our human ess is alive in us and in the technology we create. I loved it.

A fabulous listen, especially for sci-fi lovers!

Excellent narrator, who I did not discover was the author until the very end of the book! I wondered how someone could have such absolutely flawless delivery of every emotion, character, and concept! It's because he wrote it! Ha!

The stories are varied in their length and subject matter, the most center around sci-fi concepts or delving deeply into the personality of a quirky character. the characters are exceptionally realistic and deal with real world problems, even if it is not our world.

Overall a very interesting, entertaining, humorous, and thought-provoking read/listen!