I Am Not a Wolf

by Daniel James Sheehan, Sage Coffey (Illustrations)

Life is good! You have a job, an apartment in a nice part of town, and an online dating profile that’s recently yielded as many as three matches. From the outside, it would appear you’re a human man that has all the trappings of a stable and functional life. But you also have a secret. You’re not a human man at all. You’re a wolf.

Assume the role of one of nature’s greatest predators, just barely maintaining a fake identity as a part of the human workforce. Each choice you make in this interactive story is crucial to your survival and, more importantly, your burgeoning career in the corporate world. Will you navigate water-cooler gossip without arousing suspicion? Can you go on a date without bringing up how much you love ham? Or is it perhaps time to throw this human life to the wind and return to the woods from whence you came? These choices and many more await you in this story about trying to find your place in a world that barely makes sense to you.

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Comedy, Audiobook, Urban Fantasy, Choose Your Own Adventure, Business

208 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2020

About the author

Dan Sheehan is a writer from Chicago now living in Los Angeles. His writing has been featured in The Onion, Polygon, Pitchfork, McSweeney's, Playboy, and more. His debut novel "I Am Not A Wolf" was released by Andrews McMeel in 2021 and was included in New York Magazine's Top 10 Comedy Books of 2021.

Reviews

[Esta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes the antidote to the depressing state of the world is a light-hearted, witty book that makes you chuckle. For me, this was that book.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I AM NOT A WOLF AND I WAS NOT PAID IN HAM TO REVIEW THIS BOOK. I AM A HUMAN MAN AND CAN TYPE AND DO TWITTER JUST AS WELL AS ANY OTHER HUMAN MAN WHO IS SICK OF WOLVES THANK YOU VERY MUCH. HOW COULD I TYPE IF I WAS A WOLF? EXACTLY. I BET THAT GAVE YOU PAWS FOR THOUGHT. THANK YOU I AM HERE ALL WEEK. DID YOU SAY YOU HAVE HAM? ANYWAY, I AM NOT A WOLF IS A BOOK THAT I DID NOT GET PAID TO REVIEW. IT IS BY DAN SHEEHAN THE HUMAN MAN BEHIND THE TWITTER ACCOUNT SICK OF WOLVES. IT IS A CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE BOOK ABOUT NAVIGATING THE HUMAN WORLD AS A WOLF AND TRYING TO PASS YOURSELF OFF AS HUMAN. WHO DOES THAT? LOL. NOT ME. I AM A HUMAN MAN. I USED TO READ CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE BOOKS WHEN I WAS A HUMAN CHILD. I ALSO USED TO CHEAT AT THEM BY READING ALL THE PAGES AND PICKING THE ENDING THAT I LIKED THE BEST. THIS BOOK IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU'D EXPECT IF YOU ALREADY LOVE SICK OF WOLVES BUT IT IS ALSO A STROKE OF GENIUS. THE FACT THAT I REALLY LOVE CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE BOOKS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THE SATIRE IS OBVIOUS, OF COURSE, BUT ALSO ON POINT. THIS IS THE SORT OF BOOK THAT YOU WOULD FIND INCREDIBLY FUNNY EVEN IF YOU WERE A HUMAN MAN PRETENDING TO BE A WOLF AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. BUT WHO DOES THAT? GIVE ME YOUR HAM.

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am Not a Wolf
By Daniel James Sheehan
This is a choose your own adventure for grown-ups! Its main character is a wolf that has been living as a human. Apparently, no one noticed. It's short but cute. It was short with the decisions I made the first time! I had to go back and make different decisions to get to the end of the story alive. 😁

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my eclectic pharmacists at work told me about this choose your own adventure book awhile back,and I finally found it offered by Chirp, a reduced price audiobook site. Listening to a choice book is a bit harder to do than if I were to have the paper book, but then I would have missed out on these amazingly hilarious animal voices speaking English. The wolf’s voice is the one I like best. So I talked to Lewis for about 10 minutes like that ; thankfully my bipolar doesn’t scare him away. I’m just a little quirky ssshhhh it’s fine I’m fine.

[Deb✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so hilarious and fun to listen to! Here we have a wolf who is sort of covertly going about life acting and working as a man trying to fit in, living his every day life while the humans among him are so caught up and involved in their every day lives and tasks that they don't even realize they are walking, talking and working alongside an actual wolf instead of a human (aww, good old social media distractions, right!?) I loved how the narrator depicted the wolf's voice, it was so deep and rugged and it cracked me up every time!

