Book Review: A Person and a Half

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. It can be found at most bookstores and online, including at Barnesandnoble.com, iBooks and Amazon.com.

I’m Just a Person
by Tig Notaro
HarperCollins
$26.99
ISBN9780062266637
Published June 14, 2016
240 pp.

4.5 out of 5

Photo: HarperCollins