Based on a True Story: Not a Memoir

Based on a True Story: Not a Memoir

<b><i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER • <b>“Driving, wild and hilarious” (<i>The</i> <i>Washington Post</i>), here is the incredible “memoir” of the actor, gambler, raconteur, and <i>Saturday Night Live </i>veteran.</b><br /><br /><b>Don’t miss Norm’s new Netflix special, <i>Hitler’s Dog, Gossip & Treachery</i>!</b><br /><br /> </b>When Norm Macdonald, one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time, was approached to write a celebrity memoir, he flatly refused, calling the genre “one step below instruction manuals.” Norm then promptly took a two-year hiatus from stand-up comedy to live on a farm in northern Canada. When he emerged he had under his arm a manuscript, a genre-smashing book about comedy, tragedy, love, loss, war, and redemption. When asked if this was the celebrity memoir, Norm replied, “Call it anything you damn like.”<br /><br /><b>Praise for <i>Based on a True Story<br /></i></b><br />“Dostoyevsky by way of 30 Rockefeller Center . . . the best new book I’ve read this year or last.”<b>—<i>The Wall Street Journal</i></b><br /><br /> “This book is absurd fiction. . . . Scathing and funny.”<b>—<i>The New York Times</i></b><br /><br /> “Hilarious and filled with turns of phrase and hidden beauty like only a collection of Norm Macdonald stories could be.”<b>—<i>Esquire</i></b><br /><br /> “Raucous . . . a hilarious, innovative work.”<b>—<i>A.V. Club</i></b><br /><br /> “Part personal history and part meta riff on celebrity memoirs, the book, it quickly becomes clear, is also just partly true (and all hilarious).”<b>—<i>Vulture</i></b> <br /><br /> “Very, very, very funny! Thanks, Norm, for letting me be part of this Booker Prize–for–literature–quality effort.”<b>—David Letterman</b> <br /><br /> “Norm is brilliant and thoughtful and there is sensitivity and creative insight in his observations and stories. A lot of comics over the years have been compared to Mark Twain, but I think Norm is the only one who actually matches the guy in terms of his voice and ability. I seriously f**king love Norm Macdonald. Please buy his book. He probably needs the cash. He’s really bad with money.”<b>—Louis C.K., from the foreword</b><br /><br /> “Norm is one of my all-time favorites, and this book was such a great read I forgot how lonely I was for a while.”<b>—Amy Schumer</b><br /><br /> “I always thought Normie’s stand-up was the funniest thing there was. But this book gives it a run for its money.”<b>—Adam Sandler</b><br /><br /> “Norm is one of the greatest stand-up comics who’s ever worked—a totally original voice. His sense of the ridiculous and his use of juxtaposition in his writing make him a comic’s comic. We all love Norm.”<b>—Roseanne Barr<br /></b><br /> “Norm Macdonald makes me laugh my ass off. Who is funnier than Norm Macdonald? Nobody.”<b>—Judd Apatow</b><br /><br /> “Norm Macdonald is more than a triple threat—he’s a septuple threat. He is smart, funny, wry, rakish, polite, rakish . . . no, wait. He is polite, insightful, and . . . aaaaah . . . warm. No. He’s exciting. Yeah. Exciting! You never know what he’ll do. Okay, then make that unpredictable. Add that up. He’s amazing.”<b>—Alec Baldwin</b><br /><br /> “Norm is a double threat. His material and timing are both top-notch, which is unheard of. He is one of my favorites, both on- and off-stage.”<b>—Dave Attell</b><br /><br /> “Letterman said it best: There is no one funnier than Norm Macdonald.”<b>—Rob Schneider</b>