• Attempting Normal

  • By: Marc Maron
  • Narrated by: Marc Maron
  • Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,460 ratings)

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Attempting Normal  By  cover art

Attempting Normal

By: Marc Maron
Narrated by: Marc Maron
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Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

People make a mess.

Marc Maron was a parent-scarred, angst-filled, drug-dabbling, love-starved comedian who dreamed of a simple life: a wife, a home, a sitcom to call his own. But instead he woke up one day to find himself fired from his radio job, surrounded by feral cats, and emotionally and financially annihilated by a divorce from a woman he thought he loved. He tried to heal his broken heart through whatever means he could find—minor-league hoarding, Viagra addiction, accidental racial profiling, cat fancying, flying airplanes with his mind—but nothing seemed to work. It was only when he was stripped down to nothing that he found his way back.

Attempting Normal is Marc Maron’s journey through the wilderness of his own mind, a collection of explosively, painfully, addictively funny stories that add up to a moving tale of hope and hopelessness, of failing, flailing, and finding a way. From standup to television to his outrageously popular podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, Marc has always been a genuine original, a disarmingly honest, intensely smart, brutally open comic who finds wisdom in the strangest places. This is his story of the winding, potholed road from madness and obsession and failure to something like normal, the thrillingly comic journey of a sympathetic f***up who’s trying really hard to do better without making a bigger mess. Most of us will relate.

Praise for Attempting Normal

“I laughed so hard reading this book.”—David Sedaris

“Funny . . . surprisingly deep . . . laced with revelatory insights.”—Los Angeles Times

“Superb . . . A reason that [it] is a superior example of an overcrowded genre—the comedian memoir—is Mr. Maron’s hardheaded approach to his history, the wisdom of experience.”—The New York Times

“Marc Maron is a legend because he is both a great comic and a brilliant mind. Attempting Normal is a deep, hilarious megashot of feeling and truth as only this man can administer.”—Sam Lipsyte

Praise for Marc Maron and WTF

“The stuff of comedy legend.”—Rolling Stone

“Marc Maron is a startlingly honest, compelling, and hilarious comedian-poet. Truly one of the greatest of all time.”—Louis C.K.

“I’ve known Marc for years and I can tell you first hand that he’s passionate, fearless, honest, self-absorbed, neurotic, and screamingly funny.”—David Cross

“Revered among his peers . . . raw and unflinchingly honest.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Devastatingly funny.”—Los Angeles Times

“For a comedy nerd, this show is nirvana.”—Judd Apatow

©2013 Random House Audio (P)2013 Marc Maron

Critic reviews

“Funny . . . surprisingly deep . . . laced with revelatory insights.” (Los Angeles Times)

“Superb . . . A reason that [it] is a superior example of an overcrowded genre—the comedian memoir—is Mr. Maron’s hardheaded approach to his history, the wisdom of experience.” (The New York Times)

What listeners say about Attempting Normal

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great for just about anyone!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. Marc is not only funny, but manages to be amazingly honest while doing so. His accounts of his own experiences are both harrowing, and hilarious at the same time. His world view is different from most, and the way things are described is evidence to this.

What did you like best about this story?

I don't recall one single part that stood out, however I remember laughing out loud several times which is quite rare for me. There are several stories that are too outrageous to be made up, and another few that seem to be quite easy to relate to my own life and experiences.

What about Marc Maron’s performance did you like?

These questions are fairly annoying...

Marc did extremely well, and I'm fairly positive that after listening to the podcast for a while that I wouldn't have been able to accept someone else reading this book. His voice is expressive in a way that brings out the tone of what he is trying to say.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I almost did. I listened to most of it during a car ride, and the rest while working.

I do wish it was longer...

Any additional comments?

