Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    I'm Just a Person
    I'm Just a Person
    I'm Just a Person
    Audiobook5 hours

    I'm Just a Person

    Written by Tig Notaro

    Narrated by Tig Notaro

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    One of America’s most original comedic voices delivers a darkly funny, wryly observed, and emotionally raw account of her year of death, cancer, and epiphany.

    In the span of four months in 2012, Tig Notaro was hospitalized for a debilitating intestinal disease called C. diff, her mother unexpectedly died, she went through a breakup, and then she was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer. Hit with this devastating barrage, Tig took her grief onstage. Days after receiving her cancer diagnosis, she broke new comedic ground, opening an unvarnished set with the words: “Good evening. Hello. I have cancer. How are you? Hi, how are you? Is everybody having a good time? I have cancer.” The set went viral instantly and was ultimately released as Tig’s sophomore album, Live, which sold one hundred thousand units in just six weeks and was later nominated for a Grammy.

    Now, the wildly popular star takes stock of that no good, very bad year—a difficult yet astonishing period in which tragedy turned into absurdity and despair transformed into joy. An inspired combination of the deadpan silliness of her comedy and the open-hearted vulnerability that has emerged in the wake of that dire time, I’m Just a Person is a moving and often hilarious look at this very brave, very funny woman’s journey into the darkness and her thrilling return from it.

    Editor's Note

    Light in the dark…

    Delve deeper into the darkest year of comedian Tig Notaro’s life that sparked her breakout, heart-wrenching stand-up set where she admitted she had cancer. Expect laughs and a tear or two from Notaro’s emotional memoir.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJun 14, 2016
    ISBN9780062266668
    Author

    Tig Notaro

    Tig Notaro is an American stand-up comic, writer, actor, and radio contributor. In 2015, Tig's HBO stand-up special premiered along with the Netflix original documentary about her life. She also returned for season two of the critically acclaimed series Transparent. Tig remains a favourite on Conan and This American Life, tours internationally, and enjoys bird watching with her partner at their home in Los Angeles.

    Related to I'm Just a Person

    Related audiobooks

    Humor & Satire For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Dan Levy Show

      Sep 24, 2019

      The Dan Levy Show
      11 min read

    • Article

      Alan Cumming

      Nov 1, 2021

      Alan Cumming
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Spirit Of Power

      Jan 24, 2020

      A Spirit Of Power
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Same Story

      Mar 29, 2021

      FROM ISSUE #53: MISTAKES SUZANNE ROBERTS is the author of Bad Tourist: Misadventures in Love and Travel (Bronze Medal Winner from the North American Travel Journalists Association for Best Travel Book) and the memoir Almost Somewhere: Twenty-Eight Da

      13 min read

    • Article

      James O’Brien

      May 10, 2021

      James O’Brien
      5 min read

    • Article

      Love Beyond Words

      Sep 24, 2022

      Love Beyond Words
      4 min read

    • Article

      Sabrina Cohen-Hatton

      Sep 20, 2021

      Sabrina Cohen-Hatton
      5 min read

    • Article

      Rebecca Rose.

      Mar 3, 2022

      Rebecca Rose.
      16 min read

    • Article

      Ask A Silly Question

      Aug 5, 2022

      I SIT IN THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE. He asks: “So, when did you know?” I say: “Always.” Because I’ve heard that simplicity gets results. It is one phrase that has spanned my lifetime. No matter what setting, country or occasion, it remains un defeatable. Li

      12 min read

    • Article

      Michael Buble

      Apr 3, 2023

      Michael Buble
      6 min read

    • Article

      Joanna Scanlan

      May 24, 2021

      A At 16 I was at a very pleasant girls’ boarding school in North Wales. I enjoyed that life, I had bags of fabulous friends – I’ve enjoyed friendship all through my life. Until I was 16 I always took it upon myself to stand up for what I saw as injus

      5 min read

    • Article

      Chelsea Wolfe

      Feb 4, 2020

      Chelsea Wolfe
      5 min read

    • Article

      Dave Grohl

      Feb 1, 2021

      Dave Grohl
      8 min read

    • Article

      By Fiona Killackey

      Nov 1, 2017

      Forty-five minutes. That’s all it took for Mum to go from isto was. She was seemingly okay, packing books to read for what she assumed would be a long wait at the hospital (for a check-up, as she hadn’t been feeling well for twenty-four hours), and w

      4 min read

    • Article

      Finding Peace—and Briefly, Freedom—at My Grandfather’s Funeral

      Oct 11, 2019

      “Saying goodbye with the people who loved him—and me—I remember that I am not the tomb that imprisons me.”

