Wild, dangerous, and flat-out unbelievable, here is the incredible #1 bestselling memoir of the Canadian actor, gambler, and raconteur, and one of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time.

A Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year

As this book’s title suggests, Norm Macdonald tells the story of his life—more or less—from his origins on a farm in the backwoods of Ontario and an epically disastrous appearance on Star Search to his account of auditioning for Lorne Michaels and his memorable run as the anchor of Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live—until he was fired because a corporate executive didn’t think he was funny. But Based on a True Story is much more than just a memoir; it’s the hilarious, inspired epic of Norm’s life.

In dispatches from a road trip to Las Vegas (part of a plan hatched to regain the fortune he’d lost to sports betting and other vices) with his sidekick and enabler, Adam Eget, Norm recounts the milestone moments, the regrets, the love affairs, the times fortune smiled on his life, and the times it refused to smile. As the clock ticks down, Norm’s debt reaches record heights, and he must find a way to evade the hefty price that’s been placed on his head by one of the most dangerous loan sharks in the country.

As a comedy legend should, Norm peppers these pages with classic jokes and long-mythologized Hollywood stories. This wildly adventurous, totally original, and absurdly funny saga turns the conventional “comic’s memoir” on its head and gives the reader an exclusive pass inside the mad, glorious mind of Norm Macdonald.

NORM MACDONALD is a Canadian stand-up comedian, writer, and actor who lives in Los Angeles. He is the proud father of Devery.

Norm Macdonald's profile page

• Unknown, Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year

“Brilliant . . . Macdonald’s willingness to take risks pays off mightily . . . The best new book I’ve read this year or last.”

<em>Wall Street Journal</em>

“Norm Macdonald makes me laugh my ass off. Who is funnier than Norm Macdonald? Nobody.”

Judd Apatow

“Norm only has to grunt to make me laugh. And this book is 256 pages? Sign me up.”

Sophia Amoruso, author of <em>#GIRLBOSS</em>

“A book that both isn’t a celebrity memoir and is, arguably, the best celebrity memoir ever written.”

<em>AV Club</em>

“Disorienting, funny, sometimes stupid, and often wildly beautiful . . . Macdonald is a pretty extraordinary wordsmith, capable of working in an impressive range of styles and genres.”

<em>The Week</em>

“A driving, wild and hilarious ramble of a book, what might have happened had Hunter S. Thompson embedded himself in a network studio.”

<em>Washington Post</em>

“Hilarious and filled with turns of phrase and hidden beauty like only a collection of Norm Macdonald stories could be.”

<em>Esquire</em>

“This book is absurd fiction. . . . Scathing and funny.”

<em>New York Times</em>

“Norm Macdonald is an American treasure. No value has been placed on him. He’s a one and only. Can’t wait to read this book.”

Larry King

“Based on a True Story is honest about its various dishonesties. . . . [Macdonald] also flexes his trademark ambling, shaggy-dog storytelling, teasing a crowd-pleasing joke about answering machines that he never actually tells and transcribing his marathon ‘moth joke’ in its lengthy entirety.”

<em>The Globe and Mail</em>

“Darkly hilarious.”

<em>Entertainment Weekly</em>

“Norm is brilliant and thoughtful, and there is sensitivity and creative insight in his observations and stories. . . . I seriously f**king love Norm Macdonald. Please buy his book. He probably needs the cash. He’s really bad with money.”

Louis C.K., from the foreword

“I always thought Normie’s stand-up was the funniest thing there was. But this book gives it a run for its money.”

Adam Sandler

“Norm Macdonald is one of the great original comic minds of our era: utterly unique in thought, word, and delivery. He provokes me to think about the world as frequently as he makes me laugh at it.”

Ken Tucker

“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.”

Roseanne Barr

“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.”

Dave Attell

“Part personal history and part meta riff on celebrity memoirs, the book, it quickly becomes clear, is also just partly true (and all hilarious).”

<em>Vulture</em>

“David Letterman said it best: There is no one funnier than Norm Macdonald.”

Rob Schneider

“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.”

Amy Schumer

The world's longest joke?

by fredamans

I think I just read it with this book. Seriously.
Did he have a ghost writer, or did he not? I don't know. It was weird, expectantly, but was it too weird?
I did laugh. A lot, in fact. I was also baffled at times too. Still, I enjoyed what I read.
This guy comes from a place in Ontario that I haven't even heard of, and I live in Ontario too. I found that funny, but it also prompts me to want to see more of my beautiful province.
Do I feel like I read a memoir? Not in the least. Even when he discussed actually events in his career, they all drifted to something else all together and somehow it all became about Adam.
So did I love it? Not really. I didn't dislike it either. It just was.... well, I don't know what it was, but it was.