Big Dumb Eyes. Nate Bargatze

 

Big Dumb Eyes.   Nate Bargatze.

Stories from a Simpler Mind.   

Occasionally the Camp Fire podcast teaks a break from reading the non-fiction sports-related books and takes on another type of non-fictional book.    This time around we are reviewing comedian Nate Bargatze’s first book, Big Dumb Eyes.     Bargatze has risen from fairly humble beginnings to become one of the most popular comedians in the country today.   He has branched out from stand-up performance to acting along with founding an amusement park and now adding author to his list of occupations and professional accomplishments.  

Bargatze is a Tennessee native.   He grew up in a small suburban town outside of Nashville.  The book discusses his time growing up there with his family.    It gets into some of his adult life including a short stint as a college student and his time in Chicago and New York City where we went to perfect his craft in his chosen field.   His stories about his adolescence, including going about meeting and dating girls and taking care of and naming his first car are relatable.    

While Bargatze is the main character of this book since he wrote it after all, his father, a performer in his own right, gets a lot of book time as well.   In fact, his father, a real-life clown and magician, was quite an influence on his son and his many talents were revealed often throughout Big Dumb Eyes.    Fans and readers will get a chuckle out of how the author claimed in one of the latter chapters that his father channeled a network of magicians around the country to watch over Bargatze in his endeavors especially when it came to incurring needless and frivolous expenses. 

However, the family stories were not limited to his quirky father.    Other chapters revealed his good-natured relationships with his younger brother and sister.    In addition, another chapter that garnered a laugh was pertaining to a bond with his barber who also curiously became his fitness trainer.   They hit it off well enough that his barber/trainer traveled on the road with him as well.    Bargatze documents in an entire chapter their interactions which explains a reluctant, awkward but amusing “bromance” between the two.  

If the subtitles of this book, Stories from a Simpler Mind, sound funny that is because it is.   The book has plenty of humorous moments and guffaws, not unexpectedly, sprinkled throughout most of the chapters.    Even how the title was derived was a bemusing story in itself.    Bargatze explained to the publishers that he had an idea for the book title.    He asserts Big Dumb Eyes over the phone, but what was heard on the other end of the verbal exchange was “Big Demise”.   The publishers explained that it was not exactly what they had in mind.    Ultimately, they ironed out the miscommunication due the author’s moderate southern drawl.   In being true to his comedic form, Bargatze plays up his southern roots and stereotypes of being a bit slow and possibly dimwitted in all of the book chapters.    His schtick clearly is not afraid to take a poke at himself along with his family.   Even his wife, who Bargatze does credit for some of her capabilities, likely gets brought down to his level despite her struggles to rise above it. 

There is one small connection to sports included in his book.    Being a Nashville native, Bargatze had become a fan of the hometown Vanderbilt Commodores.    Vanderbilt was not really known for their winning football ways during his youth, but he claims a relative went to school there and may have actually been a member of the football team.    That fact seemed to be enough to cultivate a lifelong fandom with the biggest university in music city.   One Vanderbilt claim to fame in the sports world is the success of the women’s bowling team.  Although unrelated, Bargatze recounts his time taking a bowling class as a freshman at Western Kentucky, where the experience went underwhelming less than expected.    Of course, today the Commodores football team is an up and comer in the ever-changing college football landscape and the hoops team is ranked and has a good chance to be a tournament team this season.   

While Big Dumb Eyes is mostly a delightful book, especially the part about the fighting orangutans at the local carnivals, the reader will eventually observe that the contents of the book only go to a certain point in the author’s life which happens to be just before he likely started getting more publicity, fame and fortune as well.     Perhaps that was the idea with a possible return some day to write a 2^nd manuscript discussing how the next phase of his life unfolds.   The book is about two hundred and twenty pages and is easy to read particularly due to its folky and conversational writing prose.    Having experienced his comedy routines is probably not a bad prerequisite to get a feel for his style but not a direct requirement for just about any reader to enjoy a simple and entertaining tale.  

You might like to read this book if you are a fan of Nate Bargatze. 

You might like to read tis book if you like to read about comedians.

You might like to read this book if you enjoy reading lightly written autobiographies.

You might like to read this book if you relish stories that depict a semi-stereotype of life in the south.          

Read more about the author on X:   https://x.com/natebargatze