Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

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Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 · rating details · 63,018 ratings · 7,190 reviews

Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut...more

Hardcover, 222 pages

Published November 1st 2011 by Crown Archetype

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Mar 19, 2013 Margot rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: autumn-2011

I'm not usually one to read celebrity biographies and/or memoirs, but come on—this is Mindy's book we're talking about here. OF COURSE I was going to read it.

I love how she goes from hilarious to serious and back to hilarious in a very smooth manner. She shamelessly shares her BlackBerry pics with us, tells us about her life before and during The Office (is Rainn Wilson really her frenemy?), and a lot more. Like my friend Meli said, this book was all over the place, which I absolutely think sep...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Tanu rated it 2 of 5 stars

AND ITS NOT MINDY KALING’S FAULT! OR AT LEAST NOT TOTALLY HER FAULT.

TV and I are not best friends. Sure, I own a TV, but it’s more like a piece of furniture in my living rooms. Hindi sitcoms are royally crappy and wildly unrealistic, news channels seem mostly concerned with celebrity gossip, even channels like Discovery and National Geography have been commercialized.

So basically, I and TV have had minimal interaction in the past years.

Anyway! Point is, as a result of the aforementioned facts...more

31 likes · like · see review

Dec 15, 2011 Catie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Catie by: Maggie

Shelves: humor, read-in-2011, memoir

There’s a passage in this book in which Mindy Kaling laments that she will never be the kind of comedian who can get away with really raunchy humor or jokes about race. (She cites Sarah Silverman and Dave Chappelle as examples.) But, here is what she can get away with: writing a book chock-full of lists and stories all about how she’s basically (in her words) a “vain flake” and still coming across as a kind, intelligent woman and an excellent best friend.

I kind of wish that Mindy Kaling were my...more There’s a passage in this book in which Mindy Kaling laments that she will never be the kind of comedian who can get away with really raunchy humor or jokes about race. (She cites Sarah Silverman and Dave Chappelle as examples.) But, here is what she can get away with: writing a book chock-full of lists and stories all about how she’s basically (in her words) a “vain flake” and still coming across as a kind, intelligent woman and an excellent best friend.

I kind of wish that Mindy Kaling were my best friend. She’d be the kind of friend who would call up on a Saturday night, and when you sheepishly admitted that you really didn’t feel like going out, would show up at your door wearing pj’s and laden down with fancy chocolates and champagne. Then she would plop down on your couch and make absolutely no complaints when you wanted to watch a Say Yes to the Dress marathon. She’s the kind of friend who would never shame you for loving (just as a few completely out-there random examples which have absolutely nothing at all to do with me) When Harry Met Sally (like, to the point where I you can recite every single line), or Sixteen and Pregnant, or US Weekly, or cheddar cheese pretzels, or house music.

One of my favorite chapters in this book is entitled “Best Friend Rights and Responsibilities” and outlines a few of Mindy Kaling’s rules for BFF-dom:

“I MUST BE 100 PERCENT HONEST ABOUT HOW YOU LOOK, BUT GENTLE
Your boyfriend is never going to tell you that your skirt is too tight and riding up too high on you. In fact, you shouldn’t even have asked him, poor guy. He wants to have sex with you no matter how pudgy you are. I am the only person besides your mom who has the right (and responsibility) to tell you that. I should never be overly harsh when something doesn’t look good on you, because I know you are fragile about this, and so am I. I will employ the gentle, vague expression ‘I’m not crazy about that on you,’ which should mean to you ‘Holy shit, take that off, that looks terrible!’ I owe it to you to give feedback like a cattle prod: painful but quick.”

Mindy and I (I’m just going to go ahead and call her Mindy…because that’s what future best friends do) are also about the same age, and there is some excellent 90’s nostalgia porn in here. In particular, I loved her list of favorite comedy moments (Chris Farley as Matt Foley = more evidence that we should be best friends) and her list of remakes that she’d like to take a crack at. An all-girl remake of Ghostbusters?!! I would totally go and see that, especially if they cast female comedians in all the main roles.

I didn’t enjoy the pieces about dieting and dating/commitment quite as much but overall I really had a fun time with this book. This is a humorous memoir that also belongs alongside the fluffy/frothy books and I think that’s exactly what my little Min was really going for. Well done! (Call me later!)

