Crazy Enough: A Memoir
Crazy Enough: A Memoir book cover

Crazy Enough: A Memoir

Paperback – November 13, 2012

Price
$14.65
Format
Paperback
Pages
289
Publisher
Free Press
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1439192412
Dimensions
5.5 x 0.73 x 8.38 inches
Weight
8.8 ounces

Description

"Frank, funny, and caustically un-self-pitying" --"Publisher's Weekly""It's too bad that readers can't have her actually in their lives and feel the true force of Storm, but her book is so true to who she is that it is still a powerful, funny, and outrageous experience. Plus, you won't have to deal with all of those strange sounds and dirty sheets." --Dan Stern, actor, director, writer"A memoir that reads like an in-your-face mashup of Augusten Burroughs and Chelsea Handler, combining raw humor and an understandable bitterness with more than than a few oversexed anecdotes. Though not for the faint of heart, "Crazy Enough "proves to be a readable account of one woman's descent into madness--and back out again." --"Shelf Awareness""Best recognized as a contender on "Rock Star: Supernova", Large has the heart of a true exhibitionist...this project marks her first literary foray, and her memoir pulls no punches. A no-holds-barred coming-of-age story replete with mental illness, drugs and sex." "--Kirkus Reviews""Like some twisted love child of Mae West and Keith Richards, Storm Large is a force of nature. Her ballsy, heartbreaking, hysterical tour de force of a memoir is not to be missed. "Crazy Enough" is vulgar and fragile, tragic and empowering, and like Storm, it is always entertaining." - - Chelsea Cain, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Heartsick" and "The Night Season""Storm Large has written a bodacious book, buy it, now!" --Gus Van Sant"Storm Large is an irresistibly rambunctious force of nature. "Crazy Enough" is shattering, gorgeous and uproarious fun."--Katherine Dunn, author of "Geek Love""Storm Large performs with world-class symphonies and hard core rock bands...and she's written a book worthy of both audiences. If good writing is about taking chances and pushing readers to the edge, then this is a chart buster...as she takes us on a wild and sometimes painful ride into her world of crazy." --Larry Colton, author of "Goat Brothers, Counting Coup" and "No Ordinary Joes""We're in complete awe of the blunt, surprisingly memoir...told in honest, poignant prose... [Large shows] all of us how to let go--not without fear and doubt, but with it." --"O"magazine"With cleverness and honesty, she transforms a story that in most hands would be maudlin into yet another funny, passionate, and irreverently jarring adventure."-- "Portland Monthly" Storm Large is a singer-songwriter best known as a contestant on the reality television show Rock Star: Supernova . She created and performed an autobiographical musical and acclaimed one-woman show, Crazy Enough , that had an off-Broadway run in 2011. She currently performs with her own band and toursxa0with the Portland-based band Pink Martini around the world. In 2021 she received a standing ovation for her rendition of "I've Got You Under My Skin" on America's Got Talent . Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Crazy Enough Read more

Features & Highlights

  • “A helluva compelling story.” —
  • Elle
  • “Storm Large is a force of nature. Her ballsy, heartbreaking, hysterical, tour de force of a memoir is not to be missed.” —Chelsea Cain,
  • New York Times
  • bestselling author
  • “Edgy, gritty, and fearless.” —
  • The Portland Observer
  • Yes,
  • Storm Large is her real name, though she’s been called many things. As a performer, the majority of descriptions have led with “Amazon,” “powerhouse,” “a six-foot Vargas pinup come to life.”
  • Playboy
  • called her a “punk goddess.” You’d never know she used to be called “Little S”—the mini-me to her beautiful and troubled mother, Suzi. Little S spent most of her childhood visiting her mother in mental institutions and psych wards. Suzi’s diagnosis changed with almost every doctor’s visit, ranging from schizophrenia to bipolar disorder to multiple personality disorder to depression. One day, nine-year-old Little S jokingly asked one of her mother’s doctors, “I’m not going to be crazy like that, right?” To which he replied, “Well, yes. It’s hereditary. You absolutely will end up like your mother. But not until your twenties.” Storm’s story of growing up with a mental time bomb hanging over her veers from frightening to inspiring, sometimes all in one sentence. But her strength, charisma, and raw musical talent gave her the will to overcome it all.
  • Crazy Enough
  • is “a memoir that reads like an in-your-face mashup of Augusten Burroughs and Chelsea Handler” (
  • Shelf Awareness
  • ) and a love song to the twisted, flawed parts in all of us.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(175)
★★★★
25%
(73)
★★★
15%
(44)
★★
7%
(20)
-7%
(-21)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Good story

I wish I could give this book 4.5 stars, but 4 will do. Minus a star for all the sex scenes, if they furthered the story (some did, most didn't) then I wouldn't have a problem with them, but they were mostly unnecessary. However, I thought this was a great story. Coming from someone who has faced their fair share of skeletons in the family closet, I could relate a lot to what she was writing about. Also, on a side note, it was fun for me to hear about her references to San Francisco and the Bottom of the Hill, a place I frequented while in high school. The book doesn't go deep into her music career, but it doesn't promise to if you actually take the time to read the back of the book! It's about her struggles with her mother and the fact that she felt abandoned because her mom was in and out of mental facilities for most of her life. It's about how she pushed her mother away for so long so that she could attempt to live a normal life, but she doesn't come ANYWHERE close to normal.

I love a strong personality (maybe because I am one) so I could really laugh at all the little jokes in the book. The author is really witty and very honest. The part that really breaks my heart had to be her honesty. She doesn't sugar coat anything and even when most people would lie about how they felt, what they were thinking, or how they handled a certain situation, Storm is very straight forward. And you really have to respect an author who tells the truth and doesn't write what they think is going to sell a sap-filled book. Also, it was a good well-rounded story with a great ending. I really wish I could've seen her perform when she WAS in san francisco, too bad I was too young.
2 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Pretty good book

Good read. Relatable, real, entertaining but also mildly moving. If you in are any way conservative or have a problem with swearing, sex, and otherwise "big people" things in books, this is not the memoir for you. But overall I enjoyed it. I found Storm to sometimes possess too much of a "whoa is me" attitude, and to be a bit insensitive/dismissive towards her mother's issues and clear battles with emotional and mental instability. So there was a part of me that was annoyed with her for that. But there was a more sympathetic part of me that understands that Storm was a small child when her mother's instability started, and I might share her same feelings had that been my situation (my own mother is similar but not as severe). So I'm torn with my feelings towards the author. Overall not a bad read if you're into memoirs.
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Storm Large is a force of nature

Disclaimer: I was already a big fan of Storm and her music before reading the book. A great (and easy) read. Funny and honest. Is there anything this woman can't do?
✓ Verified Purchase

Riveting, Gut Wrenching and Brutally Honest

Whether she takes to the stage to sing, or picks up a pen to write, the author's diva persona is no holds barred. What better moniker for her audacious personality and prolific talent than Storm Large? She lives large, sings large, writes large, and takes the world by storm. This book is 264 pages of cathartic angst, and I couldn't get enough of it. Having been there myself, I can attest with a modicum of authority that her rendition of a childhood being raised by a mentally ill mother is memorialized with candor and realism. It is remarkable that against all odds, she had the resilience to become a huge success. She's whip-smart and if you like brilliant memoirs, similar to the work of Augusten Burroughs, you will be effortlessly entertained when you read Storm's story. I don't think 5 stars are sufficient to review her work. I want to give it a standing ovation!