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Based on a True Story: Not a Memoir
£12.79£18.00 (-29%)
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – “Driving, wild and hilarious” (The Washington Post), here is the incredible “memoir” of the legendary actor, gambler, raconteur, and Saturday Night Live veteran.
When Norm Macdonald, one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time, was approached to write a celebrity memoir, he flatly refused, calling the genre “one step below instruction manuals.” Norm then promptly took a two-year hiatus from stand-up comedy to live on a farm in northern Canada. When he emerged he had under his arm a manuscript, a genre-smashing book about comedy, tragedy, love, loss, war, and redemption. When asked if this was the celebrity memoir, Norm replied, “Call it anything you damn like.”
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Additional information
| Publisher | Random House, Reprint edition (1 Jan. 1900) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 272 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0812983866 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0812983869 |
| Dimensions | 13.13 x 1.47 x 20.24 cm |
by C. Fogarty
It’s impossible to read this book without hearing Norm’s distinctive voice and cadence in your head. And for that reason alone is worth reading.
by Hackstermatrix
If you don’t understand the author or his comedy this is still a good buy but not as a serious autobiography.
It takes the unreliable narrator trope and turns it up to an absurd, hilarious and ultimately comedic effect.
There’s great prose and some nice aphorism as well as a rare surrealness to this book that leaves a strong impression.
by Christine Kabashi
i like to laugh
by Paul Reid
He’s good at math or something…
by Mr. N. Curran
I have been a HUGE Norm MacDonald fan for years. He is the funniest comedian in the world in my opinion. This book does not disappoint at all. This book is a fictional autobiography using a real timeline of events of his career but highly fictionalised (obviously) which goes back and forth to the (fake) present day story about “The Plan”. The language Norm uses, the stories he tells (and the way he tells them) the constant bullying and insulting portrayal of Adam Egat as an alcoholic, ex prostitute idiot savant (he thought Nelson Mandela was a jewel thief as an example). The inane ramblings then the story of him planning a murder then his prison sentence over 3/4 chapters I will re call as one of the funniest experiences of my entire life. I had to stop reading because I didn’t want to wake up my family. I was laughing so much at that point I think I cried a little (which i’ve never done from laughing). This book is seriously worth the money. I can see how a new fan might not “get” it. And reading it in Norms voice makes the experience even better if you know his comedy and style of talking. But even at that it’s been a joyous experience reading this book and it’s well worth the time and money spent on it.
So I’d say buy it or you’re no better than that scoundrel Nelson Mandela in my book
by D. Vallance
A good read. Very funny. For my money though, an actual memoir by Norm MacDonald would be funnier. Lots of people say it reads like Russian literature. Not really. It has a long shaggy dog story about a moth in a podiatrsit’s office which does, but overall it reads more like Spike Milligan.
It’s good and I’m glad I read it but the praise heaped on it by other reviewers seems a bit much. Norm is for my money the funniest man who ever lived. His podcast and his stand up are sublime. The book is good but I think something less contrived could be even better.
by guy
As a Norm fan, I started reading with a bias towards enjoying this book, but gave up half way through.
It starts realistically with him discussing his early life, which is – like the rest of the book – well written and very readable, then a few chapters in it switches to fiction.
Or at least 90% fiction. The bare bones are there, where he worked, who he worked with, but everything is told as if it had happened in a surreal parallel universe.
For instance, did he like Sarah Silverman in real life? Who knows, in this version he stalks her and she pepper sprays him. How did he get the job at SNL? Who knows, here he sells Lorne Michaels drugs. Then he takes a dying kid to club baby seals. Ok, funny enough, but when EVERYTHING is abstract and fictional, it’s hard to relate to him and care about what happens next, seeing as it won’t be real anyway.
It became a series of funny made-up scenarios – fine in themselves but not enough to hold my interest.
It’s about an 80/20 split of fantasy and reality, I would have like that flipped the other way around, so we have enough material to connect with the real Norm, this feels like he’s keeping people at arms length.
by Amazon Customer
Genuinely one of the funniest books I have ever read. The content is much more amusing if you are familiar with Norm’s career and his video podcast series with Adam Eget although it is not required in order to enjoy this brilliant piece of work. I’m so glad I have discovered Norm and his work in recent times. Here’s hoping book #2 comes out way in the not too distant future!