If you were raised in the religion that is musical theater, enjoy a healthy obsession with sex and never for one moment have forgotten what middle school feels like, have I got a treat for you.

I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are is a uniquely fun read in part because of the way that Bloom frequently switches formats. One chapter is a screenplay about why she loves theater, while another is a poem apologizing to all her former roommates for being terrible to live with, and she sprinkles excerpts from her real childhood diaries throughout. In addition to the laugh-out-loud portions, Bloom is brutally honest about her shortcomings, self-aware about her quirky approach to life and candid about the years of therapy that have helped her live with OCD.The conclusion Bloom reaches, of course, is that there’s really no such thing as normal. Perhaps even more to the point—who wants to be normal when you could live life as loudly and fully as Rachel Bloom?.

In this sometimes snarky yet always deeply thoughtful memoir, Bloom revisits the highs and lows of her life, from bullying and heartache to comedy, theater, and loss. She describes cruel classmates and even harsher teachers, imbuing stories of misery with hilarity. Self-deprecating and utterly candid, she holds little back.

With whip-smart candor and disarming energy, Bloom writes pieces that range in form from confessional essays to a time-travel play to a pop quiz about a lion attack to a contribution from her dog, Wiley, and each captures the infectious, frantic, and very funny voice of a grown-up theater-kid weirdo. Fans of her show and former and current nerds of all stripes will see themselves in Bloom’s story.

... Bloom combines irreverent humor with childhood journal entries in this entertaining essay collection.

... [an] offbeat compendium of personal moments.