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Attempting Normal
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
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
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
342 people are currently reading
5,123 people want to read
About the author
Marc Maron
15books316followersMarcus David Maron is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer and actor.
He has been host of The Marc Maron Show and co-host of both Morning Sedition and Breakroom Live, all politically oriented shows produced by Air America Media. He hosted Comedy Central's Short Attention Span Theater for a year, replacing Jon Stewart. Maron was a frequent guest on the Late Show with David Letterman and made more than forty appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, more than any other standup performer.
In September 2009, Maron began hosting a twice-weekly podcast titled WTF with Marc Maron in which he interviews comedians and celebrities. Highlights have included Conan O'Brien, Robin Williams, and an episode with Louis C.K. that was rated the #1 podcast episode of all time by Slate magazine. In June 2015, Maron interviewed the President of the United States, Barack Obama, at his podcast studio and home, in Highland Park, Los Angeles, California.
From 2013 to 2016, he starred in his own IFC television comedy series, Maron, for which he also served as executive producer and occasional writer.
He has been host of The Marc Maron Show and co-host of both Morning Sedition and Breakroom Live, all politically oriented shows produced by Air America Media. He hosted Comedy Central's Short Attention Span Theater for a year, replacing Jon Stewart. Maron was a frequent guest on the Late Show with David Letterman and made more than forty appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, more than any other standup performer.
In September 2009, Maron began hosting a twice-weekly podcast titled WTF with Marc Maron in which he interviews comedians and celebrities. Highlights have included Conan O'Brien, Robin Williams, and an episode with Louis C.K. that was rated the #1 podcast episode of all time by Slate magazine. In June 2015, Maron interviewed the President of the United States, Barack Obama, at his podcast studio and home, in Highland Park, Los Angeles, California.
From 2013 to 2016, he starred in his own IFC television comedy series, Maron, for which he also served as executive producer and occasional writer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 718 reviews
October 11, 2015
I like Marc Maron. I like his humorous angst, his suffer-no-fools attitude, his deep desire to understand what the hell is going on around here.
If you haven't seen any of Marc's comedy, or listened to his WTF podcast, you should be warned that he is intense. Every story, every anecdote, every word that comes from his mouth has been obsessed over and detailed.
Marc's memoir is no different. I listened to this on audio, and Marc is such a powerful conversationalist and he tells his stories so well that it was an emotional experience. Marc doesn't shy away from talking about difficult things in his life: his former drug use, his relationship and marital problems, and his anxiety. That sounds like a depressing read, but Marc makes it funny and insightful.
I enjoyed this book, but I recommend it with the caution that Marc's style isn't for everyone. Marc tells some sad stories and he swears a lot, which doesn't bother me, but once I had to frantically hit the pause button when I was driving my mother across town and Marc was telling a grim story about being with a prostitute. So if you're a fan of Marc's, you'd probably like this memoir, but maybe give the audio a rest if your sainted mom is in the car.
Favorite Passage
If you haven't seen any of Marc's comedy, or listened to his WTF podcast, you should be warned that he is intense. Every story, every anecdote, every word that comes from his mouth has been obsessed over and detailed.
Marc's memoir is no different. I listened to this on audio, and Marc is such a powerful conversationalist and he tells his stories so well that it was an emotional experience. Marc doesn't shy away from talking about difficult things in his life: his former drug use, his relationship and marital problems, and his anxiety. That sounds like a depressing read, but Marc makes it funny and insightful.
I enjoyed this book, but I recommend it with the caution that Marc's style isn't for everyone. Marc tells some sad stories and he swears a lot, which doesn't bother me, but once I had to frantically hit the pause button when I was driving my mother across town and Marc was telling a grim story about being with a prostitute. So if you're a fan of Marc's, you'd probably like this memoir, but maybe give the audio a rest if your sainted mom is in the car.
Favorite Passage
I'm beginning to realize that some things aren't going to happen the way I had planned. That's part of being an adult. All right, maybe I'm not going to be an astronaut. I'm going to have to let that go. I'll put it on the back burner. I'll be mature about it, keep it as a hobby.
Some people don't even realize they're bitter. If you don't know whether you are or not, here's a quick quiz you can give yourself. If you ever wake up in the morning and the first thing you say is "Oh fuck, not again," you might be a little bitter. If you find yourself in conversation with someone you know and that person brings up someone you both know and before he says another word you mutter, "That guy's a fucking asshole," you might be a little bitter. If you find yourself dismissing universally acclaimed landmark achievements, saying, for example, "The Godfather is an okay movie," you might be bitter.
Everyone is a little bitter. We're born bitter. The personality itself is really just a very complex defense mechanism. A reaction to the first time someone said, "No, you can't." That's the big challenge of life � to chisel disappointment into wisdom so people respect you and you don't annoy your friends with your whining. You don't want to be the bitter guy in the group. It's the difference between "I've been through that and this is what I've learned" and "I'm fucked. Everything sucks." That said, be careful not to medicate bitterness because you've mistaken it for depression, because the truth is, you're right: Everything does suck most of the time and there's a fine line between bitterness and astute cultural observation.
July 20, 2016
Attempting Normal is the 2013 memoir by Marc Maron, comic, cat caretaker and the host of WTF with Marc Maron, a podcast he typically records out of his garage in Highland Park, California. The 712 episodes and counting are unfiltered and uninterrupted conversations ranging from an hour and fifteen minutes to two hours and with guests from President Barack Obama (using the word "nigger" in a discussion of racial progress in America) to Robin Williams (describing his struggle with suicidal thoughts) to Lorne Michaels (discussing Maron's failed audition for Saturday Night Live and providing closure to an incident the host had obsessed over for twenty years). Other memorable guests include Louis C.K., Judd Apatow, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Cheech & Chong and Terry Gross.
I've been listening to Maron's podcasts uploaded to YouTube (the most recent fifty episodes are available for free on his website). They are great. The first ten minutes of his show is a rant about some issue going on in his life--parents, girlfriend, cats, travel anxiety, overall anxiety--before Maron cues up the interview. The conversations never cease to surprise me, whether it's adorable Anna Kendrick admitting she threw away a pair of diamond earrings a fan left for her outside her house, or caustic Chelsea Handler revealing that the first thing she did with her money was open college trusts for her nine nieces and nephews. It's a testament to Maron's creativity that his guests open up about where they came from, how they work and what's important to them. You might call it their art of life.
It's no accident that I wanted to read Attempting Normal immediately following Raymond Carver's short story collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. I knew a bit about Maron's background and in a strange way, before he got sober, Maron was a Raymond Carver character come to life, or as Maron says it in his chapter titled "The First Marriage":
Comedians in their infancy are generally selfish, irresponsible, emotionally retarded, morally dubious, substance-addicted animals who live out of boxes and milk crates. They are plagued with feelings or failure and fraudulence. They are prone to fleeting fits of manic grandiosity and are completely dependent on the acceptance and approval of rooms full of strangers, strangers the comedian resents until he feels sufficiently loved and embraced. Perhaps I am only speaking for myself here.
Dividing his book between chapters devoted to his past and chapters restricted for comedic rant, Maron was like a fleshed out version of an asshole sulking through a Raymond Carver story, but instead of destroying lives or fucking up his own magnificently and THE END, Maron lets us hang with him as he figures things out, kicks drink and drugs and cigarettes, and finds success with a gig that entertains hundreds of thousands of fans and even brings the President of the United States to his garage to chat for over an hour. If this were a novel, Maron's story would be rejected as phony.
