Sure, I'll Join Your Cult

A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere

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Sure, I'll Join Your Cult

By: Maria Bamford

Narrated by: Maria Bamford

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About this listen

From “weird, scary, ingenious” (The New York Times) stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, an instant New York Times bestselling, brutally honest, and “laugh-out-loud funny” (Jennette McCurdy, #1 New York Times bestselling author) 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 Richard Simmons, to 12-step programs.

Maria Bamford is a comedian’s comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong. From struggling with an eating disorder as a child of the 1980s, to navigating a career in the arts (and medical debt and psychiatric institutionalization), she has tried just about every method possible to not only be a part of the world, but to want to be a part of it.

In Bamford’s “trademark blend of disarming intimacy and dark whimsy” (Publishers Weekly), Sure, I’ll Join Your Cultbrings us on a quest to participate in something. With sincerity and transparency, she recounts every anonymous fellowship she has joined (including but not limited to: Debtors Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, and Overeaters Anonymous), every hypomanic episode (from worrying about selling out under capitalism to enforcing union rules on her Netflix TV show set to protect her health), and every easy 1-to-3-step recipe for fudge in between.

Packed with “Bamford’s brilliance, relentless humor, and insatiable instinct for survival (Library Journal), this memoir explores what it means to keep going, and to be a member of society (or any group she’s invited to) despite not being very good at it. In turn, she hopes to transform isolating experiences into comedy that will make you feel less alone (without turning into a cult following).

Personal Development

Personal Success

Comedy

Memoir

Health

Funny

Celebrity

Mental Health

Critic Reviews

"Stand-up comic Maria Bamford shows her sense of timing, audience, and humor as she narrates her memoir. Upbeat and whimsical, she begins by defining sounds that signal what’s coming: Brakes squealing, for example, heralds “creepy stuff.” She also warns listeners that her memoir will not follow a linear structure. Indeed, while pondering bouts of mental illness and her need to belong, Bamford continually takes detours that are filled with irreverent, laugh-worthy details; salty language; and tongue-in-cheek observations. All are delivered at breakneck speed as she discusses topics that range from self-help programs to Suzuki violin training. While sometimes distracting, the brisk nonstop humor buoys Bamford’s moments of candor in stories about her mother’s evangelical leanings and death. Bamford’s portraits of others are seamlessly integrated, and her witty transitions work well."

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I truly cannot recommend this book enough. It is perfection in every single way imaginable.