Perfect Musical Pairing

Mariah Carey – We Belong Together

I may or may not love Mariah Carey with all my heart. And I may or may not have seen Glitter more than once, possibly not even to make fun of it.
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Jan 19, 2012 Jessi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: six-stars-your-a-superstar, your-so-funny-you-should-have-your

I APPLAUD it and Endorse it!

I LOVED this book, Mindy is just a funny gal who is pretty in check with reality. I have trouble writing a review for a book I love. I feel I just wont do it justice. Mindy makes hilarious observations in numerous essays that fill this joy of a book. Instead of trying to articulate what this is and what I find funny I thought I would grab some random quotes as a recommendation.

QUOTES
“I’m the kind of person who would rather get my hopes up really high and watch them...more

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Jun 15, 2012 Shannon Lee rated it 1 of 5 stars

Audiobooks can be dangerous. During a recent road trip in which I listened to this audiobook, I had plenty of time to consider the pros and cons of vehicular suicide. Pro: I would be relieved of Mindy Kaling's screechy voice and vacuous musings forever. Con: I would never again be able to eat cheese. My instinct for survival prevailed. Barely. I suffered through this book in its entirety, so that I would be able to write a justifiably flaming review.

Ms. Kaling's book follows a painfully predicta...more

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Dec 04, 2011 Chrissy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Things I Learned From Mindy Kaling:
1. "Obeseotron: A nickname you give to someone you adore who has just stepped on your foot accidentally, and it hurts. Alternatively, a fat robot."
2. My adamant & unyielding crush on Amy Poehler and Amy/Will does not make me creepy. Okay, maybe it does, but Mindy and I can be creepy together.
3. Joey Fatone from 'N Sync's last name is "Fat One."
4. Beysus is a legitimate entity.
5. I am not crazy for laughing so hard I peed a little (lizzed~~) when I watched t...more

6 likes · like · see review

Dec 28, 2012 Joel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, autobio, nbc

This book is best read on a day when you need some light, distracting entertainment, say like when you were up half the night because your infant daughter has a chest cold and then you were rushing around the house trying to find your keys because you were late for your appointment at the mechanic and then you realized they were actually locked inside the garage, which you can only open with that one key that is now inside the green car, which was a stupid place to leave it.

It can be read in abo...more

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Nov 14, 2011 Liza rated it 3 of 5 stars

The moment I finish my literature review I am going to the bookstore to purchase this, because I need to read something that makes me laugh more than articles about amytrophic lateral sclerosis.

And no, I did not laugh while reading/writing about ALS. I'm not the worst person in the world.

16 likes · like · see review

Nov 07, 2011 traci rated it 3 of 5 stars

mindy kaling - writer, star of the office - suffers from never having cancer or living in iran for any part of her life. which simply means this: it's hard to write a memoir that lasts more than 70 pages. so they call it a book of essays, which is fine, and she does a good job with most of them. but then she's only up to 150 pages and she's fucked. so she goes to her phone and flips through her photos and thinks, hey, i could just write about these, and other bullshit like it, to satisfy a respe...more

35 likes · like · see review

Sep 26, 2012 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graduate-school-reading

I picked up Mindy Kaling's book as research for my lecture on books with alternative structures. The mix of lists, photos, script segments and micro essays caught my eye. The book isn't badly written but it is prosaic. I bought it hoping that the comedy writer, the Dartmouth graduate, would provide some context, some depth, and some really powerful insight into comedy writing, her life, or hollywood. Perhaps my hopes for the book were too grandiose given that the cover is mostly pink. Instead, a...more

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Dec 03, 2011 V. Briceland rated it 4 of 5 stars

A quick warning about an otherwise good book: the last third of The Office writer Kaling's memoir is a scattershot, hit-or-miss affair. With short essays like "Why Do Men Put on Their Shoes So Slowly?" and "In Defense of Chest Hair", which graze their topics no more deeply than the titles suggest, Kaling almost sounds like she's half-heartedly trying out for the late and perpetually cranky Andy Rooney's vacated gig on 60 Minutes.