I'm filling in thoughts about Maron based on other media--his podcast or Raymond Carver--and to be honest, the book (210 pages) itself is okay. If it makes anyone else curious enough to listen to the podcast, the book does its job. I'd convinced myself that podcasts were the last thing I had time for before I discovered I could just as easily listen to these at work instead of my '80s New Wave channel on Pandora. Back to his book, I admired how unflattering Maron was willing to portray himself, including a chapter devoted to his two experiences with prostitutes and other chapters on his two failed marriages, none of which colors him as a particularly good human being. Other chapters made me laugh and they all add up to give an inescapable impression of who this man is.
Chapter 21: I Almost Died #3: Prince's Chicken
When I travel, which is often, I try to find regional foods that I can't get in Los Angeles. That is really just a rationalization for me to eat barbecue, biscuits, mac and cheese, and various members of the pie family whenever I find myself anywhere that could be called southern, which means, in this country, pretty much anywhere. I always ask locals where I should eat. Then I look at the review sites to see if they check out. In Nashville almost everyone told me to go to Prince's Hot Chicken. Not necessarily because it was good but because there was nothing else like it. I was warned that it would be the hottest thing I ever put in my face.
Maron's love of his pets--due to his touring, he can't keep dogs and even better than cats are feral cats, which come and go as they please but Maron can't help but develop friendships with--or his hatred of Whole Foods stand out as wonderfully original thought. My expectation was that there would be behind the scenes WTF stuff, for example his visit from President Obama, but that event followed the publication of this book by two years. For a comic memoir that's chapter-to-verse invigorating and hilarious, I'd recommend by Diablo Cody, but, if you're in the mood for something stirred darker, this one will do.
I've been listening to Maron's podcasts uploaded to YouTube (the most recent fifty episodes are available for free on his website). They are great. The first ten minutes of his show is a rant about some issue going on in his life--parents, girlfriend, cats, travel anxiety, overall anxiety--before Maron cues up the interview. The conversations never cease to surprise me, whether it's adorable Anna Kendrick admitting she threw away a pair of diamond earrings a fan left for her outside her house, or caustic Chelsea Handler revealing that the first thing she did with her money was open college trusts for her nine nieces and nephews. It's a testament to Maron's creativity that his guests open up about where they came from, how they work and what's important to them. You might call it their art of life.
It's no accident that I wanted to read Attempting Normal immediately following Raymond Carver's short story collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. I knew a bit about Maron's background and in a strange way, before he got sober, Maron was a Raymond Carver character come to life, or as Maron says it in his chapter titled "The First Marriage":
Comedians in their infancy are generally selfish, irresponsible, emotionally retarded, morally dubious, substance-addicted animals who live out of boxes and milk crates. They are plagued with feelings or failure and fraudulence. They are prone to fleeting fits of manic grandiosity and are completely dependent on the acceptance and approval of rooms full of strangers, strangers the comedian resents until he feels sufficiently loved and embraced. Perhaps I am only speaking for myself here.
Dividing his book between chapters devoted to his past and chapters restricted for comedic rant, Maron was like a fleshed out version of an asshole sulking through a Raymond Carver story, but instead of destroying lives or fucking up his own magnificently and THE END, Maron lets us hang with him as he figures things out, kicks drink and drugs and cigarettes, and finds success with a gig that entertains hundreds of thousands of fans and even brings the President of the United States to his garage to chat for over an hour. If this were a novel, Maron's story would be rejected as phony.
I'm filling in thoughts about Maron based on other media--his podcast or Raymond Carver--and to be honest, the book (210 pages) itself is okay. If it makes anyone else curious enough to listen to the podcast, the book does its job. I'd convinced myself that podcasts were the last thing I had time for before I discovered I could just as easily listen to these at work instead of my '80s New Wave channel on Pandora. Back to his book, I admired how unflattering Maron was willing to portray himself, including a chapter devoted to his two experiences with prostitutes and other chapters on his two failed marriages, none of which colors him as a particularly good human being. Other chapters made me laugh and they all add up to give an inescapable impression of who this man is.
Chapter 21: I Almost Died #3: Prince's Chicken
When I travel, which is often, I try to find regional foods that I can't get in Los Angeles. That is really just a rationalization for me to eat barbecue, biscuits, mac and cheese, and various members of the pie family whenever I find myself anywhere that could be called southern, which means, in this country, pretty much anywhere. I always ask locals where I should eat. Then I look at the review sites to see if they check out. In Nashville almost everyone told me to go to Prince's Hot Chicken. Not necessarily because it was good but because there was nothing else like it. I was warned that it would be the hottest thing I ever put in my face.
Maron's love of his pets--due to his touring, he can't keep dogs and even better than cats are feral cats, which come and go as they please but Maron can't help but develop friendships with--or his hatred of Whole Foods stand out as wonderfully original thought. My expectation was that there would be behind the scenes WTF stuff, for example his visit from President Obama, but that event followed the publication of this book by two years. For a comic memoir that's chapter-to-verse invigorating and hilarious, I'd recommend by Diablo Cody, but, if you're in the mood for something stirred darker, this one will do.
July 12, 2013
Okay, there isn't much to say about this book other than this...
If you want a peek inside the mind of someone who is dealing with all sorts of issues, read this. Marc Maron tells us about one crazy sounding thing after another. The stories are personal. The stories are funny, not ha-ha roll on the floor funny, but the kind of funny that comes when a guy has faced himself and been able heal enough to take fear of himself away.
In this book, Marc Maron deals with addiction, not just to drugs, but to behaviors and all sorts of things we take for granted. He gives us a glimpse inside his head at how his personal obsession with... what ever he's thinking about...takes over his brain and spills out of control.
As always with comedian's writing books, I wonder how much the stories have been embellished or streched for comedic entertainment value. Then there is this one, where, I don't care if the story has been embellished or if Marc Maron's been sandbaging and saving the good stuff in a secret mental file, these anecdotes come across as authentic, sometimes frighteneing, sometimes hilarious and always with a sweet sense of "healing" that comes with time and sobriety.
It's not just self-depriciating humor, it's wonderful life stories told by a man who's been harder on himself and those around him, and the series of "spiritual awakenings" he experiences as he changes and grows and learns to be come comfortable in his own skin....okay, more comfortable than he used to be. It's still a work in progress.
If you want a comedy book, this isn't it. If you want a story of growth from demonic possession fueled by drugs, alcohol and sex, this isn't it.
If you just want a chance to see how a human being struggles with life and a desire to be more human, grows, and learns and becomes more comfortable with the person who looks back at him from the mirror, then this is a good book to read.
"Comedy saved me."
It shows and it's a wonderful story to hear.
Warning:
Maron uses lots of F-bombs and discusses real situations that may be distasteful to those who don't understand the journy he's on, and some who are sensitive to such things. Sex, drug use, self-destructive almost obessive thinking and screwed up logic on display here.
I'd also say that people in some stage of recovery from alcohol and/or drug addiction may find more in this book than others...simply because they understand where he's coming from.
Anyone who wants to learn what it's like to work through problems, understnad yourself and how you work will enjoy this book... F-bombs, crude behavior and all.
Foul Language never stops real healing anyway. Good book
I'd also recommend the Audiobook. It's narrated by Mark Maron himself, who talks about himself for a living, and, who else could do a better job?
If you want a peek inside the mind of someone who is dealing with all sorts of issues, read this. Marc Maron tells us about one crazy sounding thing after another. The stories are personal. The stories are funny, not ha-ha roll on the floor funny, but the kind of funny that comes when a guy has faced himself and been able heal enough to take fear of himself away.
In this book, Marc Maron deals with addiction, not just to drugs, but to behaviors and all sorts of things we take for granted. He gives us a glimpse inside his head at how his personal obsession with... what ever he's thinking about...takes over his brain and spills out of control.
