Comic Norm Macdonald to publish ‘memoir’ next fall

TORONTO – Canadian comedian Norm Macdonald of “Saturday Night Live” fame is putting his life on paper — with some embellishments.

HarperCollins Publishers says the Quebec City native, who grew up in rural Ottawa, will publish a memoir of sorts next fall.

“Based on a True Story” is “a brilliant, hilarious memoir unlike anything ever published,” says senior editor Kate Cassaday.

The publisher says the standup star will recount his life, “more or less,” from his childhood “to a disastrous appearance on ‘Star Search’” and his showbiz career.

“The trick for the reader,” says HarperCollins, “will be deciphering which stories are real, and which are made up, by the infamous storyteller.”

Says Macdonald: “I was born in Quebec City, English, where everyone was French. I was raised in rural Ontario, on a farm between Avonmore and Monkland. I ended up in New York City. But then what?

“I wrote this book to answer a question that has been troubling me for some time. Whatever happened to me?”