The star of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend collects essays, poems, and other personal creations to explore such subjects as her perceptions of 'normal,' struggles with depression, and life-shaping female friendships.
If you were raised in the religion that is musical theater, enjoy a healthy obsession with sex and never for one moment have forgotten what middle school feels like, have I got a treat for you ... This frank, freewheeling book is worth it, even if you’re a reviewer a full quarter-century older than Bloom who had to Google the lyrics of Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid to find the line that inspired the book’s title. I didn’t mind. The truths here about love, sex and anxiety, about the silence around the female body (who knew how hard it was to get the word clitoris on network TV!) have no particular time stamp ... reminds us just how much the world needs thoughtful, playful art, especially during a pandemic.
I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are is a uniquely fun read in part because of the way that Bloom frequently switches formats. One chapter is a screenplay about why she loves theater, while another is a poem apologizing to all her former roommates for being terrible to live with, and she sprinkles excerpts from her real childhood diaries throughout. In addition to the laugh-out-loud portions, Bloom is brutally honest about her shortcomings, self-aware about her quirky approach to life and candid about the years of therapy that have helped her live with OCD.The conclusion Bloom reaches, of course, is that there’s really no such thing as normal. Perhaps even more to the point—who wants to be normal when you could live life as loudly and fully as Rachel Bloom?
In this sometimes snarky yet always deeply thoughtful memoir, Bloom 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 ... reading the tales feels like bingeing a riotously funny television show ... A relatable and touching memoir that will resonate both with Bloom’s fans and those unfamiliar with her work.
