Sleepwalk with Me: And Other Painfully True Stories

Hello, I am Mike Birbiglia and I want you to read my book. Too on the nose? Sorry. Let me dial it back.

I’m Mike Birbiglia and I’m a comedian. You may know me from Comedy Central or This American Life or The Bob & Tom Show, but you’ve never seen me like this before.

Naked.

Wait, that’s the name of another book. Also I’m not naked as there are no pictures in my book. Also, if there were naked pictures of me, you definitely wouldn’t buy it, though you might sneak a copy into the back corner of the bookstore and show it to your friend and laugh. Okay, let’s get off the naked stuff.

This is my first book. It’s difficult to describe. It’s a comedic memoir, but I’m only 32 years old so I’d hate for you to think I’m “wrapping it up,” so to speak. But I tell some personal stories. Some REALLY personal stories. Stories that I considered not publishing time and time again, especially when my father said, “Michael, you might want to stay away from the per­sonal stuff.” I said, “Dad, just read the dedication.” (Which I’m telling you to do too.)

Some of the stories are about my childhood, some are about girls I made out with when I was thirteen, some are about my parents, and some are, of course, about my bouts with sleepwalking. Bring this book to bed. And sleepwalk with me.

Based on his sensational hit one-man show, comedian Mike Birbiglia’s charming, laugh-out-loud funny memoir is a story about first love, denial, and the perils and pitfalls of being…and released in time to accompany his new show, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend .

Despite growing up in seemingly normal circumstances—four kids, two parents, a middle-class home in the suburbs with summer camp and church—early on Mike Birbiglia recognized the hilarity of life. He discovered his talent for mini-golf and piggybacked on his brother’s entrepreneurial genius in starting a golf-ball resale business from their backyard. He did chores for an older sister in return for pizza, while planning a career as a rapper, break dancer, and priest.

At the heart of Sleepwalk With Me is Mike’s absurdly funny and frustrating battle with anxiety and insomnia, which results in hallucinatory fights with Brad Pitt, midnight visits from a jackal, and a fall from a second story hotel room in Walla Walla, Washington.

In the tradition of David Sedaris’s Me Talk Pretty One Day, this is a laugh-out-loud, often mortifyingly funny collection of stories, from the mundane to the sublime, and they are all beautifully told. Sleepwalk With Me is a window into Birbiglia’s life…and will make you wonder how normal “normal” really is.

In 10 years, MIKE BIRBIGLIA has grown from struggling comic to a popular talk show guest to a groundbreaking, original storyteller. The results?  Two critically-acclaimed CDs, three Comedy Central specials and a Nathan Lane-produced Off-Broadway show called "Sleepwalk with Me" that was recently nominated for both a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Circle Critics Award for “Best Solo Performance.” Birbiglia’s comedy built him a cult following in colleges, then clubs, then concert halls nationwide and has made him one of the most popular touring acts to audiences of all ages. In 2008, Birbiglia teamed up with award-winning director Seth Barrish and Broadway legend Nathan Lane on "Sleepwalk with Me,” a painfully-funny one-man show about first love, denial and how the sleepwalking disorder that nearly killed Birbiglia might have saved his life.  Due to popular demand the show was extended twice. The New York Times called the show, “simply perfect.” Birbliglia lives in New York City with his wife. SLEEPWALK WITH ME, grown out of the hit one-man show, marks his literary debut.