Misfit

July 3, 2023
In this winsome memoir, stand-up comedian Gulman (The Great Depresh) shares a self-deprecating account of his 1980s childhood, prompted by his move home as an adult. In 2017, Gulman left New York City for his mother’s house in Massachusetts following a sharp decline in his mental health. Once there, he encountered copious reminders of his bygone school years, which he recounts chronologically—and with impressive sharpness—in the book’s main chapters. Most of the anecdotes are hilarious, as when he’s astonished on the first day of kindergarten after the school bus door opens to reveal that “the driver was nowhere near the door! What is this sorcery?” Others are sadder, as when he’s forced to repeat first grade with a tyrannical teacher who bullies him and stifles his love of reading over a lost library book. Throughout, Gulman alternates his recollections with brief present-tense updates about the status of his adult depression. These can feel aimless and inconsequential beside the more vivid childhood sections, but they give the narrative shape and help Gulman pull off a moving conclusion. Funny and poignant, this will satisfy adrift adults looking to reconnect with their inner child. Agent: Brian Stern, AGI Entertainment.

August 15, 2023
A stand-up comic chronicles his life from childhood through adolescence. In his famous routine about the way states received their two-letter abbreviations, Gulman quotes zingers from a fictitious, wisecracking pistol of a secretary named Dottie. "How Dottie is this?" he says before citing dialogue that demonstrates his considerable talent for deploying the correct word for maximum comedic effect. Anyone who wondered whether that talent would translate to the page will be happy to know that it has. In this genial memoir, the author takes readers through his formative experiences growing up Jewish in suburban Boston during the 1970s and '80s. As a framing device, he intersperses quick scenes from the harrowing period he endured in the mid-2010s when, after six blissful months of marriage, "a sinister third wheel had joined: crippling depression and anxiety." At the time, 46-year-old Gulman left his Manhattan apartment to move back to his Massachusetts boyhood home with his mother. Most of this book, however, focuses on his upbringing as the youngest of three sons of divorced parents. He takes readers from kindergarten, where he claimed to speak French but could only "pronounce certain words with a French accent" after seeing Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther films; through high school, where he "became obsessed with jokes, their components and the components of the components, the words," and discovered his calling. Some scenes, especially from his teen years, are standard biographical fare--playing football, hoping to get a girlfriend--and his depression starts to feel incidental after a while. Some readers may wish to have learned more about his ordeal. However, he tells his story well, and his knack for creating a well-crafted phrase is very much in evidence, as when he writes of his "Jew in name only" mother: She "couldn't have named ten commandments if you spotted her nine plus 'Thou shalt not...' and fired a pistol." A good-natured, hilarious memoir from a gifted comedian.

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August 1, 2023
In 2017, comic Gulman suffered a major depressive episode, prompting a retreat from his life in New York City to his childhood home in Massachusetts. What follows is a walk down memory lane showcasing the people and places that formed him. Gulman's recall, punctuated by the very phone numbers of every major player of his youth, paints a picture of an anxious boy who became an anxious young man, already showing signs of the mental illness that would lead him to multiple hospitalizations as an adult. Gulman's stories are shared with humor but also a heartfelt empathy for his young self and many of the people in his life. Throughout these anecdotes, Gulman recalls jokes he told at every turn, showcasing developing comedy skills as he grows from joke books to copying the greats to eventually beginning to develop his own material. A must-read for Gulman's comedy fans and fans of The Hilarious World of Depression (2020), by John Moe, or Sure, I'll Join Your Cult (2023), by Maria Bamford.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 1, 2023

In this gem of a book, comedian/debut author Gulman revisits his '80s childhood in obsessive detail, from kindergarten through 12th grade, with all of his awkward and humorous experiences honestly described as precursors to his future mental health issues. In 2017, 46-year-old Gulman returned to his mother's home to escape the stress of Manhattan and to overcome his suicidal thoughts. This began a trip down memory lane, infused with both fondness and regret. The author's memory is impeccable--he can describe the exact outfits of the adults who starred in his grade-school adventures, recite the phone numbers of everyone he ever met, and vividly recount the settings of his life, ranging from the classroom to Hebrew school to one friend's rec room. The characters of Gulman's youth, from his unusual parents to the teachers and coaches who denote the best and worst of the profession, and the bullies and classmates who both tormented and inspired him, come alive with such exactitude that they leap from the pages and inspire emotional reactions. VERDICT Familiarity with the author's comedic career is unnecessary to appreciate his story. This title will undoubtedly generate new fans.--Lisa Henry

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