The Jerusalem Syndrome cover art

The Jerusalem Syndrome

My Life as a Reluctant Messiah

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Jerusalem Syndrome

By: Marc Maron
Narrated by: Marc Maron
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

About this listen

By the author of Attempting Normal and host of the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, The Jerusalem Syndrome is The Gospel according to Maron: a spiritual memoir of your average hyperintelligent, ultraneurotic, superhip Jewish standup comedian and seeker.


The Jerusalem Syndrome is a genuine psychological phenomenon that often strikes visitors to the Holy Land_the delusion that they are suddenly direct vessels for the voice of God. Marc Maron seems to have a distinctly American version of the Jerusalem Syndrome, which has led him on a lifelong quest for religious significance and revelation in the most unlikely of places.

Maron riffs on Beat phenomena with its sacred texts, established rituals, and prescribed pilgrimages. He spends some time exploring the dark side of things, as his obsessions with cocaine (known to Maron as “magic powder”), conspiracy theories, and famous self-destructive comedians convince him that the gates of hell open beneath Los Angeles. As his quest matures, he reveals the religious aspects of Corporate America, pontificating on the timeless beauty of the Coca-Cola logo and even taking a trip to the Philip Morris cigarette factory, where the workers puff their own products with a zealot-like fervor. The culmination of Maron’s Jerusalem Syndrome comes during his own tour of the Holy Land, where, with Sony camcorder glued to his eye socket, he comes face-to-face with his own ambiguous relationship to Judaism and reaches the brink of spiritual revelation_or is it nervous breakdown?

Marc Maron has considerably adapted and expanded his praised one-man show to craft a genuine literary memoir. Whether he’s a genuine prophet or a neurotic mess, he’ll make you laugh as you question the meaning of life.

“Marc Maron is blazingly smart, rapid-fire, and very funny . . . A brilliant and relentless screed.” –David Rakoff, author of Fraud

“Marc Maron is the first crazy person I’ve ever envied. In his brainiac-memoir-meets-hilarious-travelogue, he demonstrates the ability to tell a story with an extraordinary provocative intelligence that is regrettably shared by few.” _ Janeane Garofolo, comedian
Entertainment & Celebrities Celebrity Comedy Middle East Judaism Funny Memoir

Listeners also enjoyed...

Attempting Normal cover art
Spiritual Graffiti cover art
Sure, I'll Join Your Cult cover art
Beautiful Scars cover art
The Taqwacores cover art
Helping Me Help Myself cover art
You Must Go and Win: Essays cover art
The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik cover art
My Adventures with God cover art
The Silent History cover art
Agorafabulous! cover art
Pulphead cover art
Repeat cover art
Scale cover art
Here Is Real Magic cover art
Fraud cover art
All stars
Most relevant
I certainly wasn't expecting a masterpiece but that's what this book is, truly. Great fucking job Maron.

Masterpiece

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Maron mentioned this recently on his podcast WTF and it got me curious. I'm not one for memoirs, biographies, or autobiographies. This however was a fervently joyous recollection of a life lived, from the most depraved and annoyingly self indulgent buffoonery to the comforting embrace of just being a good guy amidst family and community. Drops in some context for some of his ramblings. Some insightful if bonkers thoughts. Time I've happily spent.

Maniacal Messiah

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.