It's a shame, because the first two-thirds of Kaling's effort is an...more

33 likes · like · see review

May 17, 2013 April rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: woc, asian-american, body-image, south-asian-american

This book is perfect for anyone in the age range of 20-30 years old. Kaling is a product of our TV-watching, ironic, intellectual "hipster" generation. The memoir can get self-indulgent, overly-detailed and scattered, but I literally guffawed at least seven times while reading it. She is aware of the ways that she engages in mainstream culture (through her love of romantic comedies, obsession with fad diets and consumer spending), and manages to be critical of it while staying lighthearted and n...more

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Nov 27, 2011 Brooke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, non-fiction

This is what I was hoping for when I read The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level last week - just a funny person with nerdy qualities being funny. This isn't a memoir, exactly, although she does talk about her childhood and how she ended up working on The Office. It's sweet when she talks about her best friends and hilarious when she gets exasperated with John Cougar Mellencamp for singing about how life peaks in high school. Even if you aren't a fan of The Office (I stopped watching a cou...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Keri rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'd never heard of Mindy Kaling but now know she is or was on The Office and was one of its writers, and also wrote for SNL and other shows. She's a comedian, and a very funny one. I believe she has a show coming out called The Mindy Project. Anyway, I didn't know who she was but downloaded this from my library and really enjoyed it. You can't help but like someone who starts out with "Thank you for buying this book. Or, if my publisher's research analytics are correct, thank you, Aunts of Ameri...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 14, 2012 Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

Ok, I officially have a girl crush on Mindy Kaling. She is just so cool. I love the fact that she is completely honest about all her failings and even embraces them. This would definitely be the type of person I would want to be friends with. This book was extremely funny and a light, easy read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a good laugh. I especially loved her list for alternate titles to the book (The Girl with No Tattoo, Harry Potter Secret Book #8... hilarious).

By far m...more

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May 31, 2012 ayrdaomei rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finished

I picked up this audiobook, along with a couple others, to keep me company on a recent drive from Baltimore to Pittsburgh and back (4 hours each way). I am ashamed to admit I let early lukewarm critical reviews keep me from picking up a hard copy of Mindy's book, even though a few people I know had read it and enjoyed it. But, bygones! I don't know if I would have liked the book as much if I'd read it traditionally, but it was an excellent choice for a solo drive through Western Maryland and the...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Avery rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Mindy Kaling begins her list of comedic memoirs with a brief explanation of how unsuitable she is to be seen as any sort of mentor to the girls of America. “My body mass index is certainly not ideal, I frequently use my debit card to buy things that cost less than three dollars because I never have cash on me, and my bedroom is so untidy it looks like vandals ransacked the Anthropologie Sale section. I'm kind of a mess.” (Kaling, 4) But unlike Kelly, her character on the popular show The Office,...more Mindy Kaling begins her list of comedic memoirs with a brief explanation of how unsuitable she is to be seen as any sort of mentor to the girls of America. “My body mass index is certainly not ideal, I frequently use my debit card to buy things that cost less than three dollars because I never have cash on me, and my bedroom is so untidy it looks like vandals ransacked the Anthropologie Sale section. I'm kind of a mess.” (Kaling, 4) But unlike Kelly, her character on the popular show The Office, Mindy Kaling would never cry about a celebrity breakup, text while showering, or plant evidence of cheating in order to confront her boyfriend. Instead, she reveals herself to be a low-key girl who struggled with her weight and lived in a crowded, cockroach-infested apartment in order to attain her dreams. Mindy's ability to laugh at herself and make light of every situation gives her a role-model affectation despite her testimonial that she is unqualified to give advice.

Mindy has a controversial approach to writing that often appears more as a shopping list than an actual book. Being constantly organized and over-prepared, she keeps a constant tabulation of everything from best friend responsibilities to revenge fantasies while jogging. This results in strange but endearing prose that reads more like a journal than a memoir, and within these catalogs, she hides fragments of advice. For instance, she enlightens the audience that women in romantic comedies are not real in one of her lists. To teenage girls, she sends a message to work hard and go to college as opposed to seeking fame at the age of fifteen. She criticizes the idea of adolescence being the prime of a woman's life: “The chorus of “Jack and Diane” is: Oh yeah, life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone. Are you kidding me? The thrill of living was high school? Come on, Mr. Cougar Mellancamp. Get a life." (34) To grown women, she criticizes the popularity of one-night stands. Mindy questions the safety of hook-up situations. In one scene, her sexually liberated friend excitedly tries to gossip about an escapade, during which Mindy constantly interrupts with opportunities of how the stranger could have murdered her. Although hilarious in the friend's irritation, Mindy gives a level-headed perspective about safety in inviting potential sociopaths into your home.

