Why Not Me?

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Work hard, know your shit, show your shit, and then feel entitled. Listen to no one except the two smartest and kindest adults you know, and that doesn’t always mean you parents. If you do that, you will be fine.”

I think she has a great sense of humor and she seems to be a very inspirational person to a lot of people and I think that is just great! Hilarious…Kaling knows her strengths, and plays to them brilliantly…Aside from that effortlessly conversational tone and her pitch-perfect humor, Kaling’s biggest strength here is curatorial. She gives us the candy we came for—the advice, the anecdotes, the straight talk on body image—but sprinkles in something extra.” — Entertainment Weekly, A- The cliff notes version of my thoughts on Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me is that I enjoyed it, but Kaling was very clearly being selective with what she wanted to share and what she wanted to leave out, and the whole thing felt slightly incomplete. Overall, it was funny but ultimately unsatisfying. This was a fun start to Mindy's new essay collections. This one talked about culture, religion and identity. Mindy wonders what religious aspects she wants to introduce to her daughter as she raises her. I was laughing from the start, of course and it was cute to hear a story about her daughter.

and while i liked the first of this little series enough and even found some moments entertaining, the rest and especially the last to essays/stories of this a little series makes me think that kaling is an incredible insecure and jealous and at the same time self absorbed and selfish person that believes that everything she does should could more because she did it. That’s right, Mindy. I may no longer find you relatable as I did in Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me , but we’ll always have . . . . This book was simply fun, and I unexpectedly learned a lot about various topics such as: female friendships (the essay about Mindy befriending Mavis was one of my favorites), health insurance (& how much Kaling loves it), The Office (& how Rainn Wilson’s so horrible), Irish exits, “and a healthy dose of unfair situations that now seem funny in retrospect, unfair situations that I still don’t think are funny, Hollywood, heartache, and my childhood.”

Big Shot - 4 Stars - Mindy shares a lesson she learned about generosity and expecting gratitude. She gives her readers endless curiosity over who “Max Davis” really is. She also shares a day in her life as a kind of bonus essay. Kaling has written a second book that’s funnier, sharper and more confident than her 2011 collection of personal essays and pop culture riffs called Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). Even the title of that initial effort implied that Kaling was trying to find her place; the tone of this new one announces that she’s found it and is more than comfortable inviting people to spend time with her there.” — Washington Post The list of things guys should do. It would not be ok for a man to write this about women, and it's not ok for women to write it about men. Even if it is 'funny'. Are you kidding me? The thrill of living was high school? Come on, Mr. Cougar Mellancamp. Get a life." I expect the white characters in TV shows to have complexity and depth, motivations that are well defined and a personality that is individual and unique. But I’m so used to there being a dearth of diverse characters that I forgive their two dimensionality, and tell myself to not be greedy, to just be grateful there’s diversity at all.

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Nothing Like I Imagined is an essay collection by actress, producer, and writer Mindy Kaling that explores different aspects of her life such as being a (I think) voluntary single mom who wants to makes lots of friends, but due to social anxiety, has learned that the quality over quantity is the better life motto. Being a celebrity, there's a lot of Kaling's life that is completely unrelatable but her opinions and reactions to the various situations depicted in the essays are very relatable. I think Mindy Kaling is so likeable because while she's achieved an amazing amount of professional success she's not afraid to also be vulnerable on certain topics, particularly being a single mom in these essays. She's also not afraid to talk about what it's really like to be a celebrity and is refreshingly honest about the people who work for her, from assistants to her baby nurse Rose.