Review by Booklist Review
Maron found some success as a stand-up comic and writer, but it wasn't until 2009, when he started his podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, that he found a huge audience and a true calling. Maron loves talking about himself and big-life issues, so chatting with a myriad of celebrities, in his garage, suited him well and lent itself to candid conversation. Waiting for the Punch collects these interviews in book form but accomplishes something more by organizing them by issues like identity, relationships, parenting, mental health, success, and failure so this reads like a true narrative, not just a series of transcripts. To hear Mel Brooks, Leslie Jones, Molly Shannon, Robin Williams, and then-President Barack Obama discuss mortality fairly openly and honestly is not only eye-opening, it's also strangely reassuring: hey, everyone has their issues! From a book by a comedian, filled with the words of other comedians, readers will expect some laughs. What they might not expect are heartfelt revelations, life lessons, and perhaps even a cry or two.--Sexton, Kathy Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Over the past nine years on his WTF podcast, Maron (Attempting Normal) has conducted fascinating, no-holds-barred conversations with a range of artists, comedians, musicians, writers, and other notables, including President Barack Obama. This is an extensive compilation of his guests' observations, organized under 11 subjects (including "Growing Up," "Addictions," "Sexuality," and "Life Lessons"). Together, they combine to make a moving and powerful testament to the ups and downs of life, to overcoming fear (the feeling, as Judd Apatow says, of constantly "waiting for a punch"), and to Maron's own struggles "to see myself in others and also hear of struggles that were harder and deeper than mine." It also is an amazing testament to Maron's ability to really engage with his guests to get "something to come up that enables us to engage authentically in that moment." He shares insights from many his guests, including comedian Louis C.K.'s account of watching his daughter's birth ("I instantly knew that I'm going to get old and die, and I wasn't afraid of it anymore, because it's about her now") and actress and comedian Rachael Harris's take on her divorce ("The thought of leaving was hideous and awful, but the thought of staying was worse"). Maron's latest is a deeply moving, inspirational, and witty work. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Maron is a stand-up comic, actor, and author, but his excellence as host of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast has thrust him into the spotlight. In this collection, he shares the most revealing, heartfelt moments from that (R-rated) podcast, which has featured a long list of celebrities from many walks of life. Amy Poehler, Patton Oswalt, Terry Gross, Bruce Springsteen, Judd Apatow, and Lena Dunham are but a few of the many luminaries Maron has interviewed. Each chapter begins with a brief meditation on a single topic-"Growing Up," "Sexuality," "Relationships," "Parenting," etc.-and then divides further with the name of the podcast guest above their most raw anecdotes on that topic. Some interviewees are included several times within each chapter, so that their anecdotes build to a suspenseful, evocative climax; the punch provided by the last piece of the story. Shining through each one is Maron's ability to coax honest and gut-wrenching responses from his guests, whether it's Amy Schumer discussing her sexual experiences or Barack Obama explaining the evolution of his identity. VERDICT A must-read for Maron fans and anyone curious about his work.-Paul Stenis, Pepperdine Univ. Lib., Malibu, CA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A popular podcast gets the book treatment.An accomplished and long-respected comedian, Maron is perhaps best known for his wildly popular eponymous podcast WTF with Marc Maron, which premiered in 2009. Throughout the podcast's successful run, Maron has shown a unique knack for getting famous (and semifamous) people to talk. And talk. As they talk, his guests reveal amazingand often previously unexploreddepths about their personal experiences. In the process, they also reveal a great deal about life in general, especially the many difficulties in navigating all the absurdity, drama, and tragicomedy. Maron did the majority of the work to get these words out there, as they are drawn from his podcast, but he strongly implies that the transcription was someone else's job. It is unclear who made perhaps the most important decision of all: organizing these transcriptions by theme. The book coalesces around chapters about such timeless themes as family, sex, addiction, mortality, and success and failure. Many of Maron's subjects are among his professional colleagues and friendsamong dozens of others, Robin Williams, Judd Apatow, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, Garry Shandling, Kevin Hart, Cheech Marin, Sarah Silvermanbut he has interviewed a wide range of people from other walks of life, including Terry Gross, Melissa Etheridge, David Sedaris, Paul Thomas Anderson, and even then-President Barack Obama. As readers will expect, there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, but what is more surprising and refreshing is how many profound and powerful insights Maron manages to draw from his guests. Many of the most tragic situations come from the comedians, and some of the funnier moments come from those whose job is not necessarily to make people laugh. An insightful collection of interviews about what it means to be human. This book, it turns out, helps explain W is TF. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