As always with comedian's writing books, I wonder how much the stories have been embellished or streched for comedic entertainment value. Then there is this one, where, I don't care if the story has been embellished or if Marc Maron's been sandbaging and saving the good stuff in a secret mental file, these anecdotes come across as authentic, sometimes frighteneing, sometimes hilarious and always with a sweet sense of "healing" that comes with time and sobriety.
It's not just self-depriciating humor, it's wonderful life stories told by a man who's been harder on himself and those around him, and the series of "spiritual awakenings" he experiences as he changes and grows and learns to be come comfortable in his own skin....okay, more comfortable than he used to be. It's still a work in progress.
If you want a comedy book, this isn't it. If you want a story of growth from demonic possession fueled by drugs, alcohol and sex, this isn't it.
If you just want a chance to see how a human being struggles with life and a desire to be more human, grows, and learns and becomes more comfortable with the person who looks back at him from the mirror, then this is a good book to read.
"Comedy saved me."
It shows and it's a wonderful story to hear.
Warning:
Maron uses lots of F-bombs and discusses real situations that may be distasteful to those who don't understand the journy he's on, and some who are sensitive to such things. Sex, drug use, self-destructive almost obessive thinking and screwed up logic on display here.
I'd also say that people in some stage of recovery from alcohol and/or drug addiction may find more in this book than others...simply because they understand where he's coming from.
Anyone who wants to learn what it's like to work through problems, understnad yourself and how you work will enjoy this book... F-bombs, crude behavior and all.
Foul Language never stops real healing anyway. Good book
I'd also recommend the Audiobook. It's narrated by Mark Maron himself, who talks about himself for a living, and, who else could do a better job?
May 6, 2013
"The truth is, I can't read anything with any distance. Every book is a self-help book to me." That quote alone makes Attempting Normal worth it. It did not, unfortunately, prevent me from calibrating my critical receptors to measure its success or not as a "self-help" book for me personally; however, it is now something I am aware of, and can grow from.
Paradoxically, it took the self-awareness I garnered from this book for me to become wary of depending too much on the accrual of wisdom and enlightenment through books. It's more of a futile endeavor than I'd like to acknowledge: the human brain can't retain very much, memory shape-shifts and transmogrifies, history gets re-written and as truths and memories fade little fictions and distortions commence the patch-work. Our connection to our pasts is cruelly subjective. This is our tragedy and our liberation: nothing seems to quite channel empathy like the specificity with which another experience is chronicled, so long as it is accompanied with honesty, defined here as the audacity to approximate text to what your mind believes to be true.
Even the greatest minds didn't read the quantity of text that even the mouth-breathiest Twitter-troll reads on a day-to-day basis. Bombardment of information obviously does not correlate to enlightenment or introspection; part of me romanticizes the notion of great ideas being generated on the fringes. The joke I've spouted for months now is this: the reason why religious prophets went off into the woods and had their visions in solitude is not, as Carlin suggested, to make sure there were no witnesses around to call bullshit. Rather, it's impossible to get a decent thought to happen from start to finish when other people are around. Other people's conversation, and the way the conversation is governed by Saunders's "braindead megaphone", both retard the growth of enlightened thought. To liberate one's self from the erosion of meaningful discourse, one must enter alone into the wilderness. There an idea can take up space without being dissected, snarked down, etc. The best ideas and comments on our world today come from the outside. Truly. I learned that from Louis C.K., and Bill Burr, and Marc Maron.
Here's another excerpt from Attempting Normal: "Sometimes I wish my imagination were fueled by something other than panic and dread. But I don't have control over my gift. It has control over me and I am dragged by it more often than not...I think if I could just create a series of characters to enact all the heinous possibilities my brain manufactures to insulate me from joy, then I would be using my creativity in a safer way...All I can do is imagine these horrors and share them with you." This is an excellent quote for the demon-fighting artist looking for self-help, by the way.
Anyhow, Attempting Normal is a curious little book. It is a publisher looking to profit from the well-deserved acclaim and popularity of Marc Maron: his podcast WTF is amazing; his new hour of stand-up likewise. Some of the book's chapters are slight, and some are inscrutable. Some admit to not having much of a point, and some meander a little more off of a WTF intro riff or a similar story from before. (Note to other people: I have no qualms with the so-called "repeating" of content for a book. Two hours of free, good content a week is an unreasonable request on anyone, and yet Maron achieves it. He's allowed to have his victory lap in book-form however he wants. I'm here with my pre-order copy in hand.)
But I digress. Attempting Normal has a conversational levity to it that many of the other stand-up comics book of yore have had. But then you also have "Lorne Michaels and Gorillas, 1994," "The Clown and the Chair," "Babies," and "Viagra Diaries," all worth the price of admission. Here's another great line:
"Planned obsolescence has forever denied us the ability to believe in workmanship, institutions, and lifetime guarantees. This is true with everything from pants to marriages. And obviously life itself."
Marc Maron has used his horror-generating brain to take daily minutiae and then re-frame it as a cosmic, philosophical gateway into meditations on transience and death. It is a horror-generating brain analyzing itself and gleaning its own lessons: some defunct, some rather faulty, and some don't really come to fruition at all. But, as slipshod as Attempting Normal is in bringing its anecdotes to true wisdom, they come often enough. Sometimes a story is about a hot bite of chicken wings. But along the way you will salvage some exquisite self-help Easter eggs. Watching as his mind presents a rushed-through horror-show, then succeed sometimes (and fail in others) at reaching that Big Idea is exhilarating. It's natural that it doesn't necessarily cohere into a grand narrative with answers; all the mind can do is take some stories, find those eggs, take them and leave them, and remember to not rely so much on the text for self-enlightenment. That is, ostensibly, the human arc. That is what we do when we attempt normal.
Attempting Normal captures this spirit succinctly and successfully. Maron's got the right brain and the right skills for the likes of us to stick our eyes up to the peep-hole and watch the horror he can share. Share he does, and share he does well.
Paradoxically, it took the self-awareness I garnered from this book for me to become wary of depending too much on the accrual of wisdom and enlightenment through books. It's more of a futile endeavor than I'd like to acknowledge: the human brain can't retain very much, memory shape-shifts and transmogrifies, history gets re-written and as truths and memories fade little fictions and distortions commence the patch-work. Our connection to our pasts is cruelly subjective. This is our tragedy and our liberation: nothing seems to quite channel empathy like the specificity with which another experience is chronicled, so long as it is accompanied with honesty, defined here as the audacity to approximate text to what your mind believes to be true.
Even the greatest minds didn't read the quantity of text that even the mouth-breathiest Twitter-troll reads on a day-to-day basis. Bombardment of information obviously does not correlate to enlightenment or introspection; part of me romanticizes the notion of great ideas being generated on the fringes. The joke I've spouted for months now is this: the reason why religious prophets went off into the woods and had their visions in solitude is not, as Carlin suggested, to make sure there were no witnesses around to call bullshit. Rather, it's impossible to get a decent thought to happen from start to finish when other people are around. Other people's conversation, and the way the conversation is governed by Saunders's "braindead megaphone", both retard the growth of enlightened thought. To liberate one's self from the erosion of meaningful discourse, one must enter alone into the wilderness. There an idea can take up space without being dissected, snarked down, etc. The best ideas and comments on our world today come from the outside. Truly. I learned that from Louis C.K., and Bill Burr, and Marc Maron.
Here's another excerpt from Attempting Normal: "Sometimes I wish my imagination were fueled by something other than panic and dread. But I don't have control over my gift. It has control over me and I am dragged by it more often than not...I think if I could just create a series of characters to enact all the heinous possibilities my brain manufactures to insulate me from joy, then I would be using my creativity in a safer way...All I can do is imagine these horrors and share them with you." This is an excellent quote for the demon-fighting artist looking for self-help, by the way.
