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From "weird, scary, ingenious" (The New York Times) stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, an instant New York Times bestselling, brutally honest, and "laugh-out-loud funny" (Jennette McCurdy, #1 New York Times bestselling author) memoir about show business, mental health, and the comfort of rigid belief systems—from Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, to Richard Simmons, to 12-step programs. Maria Bamford is a comedian's comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong. From struggling with an eating disorder as a child of the 1980s, to navigating a career in the arts (and medical debt and psychiatric institutionalization), she has tried just about every method possible to not only be a part of the world, but to want to be a part of it.
In Bamford's "trademark blend of disarming intimacy and dark whimsy" (Publishers Weekly), Sure, I'll Join Your Cultbrings us on a quest to participate in something. With sincerity and transparency, she recounts every anonymous fellowship she has joined (including but not limited to: Debtors Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, and Overeaters Anonymous), every hypomanic episode (from worrying about selling out under capitalism to enforcing union rules on her Netflix TV show set to protect her health), and every easy 1-to-3-step recipe for fudge in between.
Packed with "Bamford's brilliance, relentless humor, and insatiable instinct for survival (Library Journal), this memoir explores what it means to keep going, and to be a member of society (or any group she's invited to) despite not being very good at it. In turn, she hopes to transform isolating experiences into comedy that will make you feel less alone (without turning into a cult following).
From "weird, scary, ingenious" (The New York Times) stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, an instant New York Times bestselling, brutally honest, and "laugh-out-loud funny" (Jennette McCurdy, #1 New York Times bestselling author) memoir about show business, mental health, and the comfort of rigid belief systems—from Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, to Richard Simmons, to 12-step programs. Maria Bamford is a comedian's comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong. From struggling with an eating disorder as a child of the 1980s, to navigating a career in the arts (and medical debt and psychiatric institutionalization), she has tried just about every method possible to not only be a part of the world, but to want to be a part of it.
In Bamford's "trademark blend of disarming intimacy and dark whimsy" (Publishers Weekly), Sure, I'll Join Your Cultbrings us on a quest to participate in something. With sincerity and transparency, she recounts every anonymous fellowship she has joined (including but not limited to: Debtors Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, and Overeaters Anonymous), every hypomanic episode (from worrying about selling out under capitalism to enforcing union rules on her Netflix TV show set to protect her health), and every easy 1-to-3-step recipe for fudge in between.
Packed with "Bamford's brilliance, relentless humor, and insatiable instinct for survival (Library Journal), this memoir explores what it means to keep going, and to be a member of society (or any group she's invited to) despite not being very good at it. In turn, she hopes to transform isolating experiences into comedy that will make you feel less alone (without turning into a cult following).
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
About the Author-
Maria Bamford is the star of The Maria Bamford Show, Ask My Mom, and Lady Dynamite. She was deemed Breakout Comedy Star at Just for Laughs, and her critically acclaimed work includes her stand-up specials Weakness Is the Brand, Old Baby, and Maria Bamford: The Special, Special, Special!, as well as two Comedy Central Presents specials. Maria's writing has been featured in The New York Times, LA Weekly, and more. She is the author of the audio original You Are (A Comedy) Special. Maria has contributed comedic voice-overs for Big Mouth, BoJack Horseman, Adventure Time, Word Girl, Kung Fu Panda, Legend of Korra, and Teenage Euthanasia. For her mental health advocacy, she's been presented with The OCD Foundation's Illumination Award and featured at the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, The Chautauqua Institution, and the Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy and Ethics Symposium. She's not always right for these rooms, but she's on time and pleasant. (From Maria: This was all in the third person. My apologies. If you need help, dial 911 or 988 or call Delta airlines Diamond line. Health care can be expensive and sometimes, super shitty. Go get yourself that shitty-ass help and tell me how it went!)
Reviews-
July 31, 2023 Stand-up comedian Bamford catalogs all the “cults” she’s joined—from Debtors Anonymous to “Suzuki-method violin training”—in search of structure and community in her hilarious, eyebrow-raising debut memoir. “I’m not suicidal, but I’m not particularly psyched,” Bamford begins, teeing up for an honest account of her childhood OCD, early-adult recklessness, and eventual diagnosis with bipolar disorder, all of which compelled her to seek the organizing comforts of various 12-step programs. But “this is not going to have a clear chronicle of trauma, healing, victory,” Bamford writes. “It’s going to be more like a series of sudoku puzzles that I grow tired of trying to solve and a third of the way through start a new one, hoping it’s easier.” The anecdotes run the gamut from lighthearted (visiting Yellowstone’s Old Faithful with her father and sister as a child) to worrying (moving to New Zealand with an obviously gay clown she’d fallen for after a few dates), and chapters are punctuated with tongue-in-cheek recipes “that only take a minute of wavering focus” to prepare, such as “chip off the floor” and “peanut butter between pieces of cheese.” It’s all delivered with Bamford’s trademark blend of disarming intimacy and dark whimsy. The result is a consistently funny and occasionally heartbreaking glimpse into a unique comedic mind. Agent: Josh Krauss, Ginsburg Daniels Kallis.
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Stand-up comic Maria Bamford shows her sense of timing, audience, and humor as she narrates her memoir. Upbeat and whimsical, she begins by defining sounds that signal what's coming: Brakes squealing, for example, heralds "creepy stuff." She also warns listeners that her memoir will not follow a linear structure. Indeed, while pondering bouts of mental illness and her need to belong, Bamford continually takes detours that are filled with irreverent, laugh-worthy details; salty language; and tongue-in-cheek observations. All are delivered at breakneck speed as she discusses topics that range from self-help programs to Suzuki violin training. While sometimes distracting, the brisk nonstop humor buoys Bamford's moments of candor in stories about her mother's evangelical leanings and death. Bamford's portraits of others are seamlessly integrated, and her witty transitions work well. S.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