No... Audible has drawn this review experience out quite long enough.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A sad, funny man

I'm sure this book will polarise listeners / readers. If you have your life all together, then you will most likely thoroughly dislike this needy, self centred and often pathetic man, and hate the book. If however, you have you own special basket of issues you wrestle with on a daily basis, chances are you will warm to and be charmed by this needy, self centred and often pathetic man, and love the book.
I loved the book - its one of the best I've heard on audible. Laugh out loud funny in places.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Not for everybody

I've watched or listen to Marc of and on for a very long time. I knew what to expect going into this and wasn't disappointed. His comedy and his life isn't for everyone.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Attempting Normal, Not Acheiving Normal

Mark Maron would make a fantastic fictional character. I would sit on the edge of my seat waiting for the next adventure of this excentric esoteric person. Mark Maron is not a fictional character, and that is.... distubing... . I hope I never meet him in person because I would be frightened of what inter-dialoge he may be having with himself about me. I think stand up comic was a great career choice for him, I don't know where else he would fit in normal society.

Listen to the book the first chance you get, don't read it. The author reading the book really makes it perfect.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

One Comedian's Life Can Be Interestingly Complex!

If you could sum up Attempting Normal in three words, what would they be?

honest ... complex ... informative

What aspect of Marc Maron’s performance would you have changed?

Mr. Maron reads a little fast. Perhaps that's how he does his stand-up so maybe I'm the silly one judging him on how he does his regular routine with a unique comedic timing. Yet, I felt every chapter was genuinely something he endured through his life. Perhaps, he simply read with genuine passion.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I didn't want to listen to it all in one sitting only because I'm a commute-driving/daily workout audiobook listener who works an already overly stimulating job, and this book was quite a lot in one sitting. However, Mr. Maron was fascinating in pieces! For those who have less stimulating lives, this audiobook will really get you thinking.

Any additional comments?

The lives of comedians are very perplexing to me, and yet, somehow I always wanted to know more about them. Mr. Maron did just that! While telling us all about his life, he told me about the lives of the best comics, and I appreciated that. But if Mr. Maron has any other books, I'll definitely get them, but it'll be in book-form - words on paper - that is.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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BRING A GODDAMN DIAPER!

Would you consider the audio edition of Attempting Normal to be better than the print version?

I haven't read it but probably, Marc's voice really sells the jokes and had me loling every second of my life

Who was your favorite character and why?

Marc

What does Marc Maron bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Inflection

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Attempting Normal

Any additional comments?

"I'm so fucking pissed, this book made my laugh so fucking hard I pissed my fucking pants in the car, I had to drive home in my fucking pissed pants and explain that to my wife who was fucking angry as shit about that because they were expensive chinos that she had got me from banana republic for my birthday if your gonna listen to this fucking book for the love of Christ get some depends diapers and let loose because this fuckers gonna have you rolling on the floor spraying your piss hole dry!"

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Better than I expected

What did you love best about Attempting Normal?

I appreciate how honest Maron is in this book. There are many funny stories, a couple that drag a bit, and some self indulgent moments, so it's not perfect, but over all a great listen.

What did you like best about this story?

Maron makes me feel better about my own life by sharing the lows of his life.

Have you listened to any of Marc Maron’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

If you like WTF you will like this book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A five 5 hour neurotic coke binge. I loved it.

I like Marc Maron. Now I really like him. Fast paced. I felt like i was listening to a coke binge for five hours. Fun. Funny.

Perfectly read by Maron.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Anxiety, Anger, and Cats

Imagine Charles Bukowski doing stand-up, and you might get an idea what Marc Maron is like. Everyone who likes comedy has their own reasons and favorite styles; I think mine is that it's a handy outlet for laughing at all the crazy, dark sh*t people go through. After basically failing at life — drug addiction, getting fired, ruining two marriages — Marc finally found his groove with his WTF podcast, and here he explores similar territory: neurotic anxiety, anger… and cats! At its heart is a remarkable longing to connect emotionally with other people, which is what makes Marc's humor so wonderful. The audiobook features a Lorne Michaels impression that DESTROYS me, cameos by Louis CK and David Cross, and lots of filthy, filthy stories. Marc Maron proves that comedy is not just entertainment but can be art.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Mark's a Triple Treasure!

Funny, honest, and relevant, listening to Mark diffuses the tension of ego and helps provide a clearer perspective on the humanity of our insane society.
Thank you Mark!

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