Attempting Normal

By: Marc Maron

Narrated by: Marc Maron

Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins

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)

I love Marc

So much he says sounds like stuff going on in my head. I bet we would be good friends. I've already been into his stand ups and podcasts so this was just more of what I knew and I throughly enjoyed it. not for everyone I'm sure but thats just his style.

Everything I did and didn't wanna know

I've become kind of obsessed with comedian's life tales. I love Marc Maron. I always thought of him as my spirit animal... but now not so much. I still love him though and this story of his life is humbling, humanizing, and wonderfully told with great energy.

yes

amazing... Marc to a C... perfect
do it now be selfish and share
wonderful
awesome
as promised
1 2 3
do it now, is this 15 words?

Honest, tangibly relatable, Marc's heart to ours

Loved it. Took my time because I didn't want it to be over too fast. Thank you Marc.

If you like Marc Maron...

you'll like the book. Quticential is not a word I would use about him, but it is what the book is in relation to him. Marc's a good guy, a solid guy. His journey to that point is what this book is all about. It's a coming out, the admission of arrested development, and the case for ending that journey. The Louis CK scandal really seemed to rock Marc's generation of comic to their knees. This was pre that sandal. It is honest in a way that we may not see from a generation X comic again.

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.

Sorry the book came to an end.

Seeing where Marc is today versus when this book was published in 2013 makes me really happy for his successes. Who would ever have believed he would be sitting down in the famous garage with a President? Just thanks Marc, we really do like you.

meant to be heard

this book was meant to be heard, not read. Maron's performance on the audiobook makes you feel as though you are sitting across the table hearing his deeply personal life story.

Thanks, Marc!

Really! From the bottom, middle and top of my heart, I say, "thank you!" You nailed it!

Wow

Marc Maron has a way with words that feels unmatched. I've always gravitated towards him as a comic and after finishing this book it's no wonder why.