Misfit: Growing Up Awkward in the '80s

“One of my favorite books of all time.” ―Amy Schumer

A tour de force of comedy and reflection about the perilous journey from kindergarten to twelfth grade and beyond―from the beloved stand-up comic and creator of The Great Depresh

For years, Gary Gulman had been the comedian’s comedian, acclaimed for his delight in language and his bracing honesty. But after two stints in a psych ward, he found himself back in his mother’s house in Boston—living in his childhood bedroom at age forty-six, as he struggled to regain his mental health.

That’s where Misfit begins. Then it goes way back.

This is no ordinary book about growing older and growing up. Gulman has an astonishing memory and takes the reader through every year of his childhood education, with obsessively detailed stories that are in turn alarming and riotously funny. We meet Gulman’s family, neighbors, teachers, heroes, and antagonists, and get to know the young comedian-in-the-making who is his own worst―and most persistent―enemy.

From failing to impress at grade school show-and-tell to literally fumbling at his first big football game―in settings that take us all the way from the local playground to the local mall, from Hebrew School to his best (and only) friend’s rec room, young Gary becomes a stand-in for everyone who grew up wondering if they would ever truly fit in. And that’s not all: the book is also chock-full of ‘80s nostalgia (Scented Markers, indifference to sunscreen, mall culture).

Misfit is a book that only Gary Gulman could have written: a brilliant, witty, poignant, laugh-until-your-face-hurts memoir that speaks directly to the awkward child in us all.

Gary Gulman is one of the most popular touring comics, selling out theaters nationwide including Carnegie Hall. He has been a guest on every major late-night comedy program. Gulman’s four comedy specials include HBO's The Great Depresh, a highly acclaimed look at mental illness. In 2019 he appeared in the international blockbuster Joker. He has a recurring role on the Hulu comedy series Life & Beth. A product of Boston, Gulman was previously a scholarship college football player, an accountant, and a high-school teacher. Misfit is his first book.

ISBN: 9781250847102
Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Published: September 10, 2024

Praise for Misfit

"The comic who laid bare his depression struggles in HBO's The Great Depresh returns with a poignant, hilarious memoir." ―People

"Gary is thoughtful and funny in a way few others are." ―Seth Meyers

"Having also grown up in the 80’s, Misfit is the book I definitely would have written if I was a brilliant, depressed, honest, deranged, master wordsmith/storyteller like Gary Gulman." ―Judd Apatow

“This is a very special book―an exquisite, love-affirming, generous book. It is also a portrait of an extraordinary American artist as a boy, using the tools of his trade to become a peace-loving, honest man. That the American art he practices is standup comedy gives us a rare glimpse into the ideals of democracy, because Misfit invites us to see how originality survives hierarchy. I found it galvanizing.” ―Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, New York Times bestselling author of Random Family