Anyhow, Attempting Normal is a curious little book. It is a publisher looking to profit from the well-deserved acclaim and popularity of Marc Maron: his podcast WTF is amazing; his new hour of stand-up likewise. Some of the book's chapters are slight, and some are inscrutable. Some admit to not having much of a point, and some meander a little more off of a WTF intro riff or a similar story from before. (Note to other people: I have no qualms with the so-called "repeating" of content for a book. Two hours of free, good content a week is an unreasonable request on anyone, and yet Maron achieves it. He's allowed to have his victory lap in book-form however he wants. I'm here with my pre-order copy in hand.)
But I digress. Attempting Normal has a conversational levity to it that many of the other stand-up comics book of yore have had. But then you also have "Lorne Michaels and Gorillas, 1994," "The Clown and the Chair," "Babies," and "Viagra Diaries," all worth the price of admission. Here's another great line:
"Planned obsolescence has forever denied us the ability to believe in workmanship, institutions, and lifetime guarantees. This is true with everything from pants to marriages. And obviously life itself."
Marc Maron has used his horror-generating brain to take daily minutiae and then re-frame it as a cosmic, philosophical gateway into meditations on transience and death. It is a horror-generating brain analyzing itself and gleaning its own lessons: some defunct, some rather faulty, and some don't really come to fruition at all. But, as slipshod as Attempting Normal is in bringing its anecdotes to true wisdom, they come often enough. Sometimes a story is about a hot bite of chicken wings. But along the way you will salvage some exquisite self-help Easter eggs. Watching as his mind presents a rushed-through horror-show, then succeed sometimes (and fail in others) at reaching that Big Idea is exhilarating. It's natural that it doesn't necessarily cohere into a grand narrative with answers; all the mind can do is take some stories, find those eggs, take them and leave them, and remember to not rely so much on the text for self-enlightenment. That is, ostensibly, the human arc. That is what we do when we attempt normal.
Attempting Normal captures this spirit succinctly and successfully. Maron's got the right brain and the right skills for the likes of us to stick our eyes up to the peep-hole and watch the horror he can share. Share he does, and share he does well.
June 6, 2014
If you ever get to thinking that you're the worst person who ever lived, read this book. He will change your mind in an instant.
More importantly, you will shake with laughter.
I felt the kind of connection with him that serial killers must feel when they run into each other. You thought you were the only person who was fucked up in just that way but then you meet someone who totally gets you. "Oh my god, I love dismembering bodies too! I always start with the toes then work my way up. It just makes more sense that way, right?"
More importantly, you will shake with laughter.
I felt the kind of connection with him that serial killers must feel when they run into each other. You thought you were the only person who was fucked up in just that way but then you meet someone who totally gets you. "Oh my god, I love dismembering bodies too! I always start with the toes then work my way up. It just makes more sense that way, right?"
May 6, 2013
Although he's been in comedy for years as a standup, has been on radio, written a book, etc...his real claim to fame is his Podcast "WTF with Marc Maron." He's not a traditional joke teller, he talks about his life, his ideas, his struggles... and does it in a really honest and revealing way. He's really funny but I would describe it more as engaging and fascinating. He also has a new show on IFC that debuts tonight (5/3/13) and then there is this great book.
I started listening to his podcast in the last year and have made sure I've listened to every single one of them. I'm so thankful to have figured this out. As a result, I'm familiar with almost all the stories in this book and his day to day journey of writing the thing.
Marc is pure honesty. He is open. He isn't afraid to admit to his own darkness and struggles in life... but this is done in an incredibly refreshing way. His conversations with his guests always go just a little farther, a little bit deeper. He's neurotic and often times ridiculous... but it is the fact that he knows this and shares this that makes him so endearing.
So this book. Since I'm familiar with him, this opened a level of him up to me. Everything was very familiar, yet I couldn't put it down. I have no idea what this experience would be like if you were meeting Marc for the first time. I'll just say, if you are a fan, it is a MUST READ. If you aren't a fan, enjoy the way he sees the world and hopefully it turns you on to how awesome he is.
I'm not much of a review type, I just know that there are certain things that make an impact on your life. Marc Maron has done that to me in this time in my life. It's not just this book, it's the whole experience.
I started listening to his podcast in the last year and have made sure I've listened to every single one of them. I'm so thankful to have figured this out. As a result, I'm familiar with almost all the stories in this book and his day to day journey of writing the thing.
Marc is pure honesty. He is open. He isn't afraid to admit to his own darkness and struggles in life... but this is done in an incredibly refreshing way. His conversations with his guests always go just a little farther, a little bit deeper. He's neurotic and often times ridiculous... but it is the fact that he knows this and shares this that makes him so endearing.
So this book. Since I'm familiar with him, this opened a level of him up to me. Everything was very familiar, yet I couldn't put it down. I have no idea what this experience would be like if you were meeting Marc for the first time. I'll just say, if you are a fan, it is a MUST READ. If you aren't a fan, enjoy the way he sees the world and hopefully it turns you on to how awesome he is.
I'm not much of a review type, I just know that there are certain things that make an impact on your life. Marc Maron has done that to me in this time in my life. It's not just this book, it's the whole experience.
August 18, 2016
I laughed. A fair bit. But that doesn't change the fact that I wish I wouldn't have listened to this. The guy's a fucking asshole. And he doesn't try to hide it. Who cares if he has rescued cats. Who cares if he made me laugh. He's a jerk.
December 23, 2013
A few weeks ago, I heard that pro wrestler CM Punk had been a recent guest on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast. Being a fan of Punk, I thought this would also be a great opportunity to check out Maron’s podcast. The two talked for over an hour and while there was a lot from Punk that I had heard from previous interviews, Maron’s comedic style kept things interesting. Despite admitting early on that he knew next to nothing about professional wrestling, he still managed to find common ground with Punk and came away with an excellent interview.
I didn't subscribe to the podcast right away but I liked what I heard and knew I would return to it eventually. Credits had begun piling up on my Audible account and I began searching for something to spend them on. I noticed Marc Maron had written a book and the audio version was narrated by the man himself. I thought, why not? I clicked on the novel, downloaded it and began listening to Maron’s neurotic brand of humor.
Turns out Maron and I are a lot alike. Well, when you remove the fact that he’s infinitely more talented, successful and creatively driven, we’re a lot alike. OK, so we’re a little alike. We both spend a lot of time living inside our own head, mentally preparing ourselves for the worst possible scenario. The book opens with a tale about Marc being absolutely convinced that the plane he’s on is about to be hijacked. There’s no real evidence to suggest this other than a sideways look another passenger throws his way. It’s not long before he becomes the one that everyone is worried about - he’s not telling anyone why exactly he’s mentally freaking out - well, other than the excuse of "there’s this situation.. in my head".
Most of the book revolves around Marc’s inability to put a value on his own self-worth. He often can’t understand why anyone finds him funny, would want to be in a relationship with him or why anyone listens to his podcast. He runs through two failed marriages, nightmare bookings, near death experiences and his experience trying to domesticate feral cats. It sounds depressing but remember, this is a comedian and a damn funny one at that.
It was a quick read - only 220 pages (or just over five hours if you’re listening) - that certainly has its ups and downs. Including stories about failed marriages as well as terrible road trips feel like standard stand-up comedy tent poles. While the book isn't anything overly memorable, it has made me want to check out more from Maron.
I didn't subscribe to the podcast right away but I liked what I heard and knew I would return to it eventually. Credits had begun piling up on my Audible account and I began searching for something to spend them on. I noticed Marc Maron had written a book and the audio version was narrated by the man himself. I thought, why not? I clicked on the novel, downloaded it and began listening to Maron’s neurotic brand of humor.
