How to Invent Everything
A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler
By Ryan North
Narrated by: Ryan North
Length: 12 hours 55 minutes
How to Invent Everything
“I thoroughly enjoyed this listen. In my opinion, it is not always a good thing when an author narrates their own work, but in this instance it was spot on. What impressed me was how well he managed to describe graphs, tables, and illustrations from the written version. That said, I will admit to having skipped past a couple of tables that became tedious listening. I can only imagine how much fun he had reading them. There is humor from start to finish, and I especially enjoyed his handling of famous quotes at the beginning of each section. Since the book is a guide on how to rebuild civilization faster than it developed naturally, the reader (who is ostensibly trapped in the past due to a broken time machine, for which this book is the 'repair' manual) gets to take credit for 'discovering' and 'inventing' all the great advances in history. In keeping with this, all famous quotes are attributed to "You". This is followed by an additional 'also' accreditation to a personage from the 'original' timeline. What is also educational is that as each technological stride is explained, the author informs not only when this it first appeared, but how much sooner it COULD have based on previous advances. A 'technology tree' appendix (which is available on the author's website with all the other described visual aids) lays out exactly which technologies are necessary to take the next step on your path to becoming the most important person in history. Shortly after I finished the book, one of my children asked me several question I was able to answer as if I had always known (rather than just learned it myself 48 hours previously). This is a great resource if you've ever had a desire to know a little bit more about the 'hows' and 'whys' behind the workings of civilization”
John, Travelin' Storyseller
Why use Libro.fm?

Support Porter Square Books
Every time you use a credit or make a purchase we split the profits with your local bookstore.

Bookseller-curated playlists
Discover your next favorite audiobook with playlists curated by expert booksellers, the Libro.fm team, influencers, and more.

Free iOS and Android apps
Use our free apps to enjoy your audiobooks with features that allow you to customize your listening experience.
Latest picks from our bookstore partners
See all picksBestsellers
Browse bestselling audiobooks from our 1,800+ bookstore partners, updated hourly. See all
Featured playlists
Discover your next favorite audiobook with these playlists curated by expert booksellers, the Libro.fm team, influencers, and more.
New releases
Discover recently released audiobooks. See all
Identity collections
Explore these identity-based audiobook collections to diversify your listening habits.
Browse collectionsFrom the Libro.fm Blog
Top 20 Most Recommended Fiction Audiobooks of All Time
Written by Kelsey Norris / June 15th, 2022
From literary fiction to fantasy, romance, and more, these 20 audiobooks are the most frequently recommended by booksellers on Libro.fm!
Read the articleFeatured in
















Questions?
Check out our Help Center or contact us and a real, audiobook-loving human will get back to you!