Attempting Normal - by Marc Maron (Paperback)

About the Book

The stand-up comedian and popular podcaster tells the story of his winding, potholed road from madness and obsession and failure to something like normal, while still trying hard to do better without making a bigger mess.

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Marc Maron is "a master of spinning humor out of anguish" (Bookforum), even when that anguish is pretty clearly self-inflicted. In Attempting Normal, he threads together twenty-five stories from his life and near-death, from his first comedy road trips (with a fugitive junkie comic with a missing tooth) to his love affair with feral animals (his cat rescues are bloody epics) to his surprisingly moving tales of lust, heartbreak, and hope. The stories are united by Maron's thrilling storytelling style--intensely smart, disarmingly honest, and explosively funny. Together, they add up to a hilarious and moving tale of failing, flailing, and finding a way.

Praise for Attempting Normal

"I laughed so hard reading this book."--David Sedaris

"Funny . . . surprisingly deep . . . laced with revelatory insights."--Los Angeles Times

"Superb . . . A reason that [it] is a superior example of an overcrowded genre--the comedian memoir--is Mr. Maron's hardheaded approach to his history, the wisdom of experience."--The New York Times

"Marc Maron is a legend because he is both a great comic and a brilliant mind. Attempting Normal is a deep, hilarious megashot of feeling and truth as only this man can administer."--Sam Lipsyte

Praise for Marc Maron and WTF

"The stuff of comedy legend."--Rolling Stone

"Marc Maron is a startlingly honest, compelling, and hilarious comedian-poet. Truly one of the greatest of all time."--Louis C.K.

"I've known Marc for years and I can tell you first hand that he's passionate, fearless, honest, self-absorbed, neurotic, and screamingly funny."--David Cross

"Revered among his peers . . . raw and unflinchingly honest."--Entertainment Weekly

"Devastatingly funny."--Los Angeles Times

"For a comedy nerd, this show is nirvana."--Judd Apatow

Review Quotes

Praise for Attempting Normal

"I laughed so hard reading this book."--David Sedaris

"Funny . . . surprisingly deep . . . laced with revelatory insights."--Los Angeles Times

"Superb . . . A reason that [it] is a superior example of an overcrowded genre--the comedian memoir--is Mr. Maron's hardheaded approach to his history, the wisdom of experience."--The New York Times

"Marc Maron is a legend because he is both a great comic and a brilliant mind. Attempting Normal is a deep, hilarious megashot of feeling and truth as only this man can administer."--Sam Lipsyte

Praise for Marc Maron and WTF

"The stuff of comedy legend."--Rolling Stone

"Marc Maron is a startlingly honest, compelling, and hilarious comedian-poet. Truly one of the greatest of all time."--Louis C.K.

"I've known Marc for years and I can tell you first hand that he's passionate, fearless, honest, self-absorbed, neurotic, and screamingly funny."--David Cross

"Revered among his peers . . . raw and unflinchingly honest."--Entertainment Weekly

"Devastatingly funny."--Los Angeles Times

"For a comedy nerd, this show is nirvana."--Judd Apatow

About the Author

Marc Maron is a stand-up comedian and host of the podcast WTF with Marc Maron. He has appeared in his own comedy specials on Comedy Central, HBO, and Netflix, and his sitcom, Maron, airs on IFC. He lives in Los Angeles.