Turns out Maron and I are a lot alike. Well, when you remove the fact that he’s infinitely more talented, successful and creatively driven, we’re a lot alike. OK, so we’re a little alike. We both spend a lot of time living inside our own head, mentally preparing ourselves for the worst possible scenario. The book opens with a tale about Marc being absolutely convinced that the plane he’s on is about to be hijacked. There’s no real evidence to suggest this other than a sideways look another passenger throws his way. It’s not long before he becomes the one that everyone is worried about - he’s not telling anyone why exactly he’s mentally freaking out - well, other than the excuse of "there’s this situation.. in my head".
Most of the book revolves around Marc’s inability to put a value on his own self-worth. He often can’t understand why anyone finds him funny, would want to be in a relationship with him or why anyone listens to his podcast. He runs through two failed marriages, nightmare bookings, near death experiences and his experience trying to domesticate feral cats. It sounds depressing but remember, this is a comedian and a damn funny one at that.
It was a quick read - only 220 pages (or just over five hours if you’re listening) - that certainly has its ups and downs. Including stories about failed marriages as well as terrible road trips feel like standard stand-up comedy tent poles. While the book isn't anything overly memorable, it has made me want to check out more from Maron.
March 24, 2018
It’s only January but I’m going to call it. This is likely to be my favourite audiobook of the year.
You can buy the book .
You can buy the book .
May 11, 2013
The fact that Marc Maron's successful podcast is called WTF is lost on no-one who knows him or his comedy. "What the fuck!?!" is often the comedian's mantra, raging against a world that he simultaneously can't abide by yet craves approval from. It's also his attitude towards his own issues. On one of his stand-up CDs he tells of being alone in his house and yelling out loud "You're fucking ridiculous!" for no particular reason. It's this honesty and internal conflict that his many fans (myself included) identify with, and both are on full display in his book, Attempting Normal.
One of the problems with comedians who write books is that they are often mere recitations of their stand-up, something that rarely works. George Carlin was a hero of mine, and yet his books were awful, failing to capture what made his social commentary and exploration of language unique--his voice. Maron's book has some stories that are also in his stand-up, but his voice remains true throughout, and the 'bits' serve the larger narrative of a man at a personal crossroads who has no illusions about who he is, and no assurances that what he's doing will continue to work. It's a memoir more than worthy of your time.
I don't want to spoil the book, so I can't really talk in great detail about the particular stories that stayed with me. To be honest, I'm not sure they should stay with anyone, and the fact that some of these tales form part of Maron's personal narrative is downright disturbing (specifically the stories about his grandfather's funeral and his childhood appendicitis scare--WTF indeed). But I greatly admire his willingness to put himself out there, to openly wage a struggle with his own vulnerability that most of us won't even wage in private. I identify with his refusal to bullshit himself about who he is, to live without the false comfort of blinders. I also think he's very, very funny, and that's really the secret of his success--to tell painful stories with humor and grace, to leave us feeling better about ourselves knowing we're not alone (and if we're being honest, occasionally glad that we're not Marc Maron).
Maron once said that people leave his stand-up thinking either "that was really funny" or "gee, I hope he's ok." Attempting Normal leaves you feeling both ways at once, and that's perhaps as it should be. I know I'll be rooting for him all the way.
One of the problems with comedians who write books is that they are often mere recitations of their stand-up, something that rarely works. George Carlin was a hero of mine, and yet his books were awful, failing to capture what made his social commentary and exploration of language unique--his voice. Maron's book has some stories that are also in his stand-up, but his voice remains true throughout, and the 'bits' serve the larger narrative of a man at a personal crossroads who has no illusions about who he is, and no assurances that what he's doing will continue to work. It's a memoir more than worthy of your time.
I don't want to spoil the book, so I can't really talk in great detail about the particular stories that stayed with me. To be honest, I'm not sure they should stay with anyone, and the fact that some of these tales form part of Maron's personal narrative is downright disturbing (specifically the stories about his grandfather's funeral and his childhood appendicitis scare--WTF indeed). But I greatly admire his willingness to put himself out there, to openly wage a struggle with his own vulnerability that most of us won't even wage in private. I identify with his refusal to bullshit himself about who he is, to live without the false comfort of blinders. I also think he's very, very funny, and that's really the secret of his success--to tell painful stories with humor and grace, to leave us feeling better about ourselves knowing we're not alone (and if we're being honest, occasionally glad that we're not Marc Maron).
Maron once said that people leave his stand-up thinking either "that was really funny" or "gee, I hope he's ok." Attempting Normal leaves you feeling both ways at once, and that's perhaps as it should be. I know I'll be rooting for him all the way.
June 3, 2014
I am a big fan of WTF, Marc Maron's podcast. Reading this book felt like an episode of the podcast without a guest interview, just the monologue at the beginning where Maron talks about his struggles with self-doubt, with his troubled parents, with his various cats, with his food and nicotine addiction and with his self-doubt (again). It was a very quick read of humorous and sometimes sad essays on all of these topics that trace Maron's trip from struggling stand up to podcaster and star of his own tv show. The book was made especially bittersweet by his discussions of his then current girlfriend, Jessica, who, as fans of the podcast know, Maron has since broken up with,. I would recommend this this book to anyone who is a fan of Maron's podcast or to anyone who is looking for a quick read that reminds you that all of us have some scary stuff going on in our heads and we are not alone.
June 4, 2014
I received a free copy of this book through ŷ First Reads. FTC guidelines: check!
This book had the same issue (for me) as Jim Gaffigan's Dad is Fat. Though both men are very funny on stage, through a combination of their delivery and facial expressions, their stories written down just aren't funny. This is not a direct quotation, but I feel like Marc's stories read something like this: I was addicted to heroin for years and years. My father was in a manic mood at my grandfather's funeral and behaved incredibly inappropriately and I find myself unable to ever forget it. My mother didn't love me. I was such a drug addicted and neurotic mess that I lost, not one, but two wives and refuse to marry the girl I'm seeing now because I'm terrified of commitment... More sad than hilarious, no? Reading that kind of stuff, I felt really badly for him rather than laughing merrily along with him.
However, the same stories, told out loud during one of his stand up routines, have me laughing like mad. I guess comedians lose some of their magic in the medium of a book, especially a dynamic presence like Marc.
That being said, Marc Maron is incredibly insightful while he painstakingly examines his numerous neurosis and manic brain patterns. He presents addiction, childhood humiliations, pet bonding, ex-wives, masturbation, and total dysfunction with a wry and self deprecating humor. He throws himself into every experience that life has to offer because, he says, he's seeking the funny in it. It's all "research".
My favorite of his essays is entitled: Hummingbirds and the Killer of Mice. Marc's interactions with animals are surprisingly tender and sweet. He seems to get along better with them than with people. At the same time, while completely uncomfortable with others, Marc makes me feel like we (the human race) are all together in our various levels of crazy. No matter what type of nutty behavior we indulge in or vice we seek hide, we are all just attempting to be normal and accepted by the other insane people around us- a collective insanity. And, that's ok.
So, though I didn't find him "funny", Marc is a unique voice in the comic world and I'm definitely going to enjoy more of his work in the future. People who like Mike Birbiglia's comedy may enjoy this book. They both find humor in their inability to function like a "normal person" in day to day life. Marc uses more profanity and has a rougher past than Mike but in other ways their humor is quite similar.
This book had the same issue (for me) as Jim Gaffigan's Dad is Fat. Though both men are very funny on stage, through a combination of their delivery and facial expressions, their stories written down just aren't funny. This is not a direct quotation, but I feel like Marc's stories read something like this: I was addicted to heroin for years and years. My father was in a manic mood at my grandfather's funeral and behaved incredibly inappropriately and I find myself unable to ever forget it. My mother didn't love me. I was such a drug addicted and neurotic mess that I lost, not one, but two wives and refuse to marry the girl I'm seeing now because I'm terrified of commitment... More sad than hilarious, no? Reading that kind of stuff, I felt really badly for him rather than laughing merrily along with him.
