I think that's part of what makes this story so beautiful and resonant with me. He manipulates because he thinks people won't like him if he's just 'himself.' He can't see in himself what is so obvious to Dave. Also, tellingly: he cannot see the story in *himself,* which makes him feel insecure, and that's part of what drives him to define himself by relationships and social status, and more interestingly, his social role, like his job or purpose within a social group.

But also, being seen as someone grand is kind of amazing- it's a kind of gift Nandan can give to people, even if he doesn't exactly see it that way. Sometimes, absolutely, that makes him misunderstand people, because wanting that gets in the way of seeing people how they really are. He *wants* everyone to be interesting he's looking for the story in everyone. Sure, Nandan is kinda shallow and judgemental, but he also easily and readily revises his judgements to be more open-minded. I have no idea what other people are reading into it that they're having such a strong negative reaction to. Just, if you're deciding between print or audio, the similar-sounding characters is something to be aware of.

I think the narrator is good overall, especially voicing Dave's more subdued, emotional dialogue. Ken and Pothan also sounded pretty similar. So, there were a few times in scenes with multiple speakers where I had to rewind a bit to clarify what Jesse said vs. Ok, first thing's first, the narrator is great when Nandan or Dave are speaking, but many of the secondary characters (especially the girls) ended up sounding very similar to each other. Beautiful story, not my favorite narrator

Just Happy to Be Here by Naomi Kanakia