IS EVERYONE HANGING OUT WITHOUT ME
(And Other Concerns)
by Mandy Kaling
Publication Date: September 18, 2012
Published by Three Rivers Press
Pages: 222
Source: Received as a gift
Purchase Amazon / B&N / Indiebound
Guest Reviewed by Holly
from Goodreads
Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”
Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!
In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.
Holly's Thoughts
I typically read loads of business and photography books, in the middle of one particularly depressing business book I had to take a break and read something lighter so I pulled out the copy of "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)" by Mindy Kaling that my mom had given me for Christmas. It had been on my Amazon wish list for nearly 3 years because I love the cover, the title (literally one of the biggest fears we all have starting at age 5), and The Office (though I’m really not a fan of The Mindy Project). My expectation was to read a cohesive funny memoir that I could finish up in a couple of weeks. In reality the book doesn't flow in full chronological order, each chapter jumps around to different times in her life and career which seems like something that would be REALLY annoying, but it wasn't at all in fact I found it rather refreshing. It was a very quick read, I devoured it on my lunch break each day for less than a week laughing my ass off in a public location with absolutely no shame in my game.
Mindy talks about being a chubby outcast as a kid. There is a whole section called “Don’t Peak in High School,” I have now adopted this philosophy and pretend that it is my own – no one who was a big deal in high school ever made anything out of themselves so clearly the rest of us will get our turn and all be amazing superstars and rule the world as adults. You get a little peek at what it is really like to live in New York City, not quite as glamorous as it seems on TV, but way more interesting than the suburbs. Had I read the section titled "Men and Boys" around a decade ago (and taken it to heart) I feel certain that I would be a completely different person today, probably married to a rich lawyer or something so this book is a great gift for high school graduations.
As someone who thought that they wanted to grow up to be a rich and famous actress when I was a kid (and maybe even still a little bit now), I really love to read celebrity memoirs. It is always great to see that we have things in common. Without further ado, here is the list of things that Mindy and I have in common that let me know I will be wildly successful in the next 5ish years:
· We were chubby children, and chubby adults
· We suck at sports
· We are neurotic
· We have temper tantrums
· We ramble while writing as if we were teenagers
· We do not have celebrity parents
Disclaimer: The reviewer received this book as a gift for their own personal library. She was not compensated in any way for providing this review. Thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.
Nice review. This sounds like an interesting story but celebrity memoirs are always hit or miss with me. I'm not familiar with Mandy's work so that draw to know about her life isn't there but the synopsis keeps drawing me in. I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it so much. I will have to give this book a shot and maybe put it in for next month's book club read. :)
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