However, the same stories, told out loud during one of his stand up routines, have me laughing like mad. I guess comedians lose some of their magic in the medium of a book, especially a dynamic presence like Marc.
That being said, Marc Maron is incredibly insightful while he painstakingly examines his numerous neurosis and manic brain patterns. He presents addiction, childhood humiliations, pet bonding, ex-wives, masturbation, and total dysfunction with a wry and self deprecating humor. He throws himself into every experience that life has to offer because, he says, he's seeking the funny in it. It's all "research".
My favorite of his essays is entitled: Hummingbirds and the Killer of Mice. Marc's interactions with animals are surprisingly tender and sweet. He seems to get along better with them than with people. At the same time, while completely uncomfortable with others, Marc makes me feel like we (the human race) are all together in our various levels of crazy. No matter what type of nutty behavior we indulge in or vice we seek hide, we are all just attempting to be normal and accepted by the other insane people around us- a collective insanity. And, that's ok.
So, though I didn't find him "funny", Marc is a unique voice in the comic world and I'm definitely going to enjoy more of his work in the future. People who like Mike Birbiglia's comedy may enjoy this book. They both find humor in their inability to function like a "normal person" in day to day life. Marc uses more profanity and has a rougher past than Mike but in other ways their humor is quite similar.
May 21, 2013
This was not the sort of book I expected. Generally when I pick up something by a comedian, I expect a lot of observational humor or personal anecdotes told in humorous ways. Attempting Normal has just a bit of both, but more than anything it is Maron reflecting on how he got to where he is and being brutally honest about his life.
No topic is off-limits for Maron. He covers his struggles with substance abuse, the dissolution of his two marriages, his troubled childhood, and his love of cats. Most of the stories he relates have an element of humor to them, because I don't think Maron knows how to be anything but funny, but there's an edge to it. It cuts deep. When he's discussing his experiences with prostitutes, you'll laugh, but it'll be an uncomfortable laugh because in the back of your mind you'll be thinking "There but for the grace of God..."
I am vaguely familiar with Maron's standup work; I can't say I've followed his career, but when snippets of his acts come up on SiriusXM, I listen and laugh. I'm not at all familiar with his podcast, but I plan to change that. Anyone that can step out of themselves and write an autobiography this scathing is someone that may be worth listening to.
No topic is off-limits for Maron. He covers his struggles with substance abuse, the dissolution of his two marriages, his troubled childhood, and his love of cats. Most of the stories he relates have an element of humor to them, because I don't think Maron knows how to be anything but funny, but there's an edge to it. It cuts deep. When he's discussing his experiences with prostitutes, you'll laugh, but it'll be an uncomfortable laugh because in the back of your mind you'll be thinking "There but for the grace of God..."
I am vaguely familiar with Maron's standup work; I can't say I've followed his career, but when snippets of his acts come up on SiriusXM, I listen and laugh. I'm not at all familiar with his podcast, but I plan to change that. Anyone that can step out of themselves and write an autobiography this scathing is someone that may be worth listening to.
June 3, 2014
I usually love books that recount random stories and life lessons by funny people. This is not what I found here. Maron comes off as unlikeable in the first few chapters. Then he does so much complaining and whining about what's wrong with and why his marriages never last, he comes off as some man-child who wants someone to mother him. It's just hard to be sympathetic with him. Also, the tone of the book is bad. Something about really takes you out of the stories he's telling and makes you wish you picked up something else to read. I think unless you're already a fan of his, you're not going to get much out of this book.
February 6, 2017
I actually ran across Marc Maron initially from an appearance on Conan, which led me to find what station I could watch his sitcom on, which finally led me to the WTF podcast he's most famous for - and if you don't know it, you might want to look it up, Maron has talked to a lot of really interesting people, from a 90 year old Jerry Lewis to President Obama, almost all (including the President) in the garage of his little house in Highland Hills. In fact, the episode he did about the hijinks and logistics surrounding having the president visit a little house in Highland Hills is actually funnier than the interview itself.
Anyway, I discovered Maron probably a little backwards to most people. I'm glad though, because I see him through a lens of comedian first, dude who can sometimes get people to just spill their entire souls into a microphone second.
Reading this memoir, I realise, one of the reasons he can do that is because he's willing to do it himself. I don't think Marc Maron has any filters, there's no TMI, nothing is too personal and although the word "raw" is thrown about in pretty much every review of this book (or his podcast, or the show, or his standup) that I've ever seen, but there's a good reason for that, it's pretty much what he is. Yet he's so very self-aware, at least after the fact. This isn't like so many stories of "Oh this happened, and that happened, and I'm fine now", it's "This happened, and I hurt her and I'm really sorry about that, and that happened and I was a complete asshole and I'd take it back if I could, but I'm not sure I'd do it differently if I could get a do-over."
But don't take this the wrong way. Raw, unfiltered, and sometimes painful, it's also absolutely hysterical in a lot of places. A lot of comedians aren't actually very funny when writing about their own lives, they only come to life on a stage, or when talking about an abstract version of themselves. Maron is not one of them, he's at his very best and funniest when dissecting his own failings and failures, and he's a good writer.
The tale of Marc "rescuing" an entire litter of no-longer-kitten feral cats from behind his building, resulting in four wild cats pretty much holding his apartment hostage for days is just about the funniest thing I've read in ages.
Boomer Lives!
Anyway, I discovered Maron probably a little backwards to most people. I'm glad though, because I see him through a lens of comedian first, dude who can sometimes get people to just spill their entire souls into a microphone second.
Reading this memoir, I realise, one of the reasons he can do that is because he's willing to do it himself. I don't think Marc Maron has any filters, there's no TMI, nothing is too personal and although the word "raw" is thrown about in pretty much every review of this book (or his podcast, or the show, or his standup) that I've ever seen, but there's a good reason for that, it's pretty much what he is. Yet he's so very self-aware, at least after the fact. This isn't like so many stories of "Oh this happened, and that happened, and I'm fine now", it's "This happened, and I hurt her and I'm really sorry about that, and that happened and I was a complete asshole and I'd take it back if I could, but I'm not sure I'd do it differently if I could get a do-over."
But don't take this the wrong way. Raw, unfiltered, and sometimes painful, it's also absolutely hysterical in a lot of places. A lot of comedians aren't actually very funny when writing about their own lives, they only come to life on a stage, or when talking about an abstract version of themselves. Maron is not one of them, he's at his very best and funniest when dissecting his own failings and failures, and he's a good writer.
The tale of Marc "rescuing" an entire litter of no-longer-kitten feral cats from behind his building, resulting in four wild cats pretty much holding his apartment hostage for days is just about the funniest thing I've read in ages.
Boomer Lives!
August 28, 2016
I've recently taken to reading memoirs etc. and so I've been branching out to try ones I would not necessarily have chosen as I've been surprised before. Unfortunately this was not one of those positive branching out situations. I vaguely recall seeing Maron's stand-up on TV at some point, but could not have told you a thing about him. But, hell, he's on the cover with a cat...so why not give it a chance? Oy, I really wish I had passed by this one. To be completely honest, I walked away thinking Maron is vile and disgusting. I don't care about the cursing or misanthropic feelings etc., but should I really be hearing stories about you getting a BJ by a hooker while you listen to a message from your girlfriend? Seriously? This guy defines being a fuckup. He talks about quite a bit of vile behavior in the book just by 31% in, when I called it quits. I doubt it got much better as drugs and constant cheating seemed to be the main focus by that point. Yes, he also has a chapter about helping out some feral cats, which is great but does not get you out of the giant douche category.