This was an interactive book, so you had choices on which way you wanted the story to go. It was fun in that format, but I think I would have preferred a straight through format myself instead of jumping around. Either way, however, this was a great plot for a storyline and I had a lot of laughs and fun with it. I am happy I listened to it on audiobook format, because that narrator did such a fantastic job and it was a hoot! I would recommend this book and I gave it 5 fun stars!

I would like to thank #NetGalley, the publisher Andrew's McNeely Publishing, and the author, Daniel James Sheehan for my audioARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Oscar Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A choose your own adventure book about being a wolf pretending to be a human. Uncomfortably relatable, and very funny. Points out how weird and neutered our human lives are when you start to dissect them.

In short, I ate Gary. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

You are a wolf, pretending to be a man. In this choose your own adventure book, you decide what choices to make to live what you believe to be a successful human life and avoid being outed as a wolf.

I love books where you get to choose your own story, and this one did not let me down! I had to go back and take the other paths I did not choose the first time around. I was a little worried about navigating the choices via audiobook, but I found it easy to jump to the appropriate chapters. Jay Aaseng did an excellent job narrating the audiobook. A clever satire of the human life

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

[Daniel Sheehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lol what if I panned it

[Derek Minno-Bloom · Rating 5 out of 5]

The funniest most political book i have read all year. I laughed out load many times and wildly enjoyed the wolf's critique of our patriarchal capitalists society.

[★Sophia★ (Frieder's Version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wolf was strangely relatable. Coming from a human perspective. I am not a wolf so i wouldnt know if it is relatable for wolves but for me, a human person, it was.
Very much enjoyed reading this. I did however accidentaly introduce capitalism to the natural world...my bad sorry.

[Kyle Breen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Backed this from Unbound because of Sheehan's Twitter and was very excited by the premise of a whole world of Not a Wolf.
Supremely enjoyed this branching story about a perfectly normal human man just living his life in the best way. I haven't read a Choose Your Own Adventure story since I was probably 11, and I feel I got much more out of this than any of the others I had before. Sheehan's inspection and critique of humanity through lupine eyes was very personally thought provoking, and very, very funny throughout. A perfect mix. I read through all of the different paths, going back when a certain path would end, and it almost seemed like that was how he wanted readers to experience it. But hey, I'm just a normal human man writing about a book about another normal human man who was definitely Not a Wolf.

[Kevin Wilkerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few things in here that made me laugh to tears. Thanks!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up
A grown up "Make your own adventure" book.
lots of fun

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was so well done and made me laugh.
From the author: ‘I started writing NOT A WOLF as a way to blow off steam when I was frustrated. When my day job felt like a slog or I was feeling lonely, I’d smash the caps lock key and post my frustrations. What started as an inside joke I’d share with a handful of friends came together as a story about a wolf who desperately wanted to be a human so that he could enthusiastically do all the things we complain about doing. That story eventually became this book.’

The characters were great.
Hank the friendly retiree, Britt the online date, Mike the boring coworker, Gary the ass from sales with his underlings Brent & Brett, Caleb the roommate, The Boss woman, The Executive, and all the animals as well: Kyle the wolf brother, The Queen of Bears, The Lord of All Birds, and the Insect Collective.

I loved when he ate the tiramisu, there’s like three things he should not have had in there. There’s also the adventure of taking the bus and the great work place commentary and how people can suck or be great.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not really on Twitter so I wasn't aware of Dan Sheehan and his Not a Wolf account. But I grabbed this as a Listen Now on NetGalley because I love a good laugh (and I also needed to complete a Bingo space for my LoveARCtually challenge, no shame!)

This completely delivered on the humor. The premise of the book is you're a wolf, masquerading as a man, going through a typical Friday at your office job. It's set up as "choose-your-adventure" style book, with scenarios such as use public transportation or get a rideshare to the office. I'd actually go back and redo the book to see what hilarious things were in the alternate options!

The audio narration is really well done, with great delivery and timing needed to nail the humor. I even loved the wolf voice!

This book gets bonus points for uniqueness and extra bonus points for being dead-on about corporate culture. This is a perfect gift for that coworker you used to tell jokes with over the cubical wall who you now IM during meetings to watch them try not to laugh during video conferences.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the chance to laugh over this! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Caroline Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

THANK YOU MARYELIZABETH

[Nancy Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea of an adult choose-your-own-adventure book, but the story was just okay. It's all about corporate culture and what men do to impress each other.

