Home › Essays › I'm Just a Person

I'm Just a Person

by Tig Notaro

A comic memoir shaped by an extraordinary year of loss and illness

Regular price $19.85 USD
Regular price $31.02 USD Sale price $19.85 USD
Save 36%

Paperback New English

Delivery to your door
In stock·Dispatches in 1–2 business days
Standard shipping* from $4.35
Standard shipping transit* 5–8 business days after dispatch

Faster options are available.

Rates and delivery estimates depend on your destination and item quantity. Estimates are informational only; the final shipping method and rate are selected at checkout.

Secure checkout
American Express Apple Pay DiscoverGoogle Pay Mastercard PayPalVisa
30-day eligible returns Returns & refunds policy

Awards & Recognition

  • Critical praise

    Praise from Out Magazine

    Out Magazine praises the book as being about love, strength, and what makes us human, beyond its account of faci...

AlbakiReads Editorial

A comic memoir shaped by an extraordinary year of loss and illness

Tig Notaro recounts the four-month stretch in 2012 when severe illness, her mother’s death, a breakup, and a bilateral breast-cancer diagnosis arrived in close succession. The book places that period alongside the stand-up set she performed days after her diagnosis, in which private crisis became public material. Combining personal recollection with the deadpan perspective associated with her comedy, Notaro examines how grief, fear, absurdity, and connection can coexist during upheaval. It is a memoir centered on confronting mortality while tracing the changes that followed.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Fans of Tig Notaro’s stand-up and the album Live
  • Readers interested in humorous personal essays and memoir
  • Readers seeking memoirs about illness, grief, and resilience

Themes

IllnessGriefComedyMortalityResilience

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

"As with the best comedy I'm Just a Person is not just about fighting pain with laughter - it's about love, strength, and the very stuff that makes us human." -- Out Magazine

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.

Shipping & returnsShipping options, delivery timing, and our return policy.

In-stock items normally dispatch within 1–2 business days. The ZIP-code estimator on this page is informational only; the final shipping method, price, and availability are confirmed at checkout for your full order.

For the initial delivery estimate we use these transit windows after dispatch: Standard 5–8 business days, Expedited 2–4 business days, and Priority 1–2 business days. Holiday delays are not included.

Eligible items can be returned within 30 days in accordance with our return policy.

Customer reviews