Chapter 15: The Reality Division

Unstoppable Farce; The Mitch Maloney Story

Mitch takes a BM (Big Meeting) with a streaming concern called Drivvel+ to discuss a new so-called reality series.

Endnotes:

1. Maria Bamford, Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere (New York, Galery Books, 2023) p.7 Capsule Review: A quirky yet charming look on mental illness. By cults, Bamford is mostly referring to family and 12-step programs, but like Nancherla, below, she’s not afraid of drifting off topic. Not quite the tour-de-force I hoped for, perhaps my expectations were too high. Slack Score: -4; Snark Score: 5 ; Overall FCA ranking: 95
2. Gary Gulman, Misfit; Growing Up Akward in the ’80’s (New York, Flatiron Books, 2023) p.283 Capsule Review: An offbeat but witty peak at depression. The spin here is it’s a (more or less) year-by-year chronicle of Gulman’s public K-12 school years, mostly focussing on one core story or theme for that year and interspersed with almost contemporary interstitial journal entrys to set up or contrast the childhood stuff. Very well written, of course, bordering on overly, which sometimes gets in the way of getting inside the head of an inarticulate pre-teen and definitely makes you question how accurate the anecdotes could be. Slack Score: 9; Snark Score: 12; Overall FCA ranking: 117
3. Aparna Nancherla, Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself, and Impostor Syndrome (New York, Viking, 2023) p.18 Capsule Review: A peculiar but engaging examination of imposter syndrome. Starts off as semi-clinical investigation into the titular syndrome but ends up being a hodge podge of personal essays and confessions, mullings on social media, the trickiness of political correctness and procrastination. Slack Score: -6; Snark Score: 5.2 ; Overall FCA ranking: 142