Often whilst looking at celebrities, it's nearly impossible to imagine they've ever been anything but glistening glitterati, but Mindy opens up about the hard work it took to get there. Instead of dropping out of high school and running off to Hollywood, Mindy studied at Dartmouth College. She studied hard, wrote her own material in her free time, and worked as an intern. After graduation, she moved to New York City with her friends, where she worked as a babysitter for a wealthy family to pay the rent. She tried out at many auditions, and met just as many disappointments. She became accustomed to real estate featuring small space, poor air conditioning systems, and an abundance of cockroaches. Although not idealized, she found a job supporting at television show where a man faked séances. Mindy cheerfully describes this period of time by laughing at her failures and surrounding disappointments. This chapter of her life illustrates not only the necessity of hard work to succeed, but also to make light of it as a means of dealing with failure.

Mindy shows an incomparable pride in her body. She designates a chapter to her past as a chubby child, a chapter to her lifelong detest of exercising, and yet another chapter to how her body causes confusion for stylists. As a youth, she was bullied for her weight. When she worked off nearly thirty pounds and felt fabulous in her new body, but was still teased for previously being chunky, she realized that it didn't matter what anyone else thought about her physique. Mindy specifies that intelligence and humor are a thousand times more important than looks, and that true beauty is found in embracing the body you have – a crucial message for women.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) takes the reader on many comedic detours, but maintains a common charm and regard. If you are a female with a sense of humor, you have absolutely no excuse to not read this book. Kaling rationalizes to the reader that they should take a moment to peruse: “This book will take you two days to read. Did you even see the cover? It's mostly pink.” (5) It's only a medium-sized quantity of essays, but it leaves the reader wanting more. Hidden behind Mindy's breezy wisecracking, though, is a thoughtful list of advice accounting for various topics such as safety, self-respect, and the advantage of hard work. Her honesty and independence contradict her statement that she's too incompetent to give advice, and instead affirm that she is an authentic and outstanding role model for women of all ages.mk(less)

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Jan 28, 2013 Roopa rated it 4 of 5 stars

My fourth star is just because Mindy makes me laugh. This isn't epic literature, but it's a great read for boarding, takeoff and landing.

"Why yes, I am Indian. And yes, I have seen the Mindy Project. Now, can you please tell me what you're insinuating?"

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 26, 2011 Marcellis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love reading memoirs like this. Funny, insightful, and also inspiring. I'd never heard of this actress/writer before, but the book showed up on my recommended feed, and I gave in. I'm glad that I gave in, too.

2 likes · like · see review

May 18, 2013 Ronielle rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was kind of disappointed with this book. I have really come to like Mindy Kaling this year after watching her new show, The Mindy Project. There were moments in this book where I thought she really shined and was funny, however, overall I felt like it really lacked something. First, it felt really disjointed. I don't think this book knows what it is. It doesn't read like a memoir - their are FAR too many completely random tangents for it to be a 'this is the story of my life' book. Yet, there...more

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Dec 12, 2012 moshimoshineko rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit, non-fiction, humour, memoir, essays, 21st-century, usa

A bit scatterbrained and a lot of loose ends. Mindy Kaling sucks as a writer, even if that's her job. Entertaining in parts, but mostly useless crap.

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Apr 12, 2013 Melero Guerrisa rated it 1 of 5 stars

I base my liking of female celebrities on whether or not we would be good friends if we met

I have been watching Mindi's new show "The Mindi Project" and I think its funny, quirky and entertaining. This led me to believe that (in a parallel universe) Mindi could become my good friend.

She is part of a minority, around my age and wears the same size as me. (Size 8) . To me, those similarities are the basis of an awesome friendship.

So, I was disappointed when after reading her book I realized we do...more

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Feb 23, 2013 Christianna Marks rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own-it

This book was like a delightful, ridiculous, yet legit talk with a good friend! Mindy Kaling is hilarious in so many ways, but it's her beyond honest voice that makes this such a gem (other then all of the name changing she does, I'm not sure that's honest...) We've seen Mindy on shows like The Office (which she talks about in the book and The Mindy Project (which she alludes to), but you don't know a person well until you read about that time when they got picked on by some dude.

Well in all hon...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 50-book-2012, comedy, non-fiction, memoir, essays, favorites

Don't let her take on Kelly Kapoor fool you. Word on the street is that Mindy Kaling is a pretty cool gal.