      6 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      Apr 7, 2023

      I’M ALWAYS delighted when we can add extras in the magazine that our readers may want. And I’m hoping you’re going to love the extra puzzle section in the middle of this edition. You’ll notice it’s not quite the same as the usual puzzle pages – there

      5 min read

    • Article

      Sir Kenneth Branagh

      Jan 17, 2022

      Sir Kenneth Branagh
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Letter To My Son

      Mar 5, 2020

      A Letter To My Son
      7 min read

    • Article

      Self-preservation

      Jun 2, 2021

      Self-preservation
      5 min read

    • Article

      Why, Dad? Why?

      Oct 2, 2022

      Why, Dad? Why?
      7 min read

    • Article

      Book Extract

      Jan 20, 2020

      My year off was also interesting, in that I didn’t feel any less loved, or cherished, or wanted. Why? Because my life is already rich with soulmates, and I got the chance to behold that. You don’t have to shag someone for them to be a soulmate. We do

      7 min read

    • Article

      My father MY HERO

      Apr 30, 2020

      My father MY HERO
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for I'm Just a Person

    4.5/5

    184 ratings11 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed this read. As someone who has a chronic illness I appreciate Tig’s insight in examining life, death and society. Her perspective on life is reassuring and grounding, she doesn’t take herself too seriously while still valuing life and people so deeply. Love Stephanie and Tig’s dynamic and always enjoy a glimpse into their life and love.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Interesting but very sad. I am glad things got better for her.
    • 5/5
      Heart wrenching and hilarious. Heavy but hopeful. A must for a fan of the artist and highly recommended anyone else
    • 4/5
      If you're looking for a light, funny read, look elsewhere. This memoir is honest, intimate, real, and uncensored. It's dark and human and full of tragedy but I personally find beauty and hope in the midst of this type of story. It's good to see people suffer and continue on, because we all have our share of suffering coming to us. I feel like Tig's story has a lot for everyone and calls us all to contemplate our blessings and remember that we aren't guaranteed anything in life.A very personal and touching account of the darkest year of a person's life and how she got through it.
    • 4/5
      I’ve just discovered Tig Nataro’s comedy acts and am so glad I read the book. It is amazing that she can keep her sense of humor while going through so many health problems. Her writing skills are as good as her comedy routines.
    • 5/5
      Tig Notaro is extraordinary. How do you deal with the worst that life can throw at you and come out a stronger person? And how do you write a book that takes the topics of cancer and death and turn them into wry humor? Notaro did it, and her recent book, I’m Just a Person, tells of her sudden tumble when she suffered through pneumonia, C. diff, the unexpected death of her mother, and a diagnosis of stage II breast cancer, all in a period of four months. But when she climbed slowly out of this hole, she arrived at a positive and stronger place.Notaro, a talented comedian and actor, is a native of Pass Christian, Mississippi. Readers may have seen her autobiographical and critically-acclaimed series on Amazon Prime, One Mississippi, in which the main character returns home to live in the not-quite fictional town of Bay St. Louisa (only a letter away from the real town of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi) after suffering illness and the death of her mother. Events portrayed in One Mississippi closely parallel the story in Notaro’s book.I liked this book because Notaro tells her story without pretending to have faced her monsters fearlessly or with a plan. Instead, she deals with her situations as anyone would: with ups and downs and scares and surprising moments of laughter.It’s the story of someone who was suddenly dropped into a hostile wilderness without a map or training, yet somehow she finds her way home. And she wrote the book with intelligent humor and without appearing maudlin.Much of the book focuses on the author’s relationship with her mother. Notaro’s love and respect for her mother, Susie, clearly comes through, in no small part because of Susie’s quirkiness, loyalty and in-your-face honesty. This book is a commemoration of Notaro’s mother almost as much as it is about Notaro’s survival. Or perhaps the story here is that Susie gave Notaro much of the strength to survive.Other friends and family members have important roles in her life, too. For example, Notaro discovers relationships with her stepfather, Ric, and her brother, Renaud, that she may not have found but for the tragedy of Susie’s death.In another part of the book Notaro tells of her now-iconic comedy performance, taped just a couple of days after her cancer diagnosis, in which she riffs to the audience: “Good evening. Hello. I have cancer. How are you? Hi, how are you? Is everybody having a good time? I have cancer.” Bluntly honest, her performance brought tears to the audience, but also uproarious laughter. The recording went viral, and literally overnight became one of the most widely-sought comedy albums available. The soundtrack, entitled Live, is distributed under the Secretly Canadian label. Live, by the way, rhymes with give.I’m Just a Person is not a long read, but it is engrossing and worth picking up.
    • 4/5
      Good thing someone from the future didn’t tap me on my shoulder and whisper, “I know this appears to be rock bottom, but you’re actually only halfway there.”“Halfway” was Notaro’s physical devastation from a life-threatening intestinal infection, followed a minute later by her mother’s sudden death from a head injury during a fall. The rest of the way (of a whole-way timeframe of just four months) included a relationship breakup and bilateral breast cancer. Notaro is a successful actress (+writer/producer/director) and successful comic, whose deadpan style is apparent in this memoir. A very fast read. Looks like the Amazon series, “One Mississippi” covers the same material and I may take a look at it.
    • 5/5
      I’m pretty sure the first time I encountered Tig Notaro’s work was in that This American Life Story, but it might also have been when she had a role in the sweet film “In A World.” I watched her documentary, and then her comedy special, and really enjoyed both. I find her to be intriguing and unpretentious, and so had to pick up her memoir.