June 3, 2013
I decided to read 'Attempting Normal' after hearing an interview with Marc on NPR. He made a comment about his Mother who once told him that she wasn't sure if she could love him if he were fat. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the book doesn't spend too much time dissecting his relationships with his parents. The book is a biography focused on Marc's romantic relationships and career. It is an enjoyable read with some laugh-out-loud sections. Marc is honest, self-deprecating and funny. His view of the Irish and Boston Irish alone were worth the purchase. The quotes that make me homesick: "There was a type of Irish townie in New England that scared the shit out of me. ...They were angry, ..." I know a few of those myself!
If you are thinking about a career in comedy, then this book may resonate or be helpful. Marc found career success through an amateur interest and seems to be enjoying his days right now. Life happens when we aren't paying attention!
If you are thinking about a career in comedy, then this book may resonate or be helpful. Marc found career success through an amateur interest and seems to be enjoying his days right now. Life happens when we aren't paying attention!
January 22, 2014
Marc Maron is a comedian, writer, actor, conversationalist and all around everyman philosopher. Sadly, he ain't exactly a proper narrator. While the actual content of Attempting Normal–the insight and anecdotes and tales of woe and redemption—are wonderful, Marc is obviously uncomfortable reading his work as an audiobook. As effortless and enjoyable as he is on the WTF podcast, this came as a bit of a shock. Still, the work as a whole is great, especially for longtime fans that dug his previous book, The Jerusalem Syndrome. With tons of talk about break-ups and breakdowns, drugs and diseases, it's sort of like an amped-up version of his warts-and-all comedy. There are plenty of warts, but Maron's willingness to confront them directly makes him a sympathetic figure with a final triumph that is as satisfying as it is precarious.
February 17, 2016
Maron is a funny guy.
Not in the usual 'laugh out load' way but more but more like the free form flow of jazz - a lot of adventurous, unexpected turns that aren't only funny, but also philosophically profound. I've highlighted the hell out of 'Attempting Normal' The rise of the philosopher/comic.
Another great thing about Maron is that he adheres to a strict policy of truth-telling and bullshit avoidance as he deconstructs his life through words 'Self-obsessed', 'neurotic' and 'anger issues' are descriptors that come to mind. Obviously, this hasn't always been good for his career, but it sure makes for a hell of a book, one of the only podcasts that actually qualifies as essential listening. Definitely for Maron fans and fans in general of smart, observational comedy.
Not in the usual 'laugh out load' way but more but more like the free form flow of jazz - a lot of adventurous, unexpected turns that aren't only funny, but also philosophically profound. I've highlighted the hell out of 'Attempting Normal' The rise of the philosopher/comic.
Another great thing about Maron is that he adheres to a strict policy of truth-telling and bullshit avoidance as he deconstructs his life through words 'Self-obsessed', 'neurotic' and 'anger issues' are descriptors that come to mind. Obviously, this hasn't always been good for his career, but it sure makes for a hell of a book, one of the only podcasts that actually qualifies as essential listening. Definitely for Maron fans and fans in general of smart, observational comedy.
April 27, 2013
I won this in a giveaway. I like comedians, but some try too hard to be funny. Marc was not that type of comedian. His writing was honest and naturally funny. It didn't read like a "comedy book" (in a good way), instead Marc is funny in an authentic way- even though he tells you how stressed he would get over his desire to be funny or enough for people. I really connected to some parts- we all have some weird inner non-rational thoughts- and the parts that I don't have a "that's me moment" were brutally honest and raw about his neuroses, sometimes ridiculous or funny, but always truthful. I'm really glad I won this book and would definitely recommend it.
May 3, 2013
I bought this book primarily because I've leached hundreds of hours of enjoyment from listening to WTF and wanted to contribute something to Marc Maron, a person I've come to know and love through his podcast. By which I mean that I didn't have particularly high expectations for this book. I've listened to this man talk two hours a week for the past two years, I didn't think he had anything new to say to me. What I didn't count on is what a lovely writer Marc is. The written word is different than the podcast, even stories I knew came through with different nuances. It's not a lie to say I laughed & cried. Boomer lives!
February 11, 2015
I love Marc Maron. I like his podcast, we've seen him live and his tv show is pretty good too. He cracks me up. But his comedy is also sort of sad because you know it's probably true. This book isn't funny. It's about his 2 failed marriages, his semi fucked up childhood and descent into drug addiction. But it's also about coming out of all that and being ok with where he is. After reading this book, I still love Marc Maron, so that's a good thing.
February 16, 2017
Oh Marc Maron, what a tireless, scabrous, glinting soul you are. This book didn't contain much that his eponymous TV series does not, but it had me laughing out loud at various points. I'll spare you the particulars of the jokes (because they are embarrassingly sophomoric!), but this is a short listen/read for anyone who is insatiably curious.
July 11, 2013
Comedian Marc Maron is the host of the popular “WTF� podcast and star of IFC’s “Maron.� If you’re already a fan, you’ll enjoy the book (even if you’ve heard snippets of some of the stories on his podcast before). If you’re not a fan, prepare to become one.
May 4, 2014
Guess I'm not a fan. The book is supposedly "telling it like it is" but I really can't identify. Maron thinks everyone is as screwed up as he is but that's not the case. In many ways he is just pathetic and whiny. Some of it is funny but not overly so. Maybe he would have been a better cook.
March 1, 2015
+ Reassuring and relatable!
+ Masterful self-deprecation and useful confessions
+ Funny. Actual funny, not Sedaris funny
+ Clear effective writing style in his voice
- Trademark patchiness of celebrity essay collections
- Oversharing inevitable
Why not? :)
+ Masterful self-deprecation and useful confessions
+ Funny. Actual funny, not Sedaris funny
+ Clear effective writing style in his voice
- Trademark patchiness of celebrity essay collections
- Oversharing inevitable
Why not? :)
August 17, 2019
At first I wasn't into it, but I liked it later when I got food poisoning and was in a food poisoning delirium
November 27, 2013
Following a career crash, impending poverty, drug addiction, alcoholism et. al., Marc Maron remade himself into what has become a comedy legend. So what? VH-1 will give you a thousand stories like that about the grizzled remains of pop stars, or hair bands finding second careers--some of them even musical--along with redemption. What is important about Marc Maron is not that he survived; it's what, exactly, came shambling up from that rock bottom.
This Marc Maron scoured away the fear and pretense that attach to young, less experienced artists like barnacles, dragging against their progress, sometimes tipping them into the open sea. It's not that Maron is funny, nor that he is connected, nor that he qualifies as a historian and chronicler of stand-up comedy lore. What sets Maron apart is his honesty. He is like Robert De Niro or Philip Seymour Hoffman in their prime, like any of those great actors who have mastered being themselves in front of an audience, bringing vulnerability and authenticity to every role. Except Maron brings that vulnerability to empty stages with a lone stool. Maron commits to paper and posterity a set of anxieties, sins, and misadventures that most of us would spend a lifetime hiding from everyone, especially ourselves.
When a hooker propositions him, Maron writes, in what was "not a rare moment, I was consumed with self-hatred and really high. That is the magical combination that brought me to 'yes.'" The rest of this story represents a low point that is described without self-pity or self-aggrandizement. This is not shame porn. This is the story of how low points happen and how we survive them. Maron has alternatives to swallowing these jagged moments and walking through the rest of our lives with them rolling around inside our gut. When he looks the pain and shame in the eyes, Maron never flinches. But he never lapses into fatalism, either. This is how he achieves an honesty that seems so close to truth it's sometimes impossible to tell them apart. Even when writing about childhood pets, the hard truths sit cozily alongside the elegant ones. A childhood pet named "Cheerio Lord Raglan was inbred and nervous, crazy even, but really beautiful. He didn't know his own strength and would snap at you for no reason. A bite from a stunning dog doesn't hurt any less. It's actually worse because you have to defer your pain to the privilege of owning a champion. You have to suck it up."
