Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere by Maria Bamford

26 reviews

annaf90's review against another edition

It felt too all over the place, like ramblings of someone in a manic episode. I believe that is how it is intended to be, but it was too much for me to find it enjoyable. It also felt as if it was over-normalizing and dismissive of the seriousness of suicidal and self-harm ideations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Self harm and Violence

shellocopter's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

stroudle's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

5.0

I have been a long time fan of Maria’s comedy and went into this book expecting some greater understanding of her as a person and a couple laughs. I got so much more. It is honest and introspective. There are very transparent stories of her experience with OCD and I found it challenging to listen to at these parts but pushed through because it felt she was speaking to my exact experiences. 

Maria makes sure to keep herself and the listener grounded with sometime dark, sometimes light hearted, sometimes both comic relief. I listened to this while cleaning and making dinner after work and it was cathartic. I would personally recommend listening as all visual elements are in a pdf and you get to hear neat special effects and all the amazing Maria voices you may know and have come to love or have not yet heard and will soon love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Body shaming, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.5

This was a hilarious, incredibly dark, and blisteringly honest account of living with mental illness by legendary comedian Maria Bamford.

If you're not familiar with her work, I would highly recommend watching some of her standup before committing to the full book - the utter blackness of her humour can be very confronting and may not be for everyone.

As a Maria Bamford fan, it's everything you could hope for. I listened to this with every spare moment I had over a few days and struggled to tear myself away from it.

I listened to the audiobook despite having bought a signed copy of this book at one of her shows. I will probably read the physical copy at some point to compare, but I adored the audio version (she does all the voices!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

kirstieanya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia and Homophobia

abicaro17's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

This is one of the better memoirs i've listened too. I think Maria is hilarious and I'd totally go to her show. Again the book ends a little abruptly but I think the formatting is fun. The chapters are divided up into separate "cults" and chunks of her life. I appreciate that she keeps the timeline pretty easy to follow and describes what's happening year wise as well. I think I would have appreciated more of a conclusion other than her own twelve step program creation. The PDF of pictures and all the recipes were such a cute addition! I'd definitely recommend this as a good starter memoir. Very easy to listen to and funny while being serious. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic

dexkit10's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

daggotry's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Maria Bamford is a fucking genius. Her well deserved popularity should equate to more success but she is open about her setbacks and has elevated her to folk hero(ine) for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Suicide

chronicallyplotting's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Probably the funniest book I have listened to in a long time. As Maria Bamford bravely recounts her many adventures with group therapies and twelve step programs from debtors anonymous to couples therapy. Maria openly shares about her struggles with antidepressants, our healthcare system when it comes to mental health help and so much more. Although none of those topics sounds funny, trust me this book will have you laughing. 
Highly recommend, especially if you are depressed and need a laugh at the world and other situations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic

alisonscott1010's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt