Written by Mindy Kaling
Number of pages: 223
Average Rating: 3.89/5 stars
My Rating: 4/5 stars
Published on September 15, 2016
Read in August 2016
Summary according to Goodreads
In Why Not Me?, Kaling shares her ongoing journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life, whether it’s falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, or most important, believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you’re constantly reminded that no one looks like you.
In “How to Look Spectacular: A Starlet’s Confessions,” Kaling gives her tongue-in-cheek secrets for surefire on-camera beauty, (“Your natural hair color may be appropriate for your skin tone, but this isn’t the land of appropriate–this is Hollywood, baby. Out here, a dark-skinned woman’s traditional hair color is honey blonde.”) “Player” tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in L.A. (“I had been replaced by a younger model. And now they had matching bangs.”) In “Unlikely Leading Lady,” she muses on America’s fixation with the weight of actresses, (“Most women we see onscreen are either so thin that they’re walking clavicles or so huge that their only scenes involve them breaking furniture.”) And in “Soup Snakes,” Kaling spills some secrets on her relationship with her ex-boyfriend and close friend, B.J. Novak (“I will freely admit: my relationship with B.J. Novak is weird as hell.”)
Mindy turns the anxieties, the glamour, and the celebrations of her second coming-of-age into a laugh-out-loud funny collection of essays that anyone who’s ever been at a turning point in their life or career can relate to. And those who’ve never been at a turning point can skip to the parts where she talks about meeting Bradley Cooper.
In “How to Look Spectacular: A Starlet’s Confessions,” Kaling gives her tongue-in-cheek secrets for surefire on-camera beauty, (“Your natural hair color may be appropriate for your skin tone, but this isn’t the land of appropriate–this is Hollywood, baby. Out here, a dark-skinned woman’s traditional hair color is honey blonde.”) “Player” tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in L.A. (“I had been replaced by a younger model. And now they had matching bangs.”) In “Unlikely Leading Lady,” she muses on America’s fixation with the weight of actresses, (“Most women we see onscreen are either so thin that they’re walking clavicles or so huge that their only scenes involve them breaking furniture.”) And in “Soup Snakes,” Kaling spills some secrets on her relationship with her ex-boyfriend and close friend, B.J. Novak (“I will freely admit: my relationship with B.J. Novak is weird as hell.”)
Mindy turns the anxieties, the glamour, and the celebrations of her second coming-of-age into a laugh-out-loud funny collection of essays that anyone who’s ever been at a turning point in their life or career can relate to. And those who’ve never been at a turning point can skip to the parts where she talks about meeting Bradley Cooper.
My Thoughts
I need to start out with the disclaimer: I love Mindy Kaling. She is one of the most talented, multi-dimensional, interesting actors that I have ever come across. I have never watched The Office, which is something that she has written for and acted on, but I have seen every episode (at least three times) of her own show The Mindy Project.
This novel is a collection of short essays, categorized mostly by life advice, and her past experiences. She talks a lot about relationships which I found to be honest and entertaining, as well as some harder moments in life such as losing her mom, battling with weight issues, and the struggle of trying to get her own show. After reading this novel I feel so much more respect for Mindy, because she has spent so many years building her career, and working hard to maintain it. She is in her late-thirties, but does not feel that she needs to change who she is in order to keep up with today’s standards.
My only issue with this novel is that it was not as fast-paced as her first novel! I am not sure what the difference was, since both were told in short essays, but I found her previous release to be much more interesting. I cannot help but wonder if I would have given this novel a full five stars if I had been able to listen to it on audiobook (I had been on hold for months from the library) because she would be the one reading it. If I ever feel like reading this again, I will definitely be listening to it!
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and might be an even bigger fan of Mindy’s. I feel as though you would be able to read and enjoy this novel, even if you have not seen some of her works on the Office or the Mindy Project. Make sure you check it out!
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