Maron achieves a density of prose in this book that verges, at times, on poetry. The prose never spares a word, never indulges a digression. The humor veins throughout every paragraph like fingers of gold through granite. It's not about jokes. It's about capturing the surprising honesty that starts every laugh. Certain lines are delightful and will stand out--many of those lines, David Sedaris read to Maron on the podcast. Sedaris loved the book, which is probably a better review than I am able to write here. So let me close by saying that if you want to laugh the same way you laughed at an excellent George Carlin routine, with that edge of thoughtfulness, that sizzle of anxiety and recognition; if you want to rediscover the beautiful fact that we are all--every single one of us--struggling to repair our mistakes, apologize for our errors, and get one more shot at doing the right thing, then buy this book.
This Marc Maron scoured away the fear and pretense that attach to young, less experienced artists like barnacles, dragging against their progress, sometimes tipping them into the open sea. It's not that Maron is funny, nor that he is connected, nor that he qualifies as a historian and chronicler of stand-up comedy lore. What sets Maron apart is his honesty. He is like Robert De Niro or Philip Seymour Hoffman in their prime, like any of those great actors who have mastered being themselves in front of an audience, bringing vulnerability and authenticity to every role. Except Maron brings that vulnerability to empty stages with a lone stool. Maron commits to paper and posterity a set of anxieties, sins, and misadventures that most of us would spend a lifetime hiding from everyone, especially ourselves.
When a hooker propositions him, Maron writes, in what was "not a rare moment, I was consumed with self-hatred and really high. That is the magical combination that brought me to 'yes.'" The rest of this story represents a low point that is described without self-pity or self-aggrandizement. This is not shame porn. This is the story of how low points happen and how we survive them. Maron has alternatives to swallowing these jagged moments and walking through the rest of our lives with them rolling around inside our gut. When he looks the pain and shame in the eyes, Maron never flinches. But he never lapses into fatalism, either. This is how he achieves an honesty that seems so close to truth it's sometimes impossible to tell them apart. Even when writing about childhood pets, the hard truths sit cozily alongside the elegant ones. A childhood pet named "Cheerio Lord Raglan was inbred and nervous, crazy even, but really beautiful. He didn't know his own strength and would snap at you for no reason. A bite from a stunning dog doesn't hurt any less. It's actually worse because you have to defer your pain to the privilege of owning a champion. You have to suck it up."
Maron achieves a density of prose in this book that verges, at times, on poetry. The prose never spares a word, never indulges a digression. The humor veins throughout every paragraph like fingers of gold through granite. It's not about jokes. It's about capturing the surprising honesty that starts every laugh. Certain lines are delightful and will stand out--many of those lines, David Sedaris read to Maron on the podcast. Sedaris loved the book, which is probably a better review than I am able to write here. So let me close by saying that if you want to laugh the same way you laughed at an excellent George Carlin routine, with that edge of thoughtfulness, that sizzle of anxiety and recognition; if you want to rediscover the beautiful fact that we are all--every single one of us--struggling to repair our mistakes, apologize for our errors, and get one more shot at doing the right thing, then buy this book.
November 23, 2013
Marc Maron may always live in Louis CK's shadow, but Marc Maron is completely aware of this. But maybe that's his brand? The unappreciated less-polished Louis CK.
Maron's style of comedy is definitely more abrasive, but it's something that he does very well. There's something definitely wrong with Maron and it's funny reading or listening to him figuring out why that is exactly. Is it his parents? His upbringing? The drugs? His tendency to obsess about things? His propensity to want acceptance? These are the many things Maron discusses in his book Attempting Normal, and he does it very well.
The way Maron tells these stories, he is always looking for connections in his life: the death of his cat causes the end of his first marriage; his desire to get sober causes his meeting his second wife; the breaking of the orange chair causes its dissolusion,and so on. But, whenever the shit goes down, Maron is the first person to blame himself. So at least we know we're dealing with a self-aware crazy person here.
While most comedians' books talk at length about what it was about comedy that attracted them and how they "made it," there's surprisingly little of that in this book. Sometimes Maron rehashes stuff verbatim from his standup (which he does on his show also), but those stories are few and far in between. That aside, we get stories about growing up with neurotic parents, hanging on to two disastrous marriages, and dealing with drug addiction and getting sober. Whether it's the sacrifices one makes for comedy, or the little joys of getting the perfect revenge on your second ex-wife, finding the perfect story to describe the Irish character , or dealing with the various ways he has almost died (the fried chicken story being my favorite), Maron finds a way to keep these stories brutally honest. No punches are pulled and the honesty is appreciated, which is what makes this book so funny. Maron finds humor in the tragedy in his life
Maybe it's just all the goddamn cats.
Maron's style of comedy is definitely more abrasive, but it's something that he does very well. There's something definitely wrong with Maron and it's funny reading or listening to him figuring out why that is exactly. Is it his parents? His upbringing? The drugs? His tendency to obsess about things? His propensity to want acceptance? These are the many things Maron discusses in his book Attempting Normal, and he does it very well.
The way Maron tells these stories, he is always looking for connections in his life: the death of his cat causes the end of his first marriage; his desire to get sober causes his meeting his second wife; the breaking of the orange chair causes its dissolusion,and so on. But, whenever the shit goes down, Maron is the first person to blame himself. So at least we know we're dealing with a self-aware crazy person here.
While most comedians' books talk at length about what it was about comedy that attracted them and how they "made it," there's surprisingly little of that in this book. Sometimes Maron rehashes stuff verbatim from his standup (which he does on his show also), but those stories are few and far in between. That aside, we get stories about growing up with neurotic parents, hanging on to two disastrous marriages, and dealing with drug addiction and getting sober. Whether it's the sacrifices one makes for comedy, or the little joys of getting the perfect revenge on your second ex-wife, finding the perfect story to describe the Irish character , or dealing with the various ways he has almost died (the fried chicken story being my favorite), Maron finds a way to keep these stories brutally honest. No punches are pulled and the honesty is appreciated, which is what makes this book so funny. Maron finds humor in the tragedy in his life
Maybe it's just all the goddamn cats.
April 21, 2014
Recently, someone on WTF described Maron as a lovable douche bag. I think that sums him up pretty well. This has to be one of the first books I've ever read where I actually shouted "What??" in public...out loud...at the book. There are some stories in "Attempting Normal" that you know have to be true because no one would make this shit up. It is hilarious, disturbing, makes me worry about Maron and also makes me want to shake him really hard. But then who the heck are any of us to judge him? The fact is, I like him a lot and I think this was a decently written, honest, brave and irreverent account of his crazy attempts at finding his place in the world and fucking it up a lot but eventually discovering that he has something to offer that no one else did precisely because of the special ways in which he is broken. I think the choice of opening the book with the part from the Louie CK interview where he first goes to meet Marc with David Cross when Marc is toiling away at the coffee shop was brilliant! Personally, that was my favorite part of the epic two part WTF interview. The moment where Louie see this person who appeared to him initially to be an arrogant, bristling, angry jerk in a position of humility. When Maron does humility, it's pretty disarming. When he pulls back the layers, just witnessing the act of it is hard not to commend somehow. As a comedian, it's his job to make light of some of the darkest areas of life that people often think of and do but never talk about. But I think it's more than just a job for him. It's all he knows and also, he'd go crazy if he couldn't get it out. And we'd be crazy not to see how important that is.
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