In five words: Memoir, Frank, Wisdom, Femalehood, Funny
This is my fifth time reading this book and I know it won’t be the last.
Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are two women I admire for their humor. I had the opportunity to see their live show and it was everything I had ever hoped for, seeing these funny women in person, in their element as friends having spent their adult lives sharing a comedy stage, first at Second City and later on Saturday Night Live. I read both of their books when they first came out (Tina’s November 2014 and Amy’s September 2015) and a decade later, Amy’s is the only one I’ve revisited. Tina’s was great, classic memoir style, but Amy’s is untraditional, split into three parts “Say Whatever You Want,” “Do Whatever You Like” and “Be Whoever You Are” and through those framings she weaves in the story of her life. It’s really an examination of a woman at midlife, someone who is comfortable in their own skin who is ready to peek under the hood and share with others what she has learned, a “missive from the middle,” as she says, that I find inspirational and refreshing.
Amy wrote this book when she was 43 so when I first read it 10 years ago, I was younger than she was but now at 41 I’m almost the same age she was. I am impressed with the line she walks, being very open about parts of her life, but clearly having boundaries in things she won’t go into detail about (like her divorce from Will Arnett). She is in control of her narrative.
There is a lot I have gleaned from this book, but two gems I think about frankly are:
- “No one looks stupid when they’re having fun.”
- “Good for her, not for me.” Amy’s phrase in order to have less judgment over other women’s choices and actions. She drops this phrase while discussing choices in childbirth and parenting, but it’s really applicable across the board.
And if I haven’t sold you yet, the audiobook is a thing of beauty. She reads it of course, and is a great performer, but that’s not all. Mike Schuer joins her for the parts about Parks and Recreation and there are a host of other special guests. Seth Meyer reads his own chapter, her parents read theirs (adorable) and she even has little bits done by some heavy hitters: Patrick Stewart! Kathleen Turner! AND FRIGGIN CAROL BURNETT!
I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK.
I recently reviewed Curtis Sittenfield’s “Romantic Comedy” which is set in a fictionalized SNL (she calls hers “The Night Owls”) and it was neat to read that book after revisiting Amy’s stories. Would be a fun reading pairing for summer, or anytime really.