The Bassoon King Audiobook By Rainn Wilson cover art

The Bassoon King

My Life in Art, Faith, and Idiocy

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The Bassoon King

By: Rainn Wilson
Narrated by: Rainn Wilson
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About this listen

Rainn Wilson’s memoir about growing up geeky and finally finding his place in comedy, faith, and life.

For nine seasons Rainn Wilson played Dwight Schrute, everyone's favorite work nemesis and beet farmer. Viewers of The Office fell in love with the character and grew to love the actor who played him even more. Rainn founded a website and media company, SoulPancake, that eventually became a best-selling book of the same name. He also started a hilarious Twitter feed (sample tweet: “I'm not on Facebook” is the new “I don't even own a TV”) that now has more than four million followers.

Now, he's ready to tell his own story and explain how he came up with his incredibly unique sense of humor and perspective on life. He explains how he grew up “bone-numbingly nerdy before there was even a modicum of cool attached to the word”. The Bassoon King chronicles his journey from nerd to drama geek (“the highest rung on the vast, pimply ladder of high school losers”), his years of mild debauchery and struggles as a young actor in New York, his many adventures and insights about The Office, and finally, Wilson's achievement of success and satisfaction, both in his career and spiritually, reconnecting with the artistic and creative values of the Bahá’í faith he grew up in.

©2015 Rainn Wilson (P)2015 Penguin Audio
Entertainment & Celebrities Geeky Performing Arts Celebrity Funny Witty Comedy Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Feel-Good

Critic reviews

"Rainn Wilson narrates his own story with such perfection that the only disappointment is the fact that it ends. The memoir is smart, inspirational, and funny, so the addition of Wilson's performance adds delectable icing to a tasty cake." (AudioFile)

"Quirky, witty, literate." (Washington Post)

"Rainn Wilson's memoir captures essence of his offbeat humor." (Chicago Sun-Times)

Featured Article: Audiobooks & Podcasts Featuring the Cast of The Office


What’s the secret behind the success of The Office? The show's talented and diverse cast of actors, writers, and comedians plays a huge part. If you're a fan of looking for something new to check out after streaming the show for the upteenth time, you can experience the voices of the Dunder Mifflin crew in a totally new way in audio. A number of our favorite former cubicle-dwellers have either written or loaned their vocal talents to audio.

What listeners say about The Bassoon King

Highly rated for:

Fascinating Life Story Insightful Spiritual Journey Excellent Narration Humorous Personal Anecdotes Engaging Voice
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Rainn Wilson is a mastermind

Rainn Wilson is a magical human being. He is hilarious without being dumb or insulting, he is spiritual without being condescending, and he is relatable without pretending to ever have had a worse or better life than anyone else on this planet. He shares his own wisdoms as well as those of others and leaves great subliminal and obvious suggestions for further conversation. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that I finished listening to this story feeling not only entertained, but enriched. I will also say that listening to The Bassoon King read by Rainn Wilson himself is far superior to any other reading of the story.

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Rainn Wilson is witty, and awesome.

I loved him in the office so when I saw that he wrote and narrated his own book I downloaded it and listened to it immediately and I have no regrets. rock on Rainn.

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1 person found this helpful

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Best Autobiography I've Read in a Long Time

I've never been the type to read celebrity autobiographies, but when I learned that Rain Wilson, whom I admired as his role of Dwight Schrute on The Office, I had to pick it up and I do not regret it. This man has lived a very interesting life, and one that definitely deserved it's own book. I couldn't stop listening, and the way he read was if I was hearing it from his recollection in person. I do not regret picking this up, and I'm sure you won't either.

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Hilarious, yet surprisingly serious at times

I love listening to authors read their own autobiographies and Rainn Wilson does not disappoint. After listening to Paul Simon's biography, Wilson restored my faith that most artists have a truly fucked up childhood. Hearing him talk about his experiences in NYC in the 80's brought back horrible memories. So much fun! But what I never would have guessed is how deep his faith is, the faith of the B'hai. He made it sound so cool, with all his talk of love and gooey shit like that. Overall, this is a terrific book.

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awesome awesome awesome.

loved it. if you love dwight from the office. you will love hearing rains Wilson on how he got to be dwight.

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Travel, education, religion beyond Dwight

What did you love best about The Bassoon King?

Learning about Rainn's childhood in his voice, what's happened before and after The Office, and his perspective on religion and family. There were some things that were a bit gross or blunt, but overall, good variety and well presented.

What did you like best about this story?

Chronological covering his life with good tidbits and funny jokes, hitting on the popular shows we know him from.

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Deep for who you think Dwight is.

If you look at it in a open eyes and open heart way you will learn a lot about yourself and a lot about others. As a Christian I do not agree with everything this book teaches or says but after looking at it openly and not giving up on it I learned a ton about not only myself but about the Baha'i culture.

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Bery goood

Interesting story with just enough wit. While he had a tendency to create some false dichotomies while speaking about his religion, a very interesting take btw, Rainn Wilson has given a well informed and surprisingly coherent picture into his life and the Bahai faith. Recommended read/listen.

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For more than fans of The Office

Hilarious stories brought to life with excellent narration. Even if you're not a fan of The Office and know who Raine Wilson is, you'll get a kick out of his accounts and musings.

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Loved this book.

Rainn, thank you for this book! I've loved feeling like I've had the opportunity to get to know you and your faith!

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