The Jerusalem Syndrome

My Life as a Reluctant Messiah

By: Marc Maron

Narrated by: Marc Maron

By the author of Attempting Normal and host of the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, The Jerusalem Syndrome is The Gospel according to Maron: a spiritual memoir of your average hyperintelligent, ultraneurotic, superhip Jewish standup comedian and seeker.


The Jerusalem Syndrome is a genuine psychological phenomenon that often strikes visitors to the Holy Land_the delusion that they are suddenly direct vessels for the voice of God. Marc Maron seems to have a distinctly American version of the Jerusalem Syndrome, which has led him on a lifelong quest for religious significance and revelation in the most unlikely of places.

Maron riffs on Beat phenomena with its sacred texts, established rituals, and prescribed pilgrimages. He spends some time exploring the dark side of things, as his obsessions with cocaine (known to Maron as “magic powder”), conspiracy theories, and famous self-destructive comedians convince him that the gates of hell open beneath Los Angeles. As his quest matures, he reveals the religious aspects of Corporate America, pontificating on the timeless beauty of the Coca-Cola logo and even taking a trip to the Philip Morris cigarette factory, where the workers puff their own products with a zealot-like fervor. The culmination of Maron’s Jerusalem Syndrome comes during his own tour of the Holy Land, where, with Sony camcorder glued to his eye socket, he comes face-to-face with his own ambiguous relationship to Judaism and reaches the brink of spiritual revelation_or is it nervous breakdown?

Marc Maron has considerably adapted and expanded his praised one-man show to craft a genuine literary memoir. Whether he’s a genuine prophet or a neurotic mess, he’ll make you laugh as you question the meaning of life.

“Marc Maron is blazingly smart, rapid-fire, and very funny . . . A brilliant and relentless screed.” –David Rakoff, author of Fraud

“Marc Maron is the first crazy person I’ve ever envied. In his brainiac-memoir-meets-hilarious-travelogue, he demonstrates the ability to tell a story with an extraordinary provocative intelligence that is regrettably shared by few.” _ Janeane Garofolo, comedian

Give Maron a chance

Marc Maron is hilarious. He's raw, emotional and I believe he has a great narrative voice. Check out this and his other book!

it's Maron. detailed first 25 years of life

he bears no inflection in his reading he just,
says the words, indicates when a sentence ends.

like a machine gun but without the resonance

Engaging

Marc is obviously a great story teller and a well spoken author. The whole book is entertaining, insightful and worth the time. Easy to listen to and very relatable text despite being written nearly 20 years ago.

A wonderful commentary on the religious theme park that is Israel

After taking a spectacular and challenging trip through Israel this summer, I definitely caught Jerusalem Syndrome. Everything in my life now seems to be connected through various forms of coincidence. The number two is popping up everywhere, I see animals and objects coupled, and I find connections through words or ideas daily. I absolutely love this book’s take on the theme of coincidence in ones spiritual experience of life. I’ve become a huge fan of Maron and his podcast, shows, and now books in the past year, and I am elated to have found a book that I feel so personally connected with. It’s no coincidence. Maron is definitely something special.

Pure Maron

I have followed Maron's career since his first appearance on national TV and then by way of everything I could find on YouTube. I knew from the start he was not your run-of-the-mill comic but an artist in every sense of the word. "Knowing him" as I like to think I do, made this reading all the more enjoyable. Lastly, other than his Netflix series "Maron", this is the first time I have ever paid to hear him and I was not disappointed.