Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns)
I love to read. I love to read anything.
And I really like biographies, especially lately. For some reason I've been picking them up without knowing what they are. I know that sounds odd, you would know a biography when you see it. Except that I don't. "The Boys of my Youth" by Jo Ann Beard and "Driving with Dead People" by Monica Holloway made it onto my shelf without me knowing what they were; but I've also read "Lucky" by Alice Sebold and "The Mistresses Daughter" by A.M. Homes in the last 6 months. For whatever reason, I respond to them when I see them on the shelf. (P.S. I'm also promoting all of the above if you need something to read. All = awesome!!)
The nature of all writing is expository, I think. Even in fiction you, as a reader, always learn more about the author than they probably meant. And when it's intentional, when a writer deliberately let's you in on whatever secrets they have, the amount of restraint they exercise or don't, is something I really enjoy.
Mindy Kaling's book, "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns)" is my new favorite book. She looks at life, in general and hers specifically, they say "unscientifically" but really it's just as she sees it. She's funny, smart, insightful, and best of all, super relatable. I'm not famous, a noted writer, Indian, but I know exactly what she means when she says, "I was curious but not remotely adventurous" (p. 26). I get it. And she gets me.
Topics include Men vs. Boys, childhood as a chubby asexually dressed child, friends, jobs, karaoke etiquette, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, how to properly leave a party, and so much more. So much more that it could be viewed, as many of the reviews state, as some kind of schizophrenic chaotic jump from idea to idea, but to me it's a perfect example of a collection of nonfiction work with a related theme (the theme being Mindy and awesome). If I ever write the book that I have in my head, hopefully it will look something like this.
The writing style varies from short stories, to essays, to lists (my favorite was revenge fantasies during exercise) but throughout it's incredibly easy to read and very fun! And by very fun I mean very very funny. Like cannot read it in public because people would look at the girl uncontrollably laughing at a book and wonder what in a book could be so funny. This could be so funny:
"The sight of a fat child falling, lifeless, from a high distance into a pond is kind of an amazing sight, I'll bet." (p. 28), on how a lifeguard forced her to jump from the high board at summer camp rather than let her climb back down the ladder.
or this:
"I guess nothing puts a damper on a one night stand as much as your friend pointing out all the opportunities where you might have been killed." (p. 155), after listening to a friend describe some sexy situation and responded to her friend pretty much exactly the way I do when my friends describe their one night stands to me. "What do you mean you don't know his last name?!" "He was in your house?! What is wrong with you?!"
I could not put this book down. It was so fantastic and I will recommend it to everyone who says they need a new book to read. Seriously, just go to the bookstore and pick it up, turn it over and read the back, and you will buy it.
And I really like biographies, especially lately. For some reason I've been picking them up without knowing what they are. I know that sounds odd, you would know a biography when you see it. Except that I don't. "The Boys of my Youth" by Jo Ann Beard and "Driving with Dead People" by Monica Holloway made it onto my shelf without me knowing what they were; but I've also read "Lucky" by Alice Sebold and "The Mistresses Daughter" by A.M. Homes in the last 6 months. For whatever reason, I respond to them when I see them on the shelf. (P.S. I'm also promoting all of the above if you need something to read. All = awesome!!)
The nature of all writing is expository, I think. Even in fiction you, as a reader, always learn more about the author than they probably meant. And when it's intentional, when a writer deliberately let's you in on whatever secrets they have, the amount of restraint they exercise or don't, is something I really enjoy.
Note: I'm not actually reading here. I'm shamelessly taking my own picture with a book.
Mindy Kaling's book, "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns)" is my new favorite book. She looks at life, in general and hers specifically, they say "unscientifically" but really it's just as she sees it. She's funny, smart, insightful, and best of all, super relatable. I'm not famous, a noted writer, Indian, but I know exactly what she means when she says, "I was curious but not remotely adventurous" (p. 26). I get it. And she gets me.
Topics include Men vs. Boys, childhood as a chubby asexually dressed child, friends, jobs, karaoke etiquette, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, how to properly leave a party, and so much more. So much more that it could be viewed, as many of the reviews state, as some kind of schizophrenic chaotic jump from idea to idea, but to me it's a perfect example of a collection of nonfiction work with a related theme (the theme being Mindy and awesome). If I ever write the book that I have in my head, hopefully it will look something like this.
The writing style varies from short stories, to essays, to lists (my favorite was revenge fantasies during exercise) but throughout it's incredibly easy to read and very fun! And by very fun I mean very very funny. Like cannot read it in public because people would look at the girl uncontrollably laughing at a book and wonder what in a book could be so funny. This could be so funny:
"The sight of a fat child falling, lifeless, from a high distance into a pond is kind of an amazing sight, I'll bet." (p. 28), on how a lifeguard forced her to jump from the high board at summer camp rather than let her climb back down the ladder.
or this:
"I guess nothing puts a damper on a one night stand as much as your friend pointing out all the opportunities where you might have been killed." (p. 155), after listening to a friend describe some sexy situation and responded to her friend pretty much exactly the way I do when my friends describe their one night stands to me. "What do you mean you don't know his last name?!" "He was in your house?! What is wrong with you?!"
I could not put this book down. It was so fantastic and I will recommend it to everyone who says they need a new book to read. Seriously, just go to the bookstore and pick it up, turn it over and read the back, and you will buy it.
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