Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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> FAQ Home
> Genre: Biography/Memoir > Crazy New BEST Friend?!

Crazy New BEST Friend?!

I Want to be Where the Normal People Are by Rachel Bloom

December 18, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos 8 Comments

I must start by thanking ASKReviews for letting us all know that there was a SECRET MUSICAL in the middle of this audiobook! I heeded their recommendation to “Get the Audio Version”, and boy howdy am I glad I did! Not only do we get a musical adventure about Rachel Bloom’s desire to be a musical theater STAAAR, the musical is performed by her harmonizing with herself, herself, herself, herself, and maybe another Rachel Bloom or two.

Bloom’s voice is so important here; her style, her brutal honesty, her overall delivery- if you are at any way interested, then you MUST listen to the audiobook. I love how she shouts “New Chapter!” every time there is, well, a new chapter. It reminds me very much of the “BLAM!” from the opening credits of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

You don’t have to be a huge CXG fan in order to enjoy this book; I stopped watching in Season Three because the stress of the characters within the show was too much to handle on top of my own stress, haha- but you do get a little peek behind the CXG curtain. Bloom also dedicates the book to Adam Schlesinger and speaks throughout about his work, friendship, and-in the afterward- his loss. Adam was an incredible songwriter; he was a founding member of Fountains of Wayne, wrote “That Thing You Do!” for That Thing You Do!, “Pretend to be Nice” for Josie and the Pussycats, and co-wrote MANY songs on CXG with Bloom (my personal favorite: “Settle for Me”). He was taken by Covid-19 in the Spring.

Bloom is aggressively honest in an extremely cheerful way; she absolutely cackles with glee while detailing accounts of being bullied in middle school, dealing with mental health crises, refusing to be potty-trained until the age of four- there is nothing she won’t share, but it doesn’t feel like TMI. She reads excerpts from her childhood journals- including some amazing “erotic poetry” written in middle school. This could could be a recipe for some extreme cringing, but Bloom is so delightfully over-the-top but you can’t help to laugh along, even if you find yourself reliving your own adolescent horror stories while she shares hers!

The collection itself is a riot: fairy tale parody, Harry Potter fanfic, jabs at Neil Patrick Harris, behind the scenes glimpses at working in TV and sketch comedy, and stories about relationships good, bad, and ugly- but the true star of the show is Bloom herself; a 4-Star book was blasted into the 5-Star stratosphere by her so-high-energy-I-kind-of-worry-about-her energy. Also- HOW GOOD is that Judy Blume-esque artwork?!

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Comedy/Humor Tagged With: adam schlesinger, audio, audio book, crazy ex-girlfriend, creativity, Mental Health, middle school, musical comedy, musical theater, personal essays, Rachel bloom, read by the author, rebecca bunch, showbiz, sketch comedy, theater kids

andtheIToldYouSos's CBR12 Review No:133 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Comedy/Humor · Tags: adam schlesinger, audio, audio book, crazy ex-girlfriend, creativity, Mental Health, middle school, musical comedy, musical theater, personal essays, Rachel bloom, read by the author, rebecca bunch, showbiz, sketch comedy, theater kids ·
Rating:
· 8 Comments

About andtheIToldYouSos

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I'm sorry that I didn't build you a stronger ship, young Rose View andtheIToldYouSos's reviews»

Comments

  1. ASKMusings says

    December 18, 2020 at 1:07 pm

    Oooh yay! So glad you liked it!

    Reply
    • andtheIToldYouSos says

      December 18, 2020 at 2:17 pm

      thank you for the recommendation!

      Reply
  2. Mobius_Walker says

    December 18, 2020 at 1:48 pm

    Well this was on my list of books to borrow from friends, but it seems like an audiobook rental is in order instead.

    Reply
    • andtheIToldYouSos says

      December 18, 2020 at 2:17 pm

      I’m sure the written version is great too; I read an excerpt on The Cut before seeing ASK’s review and really enjoyed it- but the audio is SO GREAT!

      Reply
      • Mobius_Walker says

        December 18, 2020 at 2:43 pm

        A couple of trained musical theater friends turned me on to Rachel Bloom and CXG. They’re good friends.

        Reply
        • andtheIToldYouSos says

          December 18, 2020 at 5:48 pm

          good friends indeed! As a reformed THEATER PERSON I felt parts of this book in my bones- in a very embarassing “oh my god I was like that” way

          Reply
  3. narfna says

    December 18, 2020 at 2:32 pm

    I had to give up after season one for the same reason! I was getting way too stressed out, even though I liked the characters and the songs.

    Reply
    • andtheIToldYouSos says

      December 18, 2020 at 5:47 pm

      I’ve been keeping myself happy and updated by just watching the songs on youtube, haha

      Reply

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