Why Not Me?

by Mindy Kaling

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and creator of The Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever comes a hilarious collection of essays about her ongoing journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life.

“This is Kaling at the height of her power.”—USA Today

In Why Not Me?, Kaling shares insightful, deeply personal stories about 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, and 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 “Player” tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in L.A. (“I had been replaced by a younger model.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.

• ISBN10: 0804138168
• ISBN13: 9780804138161
• Publish Date: 27 September 2016 (first published 15 September 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Crown
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 240
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780804138161

Reviews

[Chelsea]

I listened to the audiobook and I think it made the story even better to hear it in Mindy's voice. This is exactly the book you expect it to be.

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling was just the book I needed after the horrendous 2016 presidential election. I had been in such a funk and was having difficulty taking Taylor Swift's "Shake it off" mantra.

After binge watching the first three seasons of The Mindy Project I was going through withdrawal. To get me through my lack of Hulu I picked up her novel on audiobook and I quickly learned that was the way to go.

Mindy Kaling's narration of her novels reads (or listens) like you are talking to a friend you've known for years. It is engaging, insightful and relatable. Why Not Me? had me smiling from the beginning with each story having its own unique beautiful message.

While each essay was special in its own way, one that stood out to me was One of The President's Men Mindy's relationship with one of President Obama's aides. She reacted the way I'd think I might upon meeting the President and First Lady or geeking out over Stephen Cobert.  It was such a simply told story but yet so perfect.

Why Not Me? had me at hello, it make's you want to be a better man and all the clichés that go along with a feel good romantic comedy. In the end, Mindy Kaling's words of wisdom on being your best self was  the perfect prescription for a much-needed lifting up.

This review was originally posted on First Impressions Reviews

[Grace]

I adore Mindy Kaling and thought her first book was hilarious and super fun to read. This book was wonderful as well, with the exception of one particular chapter where she pastes in an epistolary-format short story she once wrote that is basically "what if Mindy Lahiri and Danny Castellano were high school teachers instead of OBGYNs." This would not have been terrible necessarily, except that I was listening to the audiobook, and she reads out all of the To:, From:, Subject:, the time stamp, and even her character's comedically-long signature, on EACH e-mail. It was very tedious to listen to, and the chapter was quite long. Without that, or if I had been reading instead of listening, it might have earned a 4th star. Otherwise, I loved the rest of the book and still firmly believe that Mindy Kaling and I should be best friends.

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

Let me preface this review by saying that I freely admit that I was probably born without a funny bone or at least one that is so deeply buried as not to understand wildly-laughed at humorous things. I will also admit that I have never watched The Office (I never found it funny.) or The Mindy Project. So why did I chose to listen to Why Not Me?? Well, the little I know about Mindy—a successful, self-assured woman in Hollywood—I admire and I was hoping to learn a little bit more about her and her success.

There were bits within Why Not Me? I really enjoyed. I loved the Hollywood secrets/confessions portion of the novel. I found myself laughing out loud at Kaling's revelations. It dispelled that myth that being an actress is the "easy life." Maybe it is an easier life than some, but it is not the easiest life out there.

As the book progressed, I started to get lost and a little bored with the essays. The section of the novel where she shares her alternate dream life of being a teacher at a stuffy prep school didn't seem to translate well to audio as it was told mainly through email exchanges. (Imagine the same email signature being read over and over again.) Kaling's voice started to grate on me the more bored I got and I couldn't wait for everything to wrap up.

Perhaps this novel wasn't a good selection on my part because I have not followed Kaling's career and her brand of humor. So this memoir might be a good fit for someone more familiar with her work than I am.
 



This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews