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bpbailey's review
4.0
until norm died I had no idea how much he was real scallywag (lol). although most of this isn't supposed to be true, I think there is real truth hiding between the lines, especially I think he describes how he was he was molested by his uncle. could be wrong
skeiser's review against another edition
2.0
Closer to 2.75. Hilarious in some parts, dated in others.
aaliyahwalker's review
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
Comedians are never going to tell the full truth because it’s never the best story. Norm Macdonald’s memoir is his version of the truth while being framed as a cross country quest to visit Vegas. If you are wanting a deep dive into his life, you won’t get it from this book.
dryland's review
3.0
I can only recommend this to devoted Norm fans. There are a lot of laughs, some brilliant insights, and perhaps some deeply embedded truths. 3 stars is "I liked it," and I did. I just didn't love it, but I do love Norm.
nicktangborn's review
5.0
I’ve been on a jag reading books by and about comedians, and this is the best of the bunch, unsurprisingly. It is and isn’t a memoir. It’s very, very funny. To say anymore would ruin it.
translator_monkey's review
4.0
I picked this up without a clue as to what I was in for, other than it was on the lips of a number of comedians, friends of Norm's, after he passed away. I looked at the title(s): "Based on a True Story [Not a Memoir]" with the same level of caution that I brought when reading Graham Chapman's "A Liar's Autobiography," expecting a tapestry of truth with some jokes peppered throughout that are less than 100% reality-based. That's not this book, however.
When did I learn this? Probably toward the end of one of the first sections, in which Norm relates his childhood, and meeting the family friend Old Jack, who worked on the family farm for free, happy to do a hard day's work for the free warm meals with the family. Out of the blue, Norm presents us with a realistically-crafted possibility of a repressed molestation at the hands of Old Jack, from which Norm suffered a multi-year memory loss. It's shocking in the telling, and as you progress through the book, you recognize that Norm may have used this shock (without a punchline, mind you) in an effort to eventually cause nervous laughter when the reader recalls the event from this early chapter after a series of other bizarre, clearly untrue episodes.
The episode, unfortunately, rings too true to be a hidden gag. One can't help but feel this is actually a hidden truth, too horrific to be real - especially after having completed the book - but too shockingly presented to not contain an ugly kernel or two of truth. Will we ever completely know which part of this section was true? It's heart-breaking either way - if it's true, the empathy is for the shattered little boy who turned off part of himself for years, perhaps decades, rather than cope with the nightmare; if it's untrue, the sympathy is for someone so far removed from the boundaries of decency that he either doesn't recognize them or feels they are unworthy of his bizarre effort to garner a laugh from a small population that has never had to feel this as a reality.
That's enough about THAT. The writing is excellent, the embroidered third-person ghost writer named Charles Manson is a clever addition, the gags and patter of the author are a delight. But the practical joke or tragic insight behind the inclusion of "Old Jack" and his crimes really leave me feeling kind of hollow. I ultimately think I feel sorry for Norm.
Three and a half stars.
When did I learn this? Probably toward the end of one of the first sections, in which Norm relates his childhood, and meeting the family friend Old Jack, who worked on the family farm for free, happy to do a hard day's work for the free warm meals with the family. Out of the blue, Norm presents us with a realistically-crafted possibility of a repressed molestation at the hands of Old Jack, from which Norm suffered a multi-year memory loss. It's shocking in the telling, and as you progress through the book, you recognize that Norm may have used this shock (without a punchline, mind you) in an effort to eventually cause nervous laughter when the reader recalls the event from this early chapter after a series of other bizarre, clearly untrue episodes.
The episode, unfortunately, rings too true to be a hidden gag. One can't help but feel this is actually a hidden truth, too horrific to be real - especially after having completed the book - but too shockingly presented to not contain an ugly kernel or two of truth. Will we ever completely know which part of this section was true? It's heart-breaking either way - if it's true, the empathy is for the shattered little boy who turned off part of himself for years, perhaps decades, rather than cope with the nightmare; if it's untrue, the sympathy is for someone so far removed from the boundaries of decency that he either doesn't recognize them or feels they are unworthy of his bizarre effort to garner a laugh from a small population that has never had to feel this as a reality.
That's enough about THAT. The writing is excellent, the embroidered third-person ghost writer named Charles Manson is a clever addition, the gags and patter of the author are a delight. But the practical joke or tragic insight behind the inclusion of "Old Jack" and his crimes really leave me feeling kind of hollow. I ultimately think I feel sorry for Norm.
Three and a half stars.