If you read her book, you will find that these claims are not without merit. She talks about:

Serious Things
1. being Indian
2. being chubby
3. doing what you love and loving what you do
4. failure
5. family

Girl Things
1. how to deal with being crushed by the boy you love
2. breaking up with your best friends
3. why you should never have a one-night stand
4. relationships or the lack thereof
5. romanti...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 16, 2012 Mario García rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some people writes trying to criticize the depth of this book. They should re-read who the author is.

As a reader of scholar Philosophy, Politics and overall complicated programming books, let me tell you one or two things:

"Why Do Men Put on Their Shoes So Slowly?" made me realize I do -in fact- tie my shoes quite slowly according to the religious procedure pointed out by Mindy. This is a self-improvement book!

In a serious note, not even my couple had taken the time to realize this.

Observationa...more

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Feb 02, 2012 Dallas rated it 3 of 5 stars

Somewhere in the beginning of this book, Kaling muses on alternate book titles. Most, if not all, mock the author or the work as a whole. I mention this only to say that, although I prefer the title she chose, the one about being a blog-in-a-book is perhaps a little more appropriate. And I don’t mean that in a derogatory or overly critical way. Like, at all. I just mean that portions of this book read like a foray into whatever-was-on-Mindy’s-mind-today-ness. And if anyone had me at gunpoint and...more Somewhere in the beginning of this book, Kaling muses on alternate book titles. Most, if not all, mock the author or the work as a whole. I mention this only to say that, although I prefer the title she chose, the one about being a blog-in-a-book is perhaps a little more appropriate. And I don’t mean that in a derogatory or overly critical way. Like, at all. I just mean that portions of this book read like a foray into whatever-was-on-Mindy’s-mind-today-ness. And if anyone had me at gunpoint and told me to critique this book using one of two adjectives: GOOD or BAD (worst stick-up ever, by the way), I’d unwaveringly choose GOOD. Every time.

There’s a humble sincerity that overflows the pages of this book. Kaling works hard, she loves a lot, she’s clever, [insert a lot of other adjectives that are basically synonymous with brilliant], and she does it all with such fabulous appeal. She writes (and acts) for the US version of The Office (really well, too), which everyone already knows, and it’s easy to see that as a gargantuan feat in itself. But, perhaps, what is more inspiring – and, dare I say, interesting – is that she documents her defeats as well – from the public to the private. Her series of odd jobs upon moving to New York City, her Matt & Ben show’s flop in a comedy festival in Aspen, on and on, all the way down to her failure to carry out her weekly high school foursome clique’s routines. It’s not monumental stuff, but it’s stuff that adds to her character. It’s a ball’s out documentation, or reflection, or whatever, to allow the reader an honest, candid look at her life unto now – which I suppose is not a difficult thing to do with an utter dearth of real-life problems. Not that this is a critique (I mean, you can’t control your disposition in life, right? You can only react to what’s provided).

I read the book because I like Kelly from The Office. There, I said it. It turns out that the person behind the character isn’t much different. And I think, above all, that’s what I liked about it: you get exactly what you pay for. For me, in a weird twist of trickery, this book became a sort of how-to blog-on-paper manual that I, a terribly awkward, socially inept dip, learned a lot from: karaoke etiquette, Irish exits (what they are and how to do them), the basics any man should have. It’s ironic that she puts these things in there because, honestly, I don’t think things like “how to dress to impress your lady friend” (that wasn’t a direct quote; I don’t even know why I used quotes there) (it sounds kind of creepy but I’m not changing it now) are directed at a demographic that, well, probably isn’t going to read this book.

Anyway, it’s easy to describe Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? as a poor man’s Bossypants (self-described awkward childhood; headstrong personality; hilarious comedy writer penning a memoir-with-a-lower-case-M*), but where Bossypants is more of a strict memoir, reporting life events more-or-less chronologically, Hanging Out is a series of things-that-happened-to-me-and-also-chest-hair-is-sexy.

So, you know. Check it.

* I don’t mean to compare all female comedy writers. I promise I’m not sexist. But I am overly paranoid that I could be perceived this way? Why did I put this in here?
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Jan 20, 2013 Snuggles with Rainbows rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: funny-beyond-expectation, totally-worth-the-wait, too-good, all-time-favs

After watching Mindy Kaling portray Kelly Kapoor in The Office, I was instantly hooked to her brand of comedy. It goes without saying that I was looking forward to reading this book. So what do I think about it?

