Why Not Me?

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This was exactly what it wanted to be. It felt like sitting in an LA coffee shop and chatting with Mindy for a few hours, hearing a bunch of funny anecdotes, and getting to know her a little better. As a self-described “latchkey kid of busy immigrant parents in suburban Boston,” Mindy Kaling developed a deep love of books. “I wasn’t allowed to watch TV or play video games, and I was not particularly good at musical instruments or sports,” she says. “Reading was my only pastime.” The solitary hobby allowed her to “go on adventures” and “experience romantic entanglements that fogged my glasses,” she says. It also inspired her to become a writer.

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 "Player" tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in L.A. ("I had been replaced by a younger model.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.")interests may change, people may grow, things may shift, but one thing is for certain: i will always love mindy kaling. especially if it’s not at all an unintentional but seems to be more of a power play of “oh look at me, i am here now so let’s get started now!”

Was my culture just a spectacle for the white majority, or were they meaningfully connecting with a diverse narrative? To be sympathetic, Jess had to be a pretty-but-not-too-pretty, nice, likeable Indian girl, defined by her culture and her inability to fit into the western world. Where did this leave me, as a fellow Indian girl, who was less compliant, less likeable?

Publication Order of Nothing Like I Imagined Books

I think the essay about her baby nurse "Help Is on the Way" was my favorite overall. Kaling touches on her mother's death and what having a newborn is actually like. All the essays made me laugh but that one also came pretty close to making me cry. 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.

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. Growing up with a single mom and watching her do single mom things, I was totally able to resonate with Mindy in these essays. Mindy talks about our expectations of romantic relationships and marriages vs. reality. I really enjoyed hearing about her personal story of being a single mom, and how it might be nice to have a husband, but it's not necessarily the best option for everyone. It's refreshing for someone like Mindy to talk so openly about how the traditional way isn't the only way and anyone can be a parent with or without a partner. I'm happy to report, therefore, that Why Not Me? is a much more focused and tightly-constructed memoir. Kaling's first book was a mishmash of funny essays and stories about her childhood and time spent working in Hollywood; Why Not Me? has a much clearly defined thesis: how Mindy Kaling achieved her success as a writer/actor/producer, what contributed to this and what didn't help, and how she grapples with that success. I spent a great portion of my adolescence trying to look, sound and act less Indian. I straightened my hair, tried to keep my skin light by avoiding the sun and even trying skin bleaching products, and avoided anything that suggested ‘tradition’ or ‘culture’ like the plague. I felt like if I wanted to have the exciting lives sold to me by the white heroines on TV, I needed to look and act like them too. Mindy Kaling had the habit of paying for other people’s dinner. The strangers and most of the celebrities showed gratitude and told thank you to her for her generous gesture.So, she was born the same month and year I graduated from high school, which technically makes her young enough to be my daughter...I STILL want to be Mindy's best pal!

This essay... oh man, it was 1am when I started it, and I thought (and still think) that Kaling might actually be psychic... Because this is practically the script for Ghostbusters that came out in 2016: Funny, thoughtful essays and anecdotes writtenin the star’s trademark voice. But this time around, things arejust little more grown-up…This is Kaling at the height of her power.” — USA Today After all these years with friends who are five ten or taller, I have come to carry myself with the confidence of a tall person. It’s all in the head. It works out.” Of all the books I've read in the past few months, this is the book that has me wondering several things. A) How did it get so much pre- and post-release publicity and b) why do so many people like it? No offense, but this book can't hold a candle to 'Bossypants'by Tina Fey, or 'Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea'By Ms. Handler or 'I know You Are, But What Am I' by Samantha Bee. Or any number of funny-memoir type books I've read. Which is weird, because I usually finish a book like this no matter what, but this one I returned to the library with a third left unread. It just didn't 'take'.

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 . . . . As a person who has seen every episode of the office more than once (okay, fine, more than 5 times) I already think Mindy Kaling, writer and actor who plays character Kelly Kapoor, is really funny.