I'm Just a Person

I don't frequently read memoirs or non-fiction books in general, but I do enjoy listening to podcasts. I decided I would start listening to non-fiction books on audio because it seems similar, and it's gone well. Whenever I've tried listening to fiction on audio, I always miss something. But I really enjoyed listening to Tig Notaro's memoir and was able to keep up with it. I think it's hard to review or rate a memoir since it's really about your own emotional connection to the work. I mean, it's someone's life story. How can you judge that?

In the memoir, Tig talks about the trajectory of her career and how she was becoming more famous, but I honestly didn't know who she was before Star Trek: Discovery. Forgive me. I do think she's incredibly funny and smart. I love her sense of humor. The memoir is full of that dry, sarcastic way about it. And the audiobook is narrated by her, which made it even better.

The subject matter is very heavy as it deals with the death of her mother and Tig's several illnesses that occurred during and after that event. My favorite moments were when she discussed her mother because my own mother died in 2018. Tig's relationship with her mother is different than mine, but the way she described her mother really reminded me of my own. Also, the things Tig said when she sat beside her mother in the hospital resonated with me.

Is it normal to re-read memoirs? I don't know. I feel like I would re-read the moments regarding her mother because of how much I felt during those moments. I don't know. It just felt very honest.

The entire memoir is honest, and I haven't read a memoir in quite some time, but the ones I have read sometimes feel like the author is trying to create a narrative for their life. Not that it's fake, but just polished. I'm sure things are polished here, but I connected with it in such a way and it was written in such a way that made me see Tig as a whole person with flaws, desires, struggles, setbacks, and ultimately the drive to keep going. I believe I will carry these stories with me, and perhaps return to this book at some point. I do recommend it.

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I'm often disappointed by comedian memoirs because they tend to be just their standup acts written out, and it's like, I already heard this? And it was better when you were performing it? But I keep trying to read them because I like standup comedy. And disappointment. But! This didn't disappoint! It was what I want from a comedian memoir–it gave a lot of backstory for the material from her amazing Live album, as well as some post-story. And it was very funny. And I cried.