by Marc Maron
First published 2001
Marc Maron carries his hyperintelligent, ultraneurotic worldview through an obsessive spiritual quest across America and beyond. The standup comedian finds religious meaning in unexpected places, from the sacred geometry of the Coca-Cola logo to the zealous workers at a Philip Morris cigarette factory who smoke their own products with devotional fervor. His journey takes darker turns through cocaine addiction and conspiracy theories that convince him hell's gates open beneath Los Angeles. Maron explores Beat culture as a religion complete with holy texts and ritual pilgrimages. The quest reaches its peak when he travels to Jerusalem with a Sony camcorder pressed to his face, confronting his conflicted relationship with Judaism. Standing in the Holy Land, Maron approaches either spiritual breakthrough or complete nervous breakdown. This hyperintelligent seeker transforms his acclaimed one-man show into a literary memoir that questions whether genuine prophecy can emerge from neurotic obsession.
Genres: addiction, american, autobiography, contemporary, biography-memoir, comedy, 21st-century, jewish
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: neurotic-obsession, spiritual-journey
Setting: America, Israel, Jerusalem, Los Angeles
Period: 21st-century
192 pages · Paperback · Crown
Content warnings: addiction, drug-use