Finally, Amy Poehler followed in the grand tradition of network-TV comedy actresses and wrote a memoir. Yes Please, released last month, followed such gems as Mindy Kaling’s Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) in 2012, and Tina Fey’s Bossypants in 2013.
One very timely subject addressed in all three books: stress. There’s a lot of it everywhere, obviously. Fey created, executive-produced, wrote and starred in 30 Rock, and Kaling does the same for The Mindy Project, which is now in its third season. Poehler is the lead on Parks and Recreation. For all those wondering whether they ever freak out about all their many, many responsibilities: All three addressed it in their books, in ways that seem very in tune with their personalities.
Amy Poehler: No nonsense
Poehler devotes much of her book introduction to how tough it is to pen a memoir when you are a single mum with two children (and going through a divorce), in addition to starring on a television show. She describes the process of writing the book as “hacking away at a freezer with a screwdriver”. Later, she talks about how she hates when people say “I honestly don’t know how you do it”.
She also wishes it would be socially acceptable to explode with anger when people say that. “In my fantasy I would answer, ‘What do you mean how do I do it? Do you really want to know the ins and outs of my nanny schedule? Do you want to know how I balance child care with my husband and the different ways I manipulate and negotiate work to help me put my kids first when needed?” she writes. (She adds she wishes she could answer with these responses: “‘Ambivalence.’ ‘Drugs.’ ‘Robots.’”)
Mindy Kaling keeps it real with logic
Kaling admits that she has a lot going on, but doesn’t want to get caught complaining about it. “I do not think stress is a legitimate topic of conversation, in public anyway,” Kaling writes. “No one ever wants to hear how stressed out anyone else is, because most of the time everyone is stressed out.” She explained that when she was little, her parents worked brutal hours (her dad had a nearly three-hour commute to work each way) and never complaint. After seeing that, she could never claim to be sooo crunched for time.
“Going on and on in detail about how stressed out I am isn’t conversation. It’ll never lead anywhere,” Kaling continues. “No one is going to say, ‘Wow, Mindy, you really have it especially bad. I have heard some stories of stress, but this just takes the cake.’”
Tina Fey goes with humour
Fey had an epic chapter in her book that included a normal Saturday in her life: Shooting a scene with Oprah for 30 Rock; getting ready to play Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live that night; and planning her daughter’s third birthday party.
Fey recalls that she handled it all calmly. Still, even famous multitasker Oprah was horrified by the amount of things that Fey had going on and offered her concern. That led to this quote that we should all live by: “When Oprah Winfrey is suggesting you may have overextended yourself, you need to examine your [expletive] life.”
Washington Post
