Sure, I'll Join Your Cult (Unabridged)
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4.3 • 172 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
From “weird, scary, ingenious” (The New York Times) stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, an instant New York Times bestselling, brutally honest, and “laugh-out-loud funny” (Jennette McCurdy, #1 New York Times bestselling author) memoir about show business, mental health, and the comfort of rigid belief systems—from Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, to Richard Simmons, to 12-step programs.
Maria Bamford is a comedian’s comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong. From struggling with an eating disorder as a child of the 1980s, to navigating a career in the arts (and medical debt and psychiatric institutionalization), she has tried just about every method possible to not only be a part of the world, but to want to be a part of it.
In Bamford’s “trademark blend of disarming intimacy and dark whimsy” (Publishers Weekly), Sure, I’ll Join Your Cultbrings us on a quest to participate in something. With sincerity and transparency, she recounts every anonymous fellowship she has joined (including but not limited to: Debtors Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, and Overeaters Anonymous), every hypomanic episode (from worrying about selling out under capitalism to enforcing union rules on her Netflix TV show set to protect her health), and every easy 1-to-3-step recipe for fudge in between.
Packed with “Bamford’s brilliance, relentless humor, and insatiable instinct for survival (Library Journal), this memoir explores what it means to keep going, and to be a member of society (or any group she’s invited to) despite not being very good at it. In turn, she hopes to transform isolating experiences into comedy that will make you feel less alone (without turning into a cult following).
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Comedian Maria Bamford takes you on a chaotic tour of her life, mental health, and the various cults she’s joined. In her hilarious memoir, she talks about struggling with OCD in her youth (she would routinely check to see if she’d killed her friends after a night out), her eventual bipolar diagnosis, and her attempts to muddle through adulthood while finding herself drawn into one “cult” after another. From Suzuki-method violin training to Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, she’s refreshingly honest and self-deprecating about joining self-improvement programs. (We love how she gently mocks 12-step programs while still offering useful advice on how to succeed with them.) Narrating in her signature surreal style and thick Minnesota accent, Bamford deftly showcases her incredible comic timing. It’s a relentless listen, packed with clever sound effects that serve as trigger warnings (brakes squealing = “creepy stuff”). As funny as it is harrowing Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult is a wonderfully strange and endearing listen.
Customer Reviews
Hilarious and deeply validating
As a “successful adult” who usually feels like 3 raccoons in a trench coat, Maria’s detailed insight was practically medicinal for me.
Loved it!
Enjoyed it so much that I was sad when it ended. A request for Volume II, please! ; )
One thousand percent recommend
Page turner which ended too soon. I loved this book. It triggered every emotion. It was entertaining and funny, while remaining proudly honest and human. I truly thought it was amazing, and feel as though I’m a better person after reading it. I laughed, learned, and related along the way. Thank you.