Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult:
You might kick her out, though.
Quick synopsis:
A memoir by standup comedian Maria Bamford.
Fact for Non-History People:
Maria puts an actual financial breakdown of what she makes for doing a show in the book. I’m not kidding. It’s a spreadsheet.
Fact for History Nerds:
It’s not that kind of book. She does rip into some specific self-help books which is amazing.
My Take on Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult:
This book is chaos. I mean that in the most positive way possible.
Maria Bamford’s “Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult” is first and foremost hilarious. It is hilarious at extremely inappropriate times. Admittedly, my family and friends agree that those are the funniest times. If you disagree, well, I don’t know how much you’ll like the book, but you are missing out.
As funny as Bamford is, whether in this book or her amazing standup, I was not sure what this narrative would end up being. Memoirs can be a mixed bag because the subject may lack true insight, may not know where the funny is, or just thinks their life is interesting when it’s not. Bamford almost lulled me into believing she was going to go hard into the humor of her life in the first few chapters. She talks about some heavy topics, but it felt like she was going to her closer material to heighten the laughs. Slowly, Bamford reveals a lot more about how her brain works (her time in mental health facilities is especially eye opening) and becomes much more direct about her challenges. Don’t worry, she never stops being funny in the book, but the latter half reveals the true intention of her book. She’s had struggles and she hopes this book helps if you do, too.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Gallery Books.)
Verdict:
A hilarious and thought-provoking memoir. Buy it here!
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