bossypants.

After reading Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns), I knew I wanted to read more female-comedian autobiographies. Ellen DeGeneres' book was a disappointment but several people told me that Tina Fey's Bossypants was a riot and that I would eat it up.

Within the first few pages alone I was already giggling out loud, and then I read the whole thing in 48 hours. Tina is sarcastic and ruthless but also extremely modest and insightful. The concoction of such ingredients ends up leaving you with a delicious experience that makes you love Tina Fey even more than you did before.

However.

I was talking to my friend Zoë, who read Tina's book first and then Mindy's, and I asked her which she thought was funnier. We both agreed that Tina's book makes us respect her more and appreciate her career while Mindy's book is more "fun" and leaves you with a major friend-crush. However, Zoë thought that Tina's book was better and I thought that Mindy's was. We decided it comes down to who you read first as it likens to your first boyfriend or your first kiss. That is, the first (well-written) female-comedian autobiography you read will be a more memorable experience for you.

I'll break it down for you. Both books are fascinating in their autobiographical sense: learning how the author got into the comedy field, what awkward phases they went through, how unspecial they are despite being in the spotlight. Tina's book had a leg up in being interesting because of the deeper background knowledge we gain from her about things we already know about. For example, I learned that Conan O'Brien was a comedy writer for Saturday Night Live who then got handpicked by Lorne Michaels to take over a late-night show. I also learned that Donald Glover, before he became Troy on the show Community, was a recent NYU grad still living in a tiny apartment when he became the youngest and "hippest" writer for SNL, then was hired by Tina to help write for 30 Rock. This kind of information is fun for me and it's even better when Tina tells it with witty banter.

Anyway. Bossypants was definitely great. If I wasn't comparing it to Mindy's book, I wouldn't have any complaints about it.

Off-topic: Tina mentions Amy Poehler several times in her book, revealing that the two have a long, hilarious, deep friendship with each other. Mindy also mentioned Amy in her book, revealing how much she has admired Amy from afar and totally has a girl-crush on her. I, too, love Amy Poehler thanks to her SNL years and now her Parks & Rec years. Therefore, I hereby nominate Amy Poehler to please write the next great female-comedian autobiography!



Passages I loved from Bossypants:

...To your right you might find a New Yorker speaking animatedly about an apartment she has seen. "It was sick. You don't even know. Marble slabs." The more New Yorkers like something, the more disgusted they are. "The kitchen was all Sub-Zero: I want to kill myself. The building has a playroom that makes you want to break your own jaw with a golf club. I can't even take it."

***

Lesson learned? When people say "You really, really must" do something, it means you don't really have to. No one ever says, "You really, really must deliver the baby during labor." When it's true, it doesn't need to be said.

***

By the way, when Oprah Winfrey is suggesting you may have overextended yourself, you need to examine your f******* life.

***

If you retain nothing else, always remember the most important rule of beauty, which is: who cares?