[Troy Tradup · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend Cory recommended this to me, and it was the perfect breezy confection with which to end this very fraught year. I was worried when I found the book in the “humor” section at Barnes & Noble, but I put my trust in Cory and bought it anyway.

I Am Not a Wolf is a sort of choose-your-own-adventure book (although NOT a Choose Your Own Adventure® book, I should point out). Here’s how freaking old I am: I’ve never read one of those before. I also missed out on things like Goosebumps and Fear Street — I went straight from Lloyd Alexander to Stephen King.

But I digress.

I Am Not a Wolf is about a wolf (the King of Wolves, technically), who leaves the forest to live life as a low-level corporate drone human, subjecting himself to things like online dating and bro-type fellow employees like Gary (“overloaded with dominant masculine energy from the unearned celebration that was his youth”).

Why would anyone, much less a wolf, do this to himself? Doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that the transition is easier than one might expect: “You’ve managed to integrate into this world because human society is too self-absorbed to pay you much mind.”

I’ll be honest: I Post-It-noted the hell out of this book. There were quirky (and astute) bon mots on virtually every page:

“You put on your best smile, which, if you’re being honest with yourself, is mostly just you leaving your mouth open and panting a little bit.”

“Gary was recently talked to by HR about boundaries and told that if he doesn’t learn to respect them, he would only get promoted one or two more times. Three max.”

“Months of experience in Corporate America have trained you in the art of learning to work with someone who is actively gaslighting you.”

“Human society is a beautiful tapestry of different types of dumb people who are insanely horny for one another.”

The book is probably closer to 3.5 stars for me, but I’m bumping it up for this line alone: “You think red wine seems incredibly cool. It’s like blood that makes you want to dance.”

Oh, and also for our hero repeatedly calling Gary “MEAT BOY” near the end. That’s just gold.

One final observation: I knew a wolf once, and he really did love ham as much as the wolf in this book. I wonder if this Sheehan guy talks in all caps in real life? And is there a raw chicken or two in his backpack?

[Cloak88 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best palate-cleanser ever!

I am not a wolf is a 'Chose Your Own Adventure' book where the decisions you as the reader make determine the decisions of the main character to arrive at different story outcomes. and it is awesome. In this novel a wild wolf has decided to live as a human, get a job, get an appartement all the while pretending that he is INDEED! NO I AM NOT A WOLF, I AM JUST A NORMAL HUMAN DOING NORMAL HUMAN THINGS, LIKE WORK AND PAING RENT!.

Oke, I have to admit that I just love the whole CYOA concept. Always have, always will. So I was delighted to find it in this novel. It is a method rarely used, but it adds so much fun to the book and active incentive to reread whole parts of it to find all the different outcomes. Aside from the fact that I like the concept, I also like the writing. It's hilarisch to see Wolf misinterpret mundane human actions yet unknowingly give comment about the human condition, both the good and the bad.

So yeah, five stars and a firm wish there would be more adult CYOA stories.

[Tina 22 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really unique audiobook which made for a fun, new listening experience. As the book goes along, the listener is prompted to make choice and then told what chapter to go to next, all under the story line of a wolf pretending to be a man and doing his best to hide his true wolf identity. It was funny, full of satire, and neat in how it was interactive. I’ve never interacted with an audiobook like that before and thought it was a fun idea and overall enjoyable. I recommend for those looking for a quirky listen!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to I Am Not a Wolf in exchange for an honest review.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You find Gary equal parts detestable and fascinating, a man with the confidence of a king, whose only real skill is performing a task frequently and without question.”

I’m normally not a huge fan of books in the second person but this is a fun CYOA that highlights how nonsensical human behaviour is (think email etiquette, performative masculinity) through the lens of a wolf trying to pass for one of us.

[Laura L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun choose your own adventure book, during the story you're a wolf trying to blend in with the human world.

This was a lot of fun and a quick read. I would highly recommend.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book whips ass. It’s so inventive and fun and I never knew what direction my choices were going to take me!

[Abby Spudich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever, insightful and so much fun! I read through two different endings and can’t wait to delve in a little more in the future!

