Preview
  • Thanks for the Money

  • How to Use My Life Story to Become the Best Joel McHale You Can Be
  • By: Joel McHale
  • Narrated by: Joel McHale
  • Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (408 ratings)

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Thanks for the Money

By: Joel McHale
Narrated by: Joel McHale
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Publisher's summary

From actor and comedian Joel McHale comes the most important celebrity-penned book of this - or any - generation: Thanks for the Money: How to Use My Life Story to Become the Best Joel McHale You Can Be.

Part shocking tell-all memoir, part aspirational how-to guide, and mostly all book, this one-of-a-kind tome is required listening for anyone who enjoys Hollywood gossip and get-rich-gradually tips.

Joel McHale pulls back the curtain on his personal journey to stardom! Here, for the first time, Joel reveals all that has molded him into the acclaimed comic actor he is today: a love of performance, a series of boyhood head injuries, and, most importantly, a passion for financial compensation and free shoes.

It's all here: Joel's career trials and tribulations, his criminal trials and tribulations, and an honest, unflinching list of all the people he's been paid money to make out with on camera.

But the book does not stop there! Because if you want wealth, fame, and cost-free footwear, Joel will share every vital tip he has learned: an insanely low-carb diet plan, how to escape from a certain pseudoreligious celebrity cult, and more!

How can you unlock the power of the Joel McHale who lurks inside? What happened when Joel fought his Community costar Chevy Chase? And hey, while we're at it, what's up with Joel's hair - really? All will be revealed within the minutes of Thanks for the Money.

Buy now, and receive - as a special bonus - an email receipt that details your purchase!

Bonus PDF includes charts, images, games, and more!

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2016 Joel McHale (P)2016 Penguin Audio
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Critic reviews

“A fitfully amusing memoir...funny self-help, designed to show readers how to attain, sustain, and survive the author’s level of celebrity...Engaging because it doesn’t take itself too seriously.” (Kirkus Reviews)

"The book is smart, honest and clever." (Associated Press)

"...Thanks for the Money is a clever, much-needed antidote to the age of celebrity book deals. If the tide can't be stopped, at least it can be mocked." (EW.com)

What listeners say about Thanks for the Money

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Hilarious!

Actually really funny! Laughed out loud more then once. I'm a mail carrier, so it provided a few hours of entertainment.
It would be great if Joel did a podcast!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Such a fantastic book

I didn't expect to love this book so much but I did. It was heartwarming, honest, witty, and hilarious. But most importantly it had some really honest parts that brought the book to life. And the fact that he voiced it himself made it even better. Listen to it!!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Just like Joel McHale

Snarky, funny, half decent. Not the best book you’ll read but if you’re a fan of Joel’s sense of humor it is indeed more of that. Overall, I think I liked it. Would I recommend it? Not really sure. Would I read it again? Who am I kidding I didn’t read it the first time, he did.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Anyway...

This is Joel being Joel! If you miss The Soup/The Joel McHale Show/Community you will enjoy this! Completely hilarious and easy listening with narration by Joel. McHale also gives the inside scoop on some of the great (and not so great) people he's worked with.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Joel McHale Knocks It Out of the Park!

Thanks for the Money is a fun and highly entertaining book to listen to. Joel reads his words with depth, confidence, and bitting sarcasm. Five and half hours of memoir and jokes, it provided exactly the type of unexpected comedy I had expected. For those expecting a serious memoir that starts at childhood and ends with success, please know that this book is focused on making fun of that format. Only bummer is on Audible and not Joel McHale- Audible customer's are not provided with the PDF that is mentioned throughout the book. I also wonder if this is a joke on the listener and that there was never a PDF to begin with- It'd make sense when half of what is said in this book is often a punchline. I recommend this to any fan of Community, The Soup, or Joel McHale's awesome sense of humor.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A fun and zany story

As a huge fan of Community, this was an absolute treat to listen to. Joel is an absolute smart @$$ and I’m here for it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

If you like Joel McHale...

If you enjoyed the kinds of jokes made on the Soup about celebrities being vain and Joel McHale being a smug alcoholic, you will enjoy this. Listening to him read the book enhanced the experience.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Joel is awesome

This is a book "written" by a guy who by no means takes being a celebrity too seriously and I am thankful for it. This was a great book and I only hope his Avenger style promise of Joel McHale will return comes true, hopefully with more Chevy Chase stories.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I wouldn't purchase the hard copy.

His humor is not for everyone for sure, but I'm easily amused. I was completely entertained, but the story sucks. it was worth it as an audiobook because his performance is great.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Too snarky by the end

I heard Joel speaking about his book on a podcast and decided to give it a listen. Less than 6 hours, that's not too bad if its awful. However, I was pleasantly surprised how good is started. Joel's cleverness and wit worked perfectly to entertaining the typical "boring parts" of growing up which every memoirist must include. I actually enjoyed his pre-fame history the best!

The second half of the book was after he got famous and the book lost its footing. It was endless name dropping without much effort to be entertaining. And I know he was trying to be coy by making fun of that aspect of celebrity culture, but I feel like he fell into a trap of his own making. The fake self-help format really didn't work and detracted from the overall message. The celebrity intros to each chapter (which were always a chapter off on the audiobook) were also completely unnecessary.

By the end it was just too snarky. Which I know is Joel McHale style, but it was over the top. I wish he would have mixed more of the sentimental with the snark which would have been awesome.

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