—Author
The Best Strangers in the World:
Stories From A Life Spent Listening
Instant New York Times Bestseller
In his first book, THE BEST STRANGERS IN THE WORLD: Stories from a Life Spent Listening, Shapiro takes us around the globe to reveal the stories behind the sometimes heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking, always poignant narratives he reports to his listeners — narratives that illuminate the entire world by zooming in on a sliver of life. His travels take him from Turkey to Ukraine and Indonesia to Northern Iraq; from drag shows in Florida to the corridors of power in Washington DC; from war zones in the Middle East and Africa to the paths of refugees fleeing conflict; from big cities to small towns as he learns from those fighting for social justice both at home and abroad. The result is a stirring memoir-in-essays that is not only a love letter to journalism, but an inspiring look at individuals who refuse to break and instead manage to confront life’s ugliness with beauty, meet horror with humor, and smile in the face of whatever might come next.
“The Best Strangers in the World is a witty, poignant book that captures Ari Shapiro’s love for the unusual, his pursuit of the unexpected, and his delight at connection against the odds.”
—Ronan Farrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author of the New York Times bestsellers Catch and Kill and War on Peace
“Listening to - and now reading - Ari Shapiro is both revelatory and comforting. Revelatory in how he coaxes out and shapes a story, comforting that he is actually doing so. He is a beacon of idiosyncratic frankness and curiosity in an increasingly banal and complicit journalistic world. Here though, it is he who is the story, and his scoop is letting us meet his true self: as good and kind and effortlessly brilliant a man as you could hope to meet. Every page exudes his utter positivity and made me long for another adventure with him.
-Alan Cumming, author of the New York Times bestseller Not My Father's Son
“Ari Shapiro takes us with him from his boyhood in Fargo, North Dakota, to a globe-trotting journalistic career. The wonderful tale he tells is through the eyes of the people he has met as strangers and the stories of their humanity. Along the way there are lots of laughs and tears and important reflections that will change how readers see the world, too.”
—Nina Totenberg, NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent and author of the New York Times bestseller Dinners With Ruth
“This book is the dinner party conversation you're always hoping to have--empathetic and erudite essays that circle the globe but find time to zero in on sparkling, tiny details. With his breathtakingly vast set of talents, interests, and experiences, Ari Shapiro is one of the most interesting people you'll encounter. But his beguiling memoir invites the reader to look outward with him. Like a true journalist, he isn't the story. Rather, The Best Strangers in the World captures snapshots of our complex world and its endless capacity for beauty. Infused with queer magic, intellectual curiosity, and music, Shapiro's writing voice, like his reporting and performing voices, greets you like an old friend and invites you into a space you never want to leave.”
—R. Eric Thomas, bestselling author of Here For It, or, How to Save Your Soul in America
It Wasn’t Just Another Nightclub
Five years ago, Ari went to cover the Pulse shooting and found himself unexpectedly close to the story.
Read the excerpt from The Best Strangers in the World.