[Shawnee Petrosky · Rating 3 out of 5]

**3.5**
I am a wolf, I enjoyed the chose your path and the different scenarios did make me laugh. I am not sure I enjoy this type of book, this was the first one I have read, but it was funny.

[Deeksha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The concept of this book is fascinating—I died twice and had to retrace my steps to choose different paths to survive! It’s a fast-paced, interactive read perfect for breaking out of a reading slump. A special thanks to @Tarsh for recommending this and also providing me with a copy!

[Arpita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I requested the audio ARC of this book on Netgalley and am leaving my honest review of it voluntarily.

The author has a popular twitter account called SickOfWolves that I admit I hadn't heard of, but also I'm not on Twitter. This book is supposed to continue in the same funny vein as the Twitter handle, with social satire and commentary on our daily lives told from a humorous perspective.

I picked this title for several reasons - 1) I'm trying to request more audio ARCs 2) It ticked off a funny book challenge I'm doing for the month 3) I was super intrigued by the quirky title. Needless to say, this book not only checked all those requirements but also turned out to be a big, pleasant surprise.

This is the story of a man who's really a wolf but the people he interacts with every day don't know about his secret identity. Also, it's a first person narrative so the wolf/man is really you! Using this outlandish idea as a premise, we start off our day. From chapter to chapter we go about our daily routine - wake up, breakfast, commute, office log in, water cooler gossip, socialize over lunch, colleague's farewell, personal obligations etc.

What I enjoyed about this story was the style of humor employed - it wasn't slapstick or overtly in your face. It's more of a satire that engages you with wit and little bursts of perceptive genius that come from shared experiences. e.g. everyone has at some point shown up late to work, got caught up in a dilemma over work-life balance, toed the fine line between being vulnerable with a co-worker or coming off as aloof. I identified with several of the instances narrated throughout the story. The metaphor of the secret identity is really clever as it gives you insight into the way you present yourself to others and how they perceive you in turn. It's so subjective and reflective in many ways.

The story is also presented in an interactive way - at the end of certain chapters, you get a question based on which you are directed further to the point you should jump to. In this way, you're not really reading all the chapters but based on your choices, you determine how the story plays out. Like another reviewer here said, I'm tempted to go back and pick differently just out of curiosity as to what the alternative story(ies) might've been.

I'd recommend this book to everyone looking for a good, subtle, multi-layered story that simply aims to delight and delivers in leaps and bounds.

[Isabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

A big thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this ARC.

I wasn’t familiar with the Twitter account @SickOfWolves before listening to this audiobook, so I wasn’t quite aware of what to expect (except that it would be quirky).

It WAS quirky and I found myself laughing within the first minute. And the bubbles of laughter just kept on coming near every chapter. Jay Aaseng’s narration brought a lot of added humor to Dan Sheehan’s already funny text. And the voices. The wolf’s voice is especially commical perfection..

It’s a choose your own adventure story about a wolf trying to pass as a human, and live a (mostly) human life. While also questioning what being human really is. And I, apparently, make a lot of wolfish choices based on the paths I chose to take (and because it sounded more fun).

If your looking for a fun story to make you laugh, or if you’re more interested in socially critical stories, pick this one.

[Soren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone/everyone feeling lonely, out of place, disheartened by modern Capitalism and human life. Such a lovely, funny, poignant book on figuring out where you're supposed to be - and of course, having to shape yourself into something you're not for sake of other people's comfortability just to embrace the fact that you're a wolf in man's clothing! I know it wasn't meant for *me* in mind specifically, but being an autistic trans man, I truly resonated in the way that this wolf was trying to buy into masculinity and try his very best to be a human man.

Honestly, I've read this in under 8 hours (which is a huge win for me). It's a quick read/listen and I couldn't appreciate this more. I didn't expect to get choked up, but here we are!

[M. Langlinais · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, rounded up. Interesting. I don't know what I was expecting; I backed this project on Unbound because I find the Twitter account so amusing. After that I sort of forgot this book was coming until I received a notice it had been mailed.

It's a choose-your-own-adventure type book in which you are a wolf trying to pass as human. You ride the bus, go to work, socialize, interact with a clueless roommate, etc. Points for the unique premise (though it's derived from the Twitter) and fun execution. Good illustrations, too. But the book--and maybe this is intentional--actually did make me anxious. Which made it a little difficult to read at times, if that makes any sense? I think this would maybe be more entertaining for my teen son or maybe even my husband...