Tepper Isn't Going Out Audiobook By Calvin Trillin cover art

Tepper Isn't Going Out

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Tepper Isn't Going Out

By: Calvin Trillin
Narrated by: Calvin Trillin
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.44

Buy for $17.44

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel
Murray Tepper would say that he is an ordinary New Yorker who is simply trying to read the newspaper in peace. But he reads while sitting behind the wheel of his parked car, and his car always seems to be in a particularly desirable parking spot. Not surprisingly, he is regularly interrupted by drivers who want to know if he is going out.

Tepper isn't going out. Why not? His explanations tend to be rather literal: the indisputable fact, for instance, that he has 20 minutes left on the meter.

Tepper's behavior sometimes irritates the people who want his spot. ("Is that where you live? Is that car rent-controlled?") It also irritates the mayor - Frank Ducavelli, known in tabloid headlines as Il Duce - who sees Murray Tepper as a harbinger of what His Honor always calls "the forces of disorder."

But once New Yorkers become aware of Tepper, some of them begin to suspect that he knows something they don't know. And an ever-increasing number of them are willing to line up for the opportunity to sit in his car with him and find out.

Tepper Isn't Going Out is a wise and witty story of an ordinary man who, perhaps innocently, changes the world around him.

©2001 Calvin Trillin
(P)2001 Random House, Inc. Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Psychological Fiction Witty Funny Mystery

Critic reviews

"Trillin is a highly accomplished storyteller as well as a humorist and a memoirist, and this oddly titled novel is by far his funniest and sunniest yet." (Publishers Weekly)
"By dint of Trillin's fertile and humorous imagination, the book emerges as a refreshing and completely likable jape." (Library Journal)
Whimsical Storytelling • Humorous Narrative • Insightful Observations • Layered Complexity • Enjoyable Voice
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
Simply one of the most entertaining books I have read or listened to this year. Mr. Trillum delivery is dry but laced with humor and grace as he explores the ordinary life of Tepper as it turns very extraordinary by the most unusual of circumstances. His acerbic wit casts its gaze on all aspects of our modern life - work, family, politics and much more. Tis a book to curl up with in any convenient parking spot and enjoy.

To park or not to park...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read this book when it first came out in 2001 and laughed, a lot. I re read it every 2 or 3 years and I laugh about something new each time. It really is gold and never fails to put me in a good mood.

One of my favorites

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very funny. As a former New Yorker I enjoyed every minute of it.

Constantly entertaining

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Trillin has created a classic New York character and story about parking in the City.

Classic Trillin

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved it! The authenticity of a NYC reality and its humanizing effect on all who have lived it. wonderful layers of human complexity, storytelling and subtle layers of humor! Great story and great reading!

Brilliant NYC Story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This ambling tale moves leisurely but sharply through the landscape of New York cranks, politicians, idiosyncratic regulations, and the inanity of fame. Tepper is an affable eccentric with one obsession: parking. The response of NYC to his outre behaviour moves the story along.
I enjoyed every moment of this whimsical reading, and wish Trillin's dry delivery were available for all his books, starting with "American Fried!"

a droll portrait of NYC - ya jerky bastard, ya!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A brilliant folk tale about parking in NY, a paranoid mayor, an obsequious attorney general, a psuedo-folksy mayoral candidate, the press, literary agents, delis, and the nature of fame. Fabulous from start to end. Perfectly written and narrated. Does require something of an East Coast sense of humor.

New York in the ‘90’s

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is the funniest laugh out loud book I have read since Confederacy of Dunces. You can see every character in the book as if they were in your living room.

Great Listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I walk dogs while I listen and I was laughing so loudly that my dogs kept stopping and turning around to see what had gotten into me. I tried to explain it to them but I don't think they ever understood. What a hoot this book is.

Dog Stopping Funny

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not recommended for those who do not live in cities where finding parking is a daily challenge, especially in front of one's own home. As a result, any profoundness, or humor is lost to me for the most part.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews