From “weird, scary, ingenious” (The New York Times) stand-up comedian Maria Bamford comes a brutally honest and hilariously frenetic 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 12-step programs. As a comedian’s comedian and an outsider among outsiders, Bamford has fought to find a place to belong. She shares her journey from struggling with an eating disorder in the 1980s to navigating a career in the arts, medical debt, and psychiatric institutionalization, all while seeking to be part of the world. With her signature voice, she invites readers on a quest for connection, recounting her experiences in various anonymous fellowships, including Debtors Anonymous and Overeaters Anonymous. Bamford candidly describes her hypomanic episodes, from concerns about selling out to enforcing union rules on her Netflix set for her health. Her singular memoir explores the challenges of belonging to society or any group, despite feeling inadequate. Ultimately, she aims to transform isolating experiences into comedy that resonates, making readers feel less alone without fostering a cult following.
