Thursday, April 21, 2022

#16 [2022/CBR14] Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

I am a huge fan of The Office, and I recently enjoyed the first season of Never Have I Ever (produced by Mindy Kaling). I also generally enjoy memoirs written by comedians because I find them good and entertaining writers. So, I picked up Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (2011) on audiobook by Mindy Kaling (and read by Mindy Kaling).

Kaling discusses her childhood friends, her college education at Dartmouth, her early time in New York City, doing the off-Broadway play that first got her noticed, working on The Office, working on SNL, and many other random thoughts. I found Kaling's memoir pretty fun and interesting. I do wish she had discussed The Office a little more and a spent a little less time on the shopping and makeup, but that's just personal preference.

Things I remember noticing and/or enjoying while reading this book: 

Mindy Kaling and I are the same age.

I was relieved to discover that, although Mindy is very similar to Kelly from the office, Mindy does not share Kelly's worst traits.

It is hard to live in NYC as a recent college graduate without a job.

I learned more about Mindy and her friend's off-Broadway play where they played Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. I had heard of this play before and could not fathom how it would work, so it was interesting to learn a little more about it.

Mindy is a size 8 (or was when she was writing this book), and she considers herself chubby. In fact, she discussed her weight and dieting for a not insignificant amount of the book. I am also a size 8, and I found everything about that disturbing.

At least back in 2011, Mindy admired married people and aspired to be married. It did feel a little dated when she singled out Amy Poehler and Will Arnett's marriage as one to envy.

I loved that Mindy discussed being a nerdy kid growing up. She point out that popularity as a teenager has no impact on success as an adult.

I thought this audiobook was an interesting way to spend my commute. Although Mindy was pretty upfront about growing up and friendships, she was pretty vague about her romantic relationships. Obviously, this information is not required in a memoir, but it did sometimes feel like a chunk of her life was missing.

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