Category — funny

Title: Bossypants
Author: Tina Fey
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pages:277
ISBN: 978-0-316-05686-1
Price: $16.96 (USD – hardcover)

So, I’ve had this book for a couple of days now and I finished the last few chapters last night as I lay around in bed. I grinned and giggled to myself (mostly) trying not to disturb Joe, who was playing a game quietly on his iPad. And then I read a passage about breast milk vs. formula that made me have one of the worst laughing fits I’ve had in ages, a fit so bad that it made my abs (such as they are) hurt:

“However, the baby was thriving. I was no longer feeling trapped, spending thirty minutes out of every ninety minutes attached to a Williams-Sonoma Tit Juicer. But I had an overwhelming feeling of disappointment. I had failed at something that was supposed to be natural.”

I’ve never had a baby, and thus never had to take sides in the breast-milk vs. formula debate, but this struck me as absolutely perfect – and hilarious. Maybe it was the very idea of Williams-Sonoma selling something called a “Tit Juicer” – or maybe it was that only Tina Fey could make something so damn funny out of a subject that other people get into heated debates and fights over – whatever it was, she nailed that part. I laughed until I hurt.

I had been a bit skeptical about reading this book when my friend loaned it to me. It’s not that my friend has terrible taste in books, or that I thought she was lying about the book being good, but more that I’ve always thought that books by celebrities were always poorly written, shameless money-grabs about rehab, sex-tapes, and buying expensive cars.

Well, I was wrong about this one.

Tina Fey writes about her life, and her beginnings in comedy and showbiz with both humour and grace. I learned that showbiz, and comedy in particular, isn’t necessarily a glamorous business – it’s a lot of long hours, a lot of rejection, and a lot worry that what some executive loves today, might put 200+ people out of work tomorrow because he’s changed his mind and decided to cancel whatever you’re working on.

She writes quite naturally and unaffectedly about the people she’s worked with – some of them are very well known, big names in the business too – and I liked her total lack of snobbery about it. It was never, “…and then, I had lunch with Mr. Hollywood Movie Star, and he was just darling!”, it was more, “So I worked on SNL for a long time, and I got to meet some really awesome people – how lucky am I to have such a cool job?”

I was also impressed by how she handles her personal life in the book. She tells just enough to give you the general idea, but never so much that you feel like you’ve just witnessed a yearly, full physical exam.  Her life is exactly like most people’s:  she’s a working mom, she works ridiculous hours at her job and she’s just one of the lucky ones who actually enjoys her work and, I assume, makes a good living at it. The way she writes about her life made me feel like she’s someone I could be neighbours with – she’s that normal and down to earth.

While some of the humour in the book fell a bit flat for me because it seemed to be trying just a little too hard, I took that in my stride. I’m sure for the few, clearly meant to be funny bits, that I didn’t laugh at, there are any number of people who laughed themselves silly.  It’s no different at a comedy club, or watching an SNL skit, really  – some people will laugh, and some people won’t. Humour is a personal thing.

I loved reading about her working with Sarah Palin, and the pains she took to ensure that Mrs. Palin wouldn’t be booed offstage, or embarrassed; while Tina Fey had no problems poking fun at her, she’s not mean and she put any personal feelings and politics aside to make sure a fellow human being was treated with some measure of respect and dignity. Would that we were all so decent and professional! On the other hand, readers are also treated to stories of the more bizarre aspects of working in comedy (it involves jars of pee, I will say no more).

Tina Fey also shares some excerpts from her favourite bits of writing and comedy written by people she genuinely admires, and while I won’t spoil your own reading by talking about all of them, I will quote my favourite here from 30 Rock:

C.C.
(giving in)
No one can know we’re together,
Jack. Not even your friend Tracy
Jordan out there.

JACK
I don’t think we have to worry
about Tracy.

CUT TO: Tracy in front of the building, talking to a pigeon.

TRACY
Stop eating people’s old french
fries, little pigeon. Have some
self-respect. Don’t you know you
can fly?

That right there? That’s some good writing – I can tell because it made me laugh.

If you’re looking a for a good read that will make you laugh (and reconsider everything you think you know about magazine shoots and the supposed “glamour” of it all) – this is the the book to pick up.

Happy Easter everyone!

Mmmmm...rabbit...

Remember Tom Cruise in Magnolia?  Remember this part:

Today’s sticky note is my take on the text version of that video on Fast Seduction 101 (probably NSFW).