      If you have somehow managed to not heard her story, Ms. Notaro experienced a pretty brutal spring four years ago: she went through a breakup, fought a brutal C. Diff infection, lost her mother unexpectedly in a fall, and then was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer.

      Yeah.

      This book is mostly focused on that time in Ms. Notaro’s life, and her recovery from it. She shares a lot of herself in a way that is genuine, sweet, and at times (but not always) funny. This isn’t a comedy memoir, but it is a memoir that will make you feel good. It made me feel good.

      Not every good book is full of loud, declarative, life-altering statements that you want to immediately stitch on a pillow. Some are quietly strong, but awesome just the same. I loved this book. I can’t recommend it enough.
    • 5/5
      I devoured One Mississippi, watched the documentary her wife made about her, and even though this book retells the same story I devoured it too. She's so vulnerable and open and wonderful - and a good writer to boot!
    • 4/5
      Tig is an understated kind of comedian and writes her autobiography in an understated way about one tragedy after another but also about the deep love one can feel for a very flawed yet amazing person. Very interesting, and it has me watching her Amazon series, One Mississippi.
    • 4/5
      In 2012, stand up comic Tig Notaro made headlines when she began one of her performances with "Good evening, hello. I have cancer. How are you? Hi, how are you? Is everyone having a good time? I have cancer." The video clip of that performance went viral and the world soon knew of Notaro's situation.But that wasn't all. In the space of four months, Notaro nearly died of a C-Diff infection, her mother died in a freak accident, and she was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer. Her memoir I'm Just A Person shares Notaro's journey of those months.The book opens as Notaro is taking a cab ride from the hospital back to her mother's house in Texas after her mother died. Tig had recently been discharged from a hospital in Los Angeles after a harrowing infection which resulted in her being unable to keep any food down.She was weak as a kitten when she got the call from her stepfather about her mother. Notaro shares stories about her unconventional mother, a woman for whom "drinking with friends by the pool was (her) nine-to-five job and she took it very seriously."Notaro was a poor student, held back twice in the eighth grade. She eventually dropped out of school and ended up in Los Angeles with some friends where she became a working standup comic.I'm Just A Person deals mainly with her four month ordeal. She writes matter-of-factly about her illnesses and fears, but it is her relationship with her free spirit mother and how Notaro came to terms with it after her mother's death that truly resonates here. Her description of going into her mother's home and looking at photos and her mother's belongings, and the memories that conjures up is moving.You'll read I'm Just A Person in a few hours, it is a slim book, but Notaro's story will stay with you a lot longer and maybe give you pause to reflect on your own mortality and relationships. She packs a big punch in a few words. I recommend it.