Based on a True Story: A Memoir

Norm Macdonald

Sep 2016 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Norm Macdonald and Tim O'Halloran

About this audiobook

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Driving, wild and hilarious” (The Washington Post), here is the incredible “memoir” of the legendary actor, gambler, raconteur, and Saturday Night Live veteran.

When Norm Macdonald, one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time, was approached to write a celebrity memoir, he flatly refused, calling the genre “one step below instruction manuals.” Norm then promptly took a two-year hiatus from stand-up comedy to live on a farm in northern Canada. When he emerged he had under his arm a manuscript, a genre-smashing book about comedy, tragedy, love, loss, war, and redemption. When asked if this was the celebrity memoir, Norm replied, “Call it anything you damn like.”

Ratings and reviews

Channeling the likes of Hunter S Thompson, Norm's telling of a fictionalized version of his life reads like a fever dream. It's funny in all the right ways and brilliant to boot. A must read for any Norm fan.

Incredible book and story. The audiobook has to be better than reading it bc it's freaking Norm reading it exactly how he intended each word to be read. Super dark story that I hope isn't all true.

Without question, or cliche, the funniest work of comedy. I laughed so hard 🤣 it hurt. The Audiobook is over 7 hours, so I actually had to pause. Only time I ever actually got sick from laughing. RIP Norm.

About the author

Norm Macdonald was a stand-up comedian, writer, and actor. He died in September 2021.