"From "weird, scary, ingenious" (The New York Times) stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, a brutally honest and hilariously frenetic 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 Suzuki violin training, 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 signature voice, Sure, I'll Join Your Cult, brings 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. Singular and inimitable, Bamford's 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)"--
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I My Indoctrination: The Cult of Family
1 Getting Current: What Life Is Like Now17
2 Diagnos-YES!27
3 My First Cult: My Family37
4 Loose Cannon (and High Priest of Hilarity)53
5 My Sister: The Funny (Chosen) One65
6 The Temple of Thin!81
7 Suzuki Violin89
8 Dale Carnegie (Winning Friends and Influencing People!)103
9 Overeaters Anonymous111
Part II Cult Following: The Cult of Fame
10 Showbiz! The Cult! The Artist's Way!121
11 Debtors Anonymous!133
12 OCD CBT That Is Not Free157
13 My ? th (Who Cares) Cult: Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous161
14 The Cult of Success169
15 I Killed God (and the Circumstances Leading Up to a Breakdown)177
16 The Breakdown Begins183
Part III The Cult of Mental Health Care
17 Hospitalization #1195
18 Hospitalization #2203
19 Hospitalization #3: Certificate of Completion213
20 Boundaries: I Will Not Join *Just* Anything219
21 Bipolar Acting Job: Lady Dynamite225
22 My Tenth Cult: Recovering Couples Anonymous237
23 Obligatory Suicide Disclaimer251
Appendix: The Twelve (Silly) Steps of (Super Stupid) Twelve-Step Programs (My Version-Which Is Unapproved and Apostate)263
Acknowledgments271