I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are

November 9, 2020
Actor and Emmy winner Bloom combines irreverent humor with childhood journal entries in this entertaining essay collection. The cocreator of TV show My Crazy Ex Girlfriend traces her search to feel “normal” back to middle school, when she was “pretty insufferable” and also the victim of bullies. Bloom’s humor, however, survived, and can be appreciated in amusing notes to her therapist, her journal entries (such as a list of all the “bad words” she knew at age 12), and a reprint of a high school newspaper editorial she wrote titled “Inside Jokes Can Leave Many Outside.” In an “interview” conducted by her 13-year-old self, Bloom captures her experience working as the sole woman in male-dominated writers’ rooms, telling teen-Bloom that “a few of them are SO funny that I often can’t even get a word in.” She recaps her rapid success (My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was ordered for series “blindingly fast”), and while a few of her bits fall short—in “My Official Celebrity Cause,” she writes that it’s important for stars to use their platform to speak out on issues; hers is “amusement parks should be smarter”—many of her reflections are spot-on. Fans of My Crazy Ex Girlfriend will want to give this a look.

October 1, 2020
The co-creator and star of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend talks about her life. "By the time I turned thirty," writes Bloom, "I should have understood that there was no such thing as 'normal.' " In this offbeat compendium of personal moments from childhood to the present, the author shares her journey in search of that moment when she felt "normal" around other people. Among other topics, Bloom discusses her mental health issues as an adolescent and how she endured bullying during middle school: "Were you bullied in middle school? Yeah? You were? Bullshit. You weren't bullied. I was bullied. I am the ultimate judge of bullying and I conclude that I was bullied and you were not bullied. So says me, court adjourned, gavel goes bang bang." The author's humor is more pointed in her assessment of the pros and cons of attending award shows (her personal review system "is based on the things that TRULY count: Food, Parking, Temperature in the Room, and How Much Shapewear Is Expected"), a chapter in which she writes in the voice of her dog, and a section about how she and her colleagues bypassed FCC regulations to make certain parts of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend acceptable for a broadcast network rather than "edgy cable" (developed for Showtime, the series landed with the CW). Bloom includes childhood diary entries, poetry, and drawings as well as a snarky sample resume for aspiring actors, and she maintains a certain diffident note as she rambles along. The book was written before the pandemic, when the idea of "normal" was still possible. Thankfully, the author shares a relevant afterword that helps balance the silliness and eccentricities of the scattered narrative. Fans of the TV show will enjoy learning the backstory about the creator and star, but general readers won't find much to appeal here. Bloom's comedic talent doesn't translate to the page--at least not yet. Check back as her career continues to mature.

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October 15, 2020
Bloom, co-creator and star of the TV show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, has never been normal. She's obsessed with musical theater and poop. As a child, she wanted to fit in, but also didn't want to be like the Tiffanys and Gaskins who bullied her through middle school. In her memoir, she relates the social and mental-health struggles that plagued her and made her who she is, including a not-quite-diagnosed OCD that manifests itself in bouts of intrusive, obsessive thoughts. She also shares romantic foibles, with insufferable SMIMT (straight men in musical theater) and competitive comedy bros, which led her to realize that her ideal man is Ray Bradbury and to create her first viral musical sensation, "Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury." With whip-smart candor and disarming energy, Bloom writes pieces that range in form from confessional essays to a time-travel play to a pop quiz about a lion attack to a contribution from her dog, Wiley, and each captures the infectious, frantic, and very funny voice of a grown-up theater-kid weirdo. Fans of her show and former and current nerds of all stripes will see themselves in Bloom's story.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The end of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has not dulled its fans' enthusiasm, and, really, anyone who made it out of adolescence alive will appreciate Bloom's insights.Women in Focus: The 19th in 2020(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

Actress/comedian Rachel Bloom ("Crazy Ex-Girlfriend") narrates her own memoir, and listeners are in for a treat. This audiobook is at times so funny that listeners will need to pause so they don't miss the next line and so heartbreaking that listeners will want to keep tissues handy. Bloom voices herself at different ages, along with some of those in her life who have both championed and tormented her. When a young version of herself interviews an older version, listeners are in for some uncomfortable laughs. Bloom at one point bursts into song, complete with multipart harmony and music. It is moments like this that makes the listening experience clearly superior to simply reading the book. A.R.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

January 8, 2021

In this sometimes snarky yet always deeply thoughtful memoir, Bloom, cocreator and star of the musical comedy TV series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, revisits the highs and lows of her life, from bullying and heartache to comedy, theater, and loss. She describes cruel classmates and even harsher teachers, imbuing stories of misery with hilarity. Self-deprecating and utterly candid, she holds little back, discussing masturbation, obsessive-compulsive episodes, feelings of intimidation as both a child and as an adult in comedy writing rooms, and the experience of having a child and losing a treasured friend while trying to navigate a global pandemic. Bloom relies on diary entries and letters from her past, inserts footnotes, and even writes a chapter in the form of a musical to chronicle her love for the format (readers can visit the author's website to listen along to a musical version of this chapter). Appropriately, reading the tales feels like bingeing a riotously funny television show; as in Bloom's own TV series, each anecdote offers a different storytelling style. VERDICT A relatable and touching memoir that will resonate both with Bloom's fans and those unfamiliar with her work.--Traci Glass, Lincoln City Libraries, NE

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