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cityiguana 's review for:
Based on a True Story: Not a Memoir
by Norm MacDonald
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Honestly had no idea what to make of this book. In the first few chapters, norm tells what I assumed to be a coyly told but heartbreaking true story of how he was sexually abused by a family friend. Then the Norm character is sent to prison for trying to hire a hitman, owes $1,000,000 to an angry mob boss, and miraculously cures a make-a-wish kid by seal hunting (??). Parts of it were obviously true (he met Sarah Silverman on snl), some probably had a grain of truth (he developed a crush on Sarah but she was dating another guy) and some are clearly false (he slept outside Sarah’s apartment until she got a restraining order, and he tried to hire a hitman to murder her boyfriend).
Parts of it were literally laugh out loud funny, but I found the total commitment to the bit to be a little unsettling, especially when it came to anecdotes about child abuse or rape. Also the Norm character was (intentionally) extremely unlikeable, which I found a bit grating by the end.
Parts of it were literally laugh out loud funny, but I found the total commitment to the bit to be a little unsettling, especially when it came to anecdotes about child abuse or rape. Also the Norm character was (intentionally) extremely unlikeable, which I found a bit grating by the end.