You may or may not know this already, but Joood - Hooligan of Platypire Reviews is notoriously bad at writing reviews after she finishes reading books. I'm serious, her to be reviewed list is almost as long as my Platypire Read-A-Thon list, and that thing is monstrous. So after much cajoling on Joood's part, I have decided to help her out and once a week I'm going to write one of her reviews for her because I'm a good friend like that, and there is no way this could possibly go wrong. I will be writing the reviews as if I actually am Joood.
This week, I will be reviewing Why Not Me by Mindy Kaling.
Genre: Memoir
Published: September 15, 2015
Pages: 240
Synopsis
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 “Player” tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in L.A. (“I had been replaced by a younger model.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.
Favorite Quotes
"The most valuable thing I learned from Kim Kardashian is that your arm must never lie flat against your body. The second most important thing is how to do this sex move called the Armenian Strangler, but that's for another book."
"The word mentor is funny because it has a pedagogical, formal feel to it."
"Thankfully at curtain call, the riotous applause and standing ovation woke B.J. up."
Review
The audiobook version of Why Not Me magically showed up in my audible library one day after I bought it with an audible credit that I had on Amazon. It's truly amazing how that works.
I'd like to start off my review by answering the question to the best of my ability. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Mindy, but I think your voice has a lot to do with it. I feel awful for even saying this, but I had to listen to the book in small doses because my eardrums just couldn't withstand the onslaught for extended periods of time. That being said, I would have been quite upset if the audiobook had been narrated by someone else.
I really related to Mindy though, so much so that I feel like we should be BFFs, but she'd never want to be friends with me, and then I thought "Why not me?" I am the leader of the charge for Platypire World Domination, which makes me basically the coolest person ever. People should be breaking down my door just to hang out with me (but I wouldn't recommend it because I will likely not be wearing pants, just ask Bekah.) So even though the narration hurt my eardrums, I really enjoyed the book.
3.96 Platypires. - Joood - Hooligan
Buy the Book
About the Author
Vera Mindy Chokalingam, known professionally as Mindy Kaling, is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is the creator and star of the Fox and Hulu sitcom "The Mindy Project", and also serves as executive producer and writer for the show.
Alternate Reviews
If you would like to read some legitimate reviews of Why Not Me, just click on any of the links below.
Now "Why Not Me" by Mindy Kaling is in my wish list ( my link ). First of all, interesting plot with the same problems like in a real life (love, weight, work etc.). Of course, I don't know when I will do it, but I will try as soon as possible.
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