Misfit: Growing Up Awkward in the ’80s

In this winsome memoir, stand-up comedian Gulman (The Great Depresh) shares a self-deprecating account of his 1980s childhood, prompted by his move home as an adult. In 2017, Gulman left New York City for his mother’s house in Massachusetts following a sharp decline in his mental health. Once there, he encountered copious reminders of his bygone school years, which he recounts chronologically—and with impressive sharpness—in the book’s main chapters. Most of the anecdotes are hilarious, as when he’s astonished on the first day of kindergarten after the school bus door opens to reveal that “the driver was nowhere near the door! What is this sorcery?” Others are sadder, as when he’s forced to repeat first grade with a tyrannical teacher who bullies him and stifles his love of reading over a lost library book. Throughout, Gulman alternates his recollections with brief present-tense updates about the status of his adult depression. These can feel aimless and inconsequential beside the more vivid childhood sections, but they give the narrative shape and help Gulman pull off a moving conclusion. Funny and poignant, this will satisfy adrift adults looking to reconnect with their inner child. Agent: Brian Stern, AGI Entertainment. (Sept.)