It was great! I was laughing out loud at almost every other page. There are multiple words and phrases coined by Kaling that I will now use and try to incorporate in my daily conversation. I listed a few right here:

1. Jabba the Hutt – This particular category in Kaling’s book made me laug...more After watching Mindy Kaling portray Kelly Kapoor in The Office, I was instantly hooked to her brand of comedy. It goes without saying that I was looking forward to reading this book. So what do I think about it?

It was great! I was laughing out loud at almost every other page. There are multiple words and phrases coined by Kaling that I will now use and try to incorporate in my daily conversation. I listed a few right here:

1. Jabba the Hutt – This particular category in Kaling’s book made me laugh so hard in public [I was in the library of my Medical School while reading this]. Doctors and students gawked at me until finally two girls came up to me and asked me to leave [they were super polite about it!]. Yes, I plan on using this all the time [regardless of whether the situation calls for it or not].

2. Best Friend Right and Responsibilities – I am implementing this in my life starting…NOW! I will have a hard copy of this chapter with me at all times [with proper credit given to Kaling, of course] just in case anyone tries to question me.

3. Married People Need to Step It UP! – after reading this particular chapter…I started realizing how many unhappy married couples I know…and the number was staggering in my mind. Unhappy married couples…seriously you guys need to step up your A-Game.

Getting back to my review, the book is very well written and is filled with Kaling’s sarcasm [always a bonus]. She writes about her highs and lows through her life.

The only reason I stopped short of giving this book 5 stars is because at times Kaling’s life story gets a little boring. It is still hilarious, and I was crying with laughter almost all the time but her ups and downs through life do get a little long sometimes. But, I get it, it is HER book and it is meant to be like a memoir/autobio so I don’t really blame her at all.

Overall, it’s a great read. Its fast, fun, and insanely hilarious. I recommend this to anyone who like Mindy Kaling, has heard of Mindy Kaling, likes to laugh, loves sarcasm and generally enjoys life.

This review can also be found hanging around at Rainbows and Books
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Dec 30, 2012 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I ordered this book a week ago and I have already finished reading it. It is not very long (220 pages) and is an easy read with lots of laugh out loud moments. Is it Bossypants? No. Mindy's humor is much drier then Feys', but the subject matter is uniquely Kaling and I think anybody under the age of 35 must read it.

Instead of taking her life in chronological order, Mindy instead separates the book into a series of essays. Here are some of my favorites:

(1) The essay on the Alternative Titles fo...more

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Feb 02, 2012 nicole j. wroblewski rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: all ladies everywhere!

Recommended to nicole by: Lindsey

Shelves: 2012, haha, nonfiction, biography

Short review: Super-duper feel-good funny book. Loved it and can't wait to share it with... every gal I know. Pretty much.

And in a few more words: If you don’t know anything about Mindy Kaling, or you don’t like her character Kelly Kapoor on The Office, or think she is her character Kelly Kapoor on The Office and are therefore expecting this to be a bunch of TMZ gossip/Hollywood garbage, or (like me, tbh) you just don’t watch The Office anymore.. WHO CARES READ THIS ANYWAY! In Kaling’s own words...more Short review: Super-duper feel-good funny book. Loved it and can't wait to share it with... every gal I know. Pretty much.

And in a few more words: If you don’t know anything about Mindy Kaling, or you don’t like her character Kelly Kapoor on The Office, or think she is her character Kelly Kapoor on The Office and are therefore expecting this to be a bunch of TMZ gossip/Hollywood garbage, or (like me, tbh) you just don’t watch The Office anymore.. WHO CARES READ THIS ANYWAY! In Kaling’s own words, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? is about “romance, female friendships, unfair situations that now seem funny in retrospect, unfair situations that I still don’t think are funny, Hollywood, heartache, and my childhood. Just that really hard-core, masculine stuff men love to read about.” And in my words: this is an absolute feel-good read that I want to hand out to literally every woman I know. It’s funny for sure, but it’s also wonderfully sweet and refreshingly normal. She’s this perfectly friendly combination of chic, clever, successful and grounded and it’s a pleasure to feel like you’re buddying up next to her reading this.

Stand out essays include Kaling’s thoughts on friendship (Best Friend Rights and Responsibilities), marriage (Married People Need to Step it Up), and body image (Chubby for Life).

I remember being in first grade, in Mrs. Gilmore’s class at Fiske Elementary School, and seeing that Ashley Kemp, the most popular girl in our class, weighed only thirty-seven pounds. We knew this because we weighted her on the industrial postal scale they kept in the teacher’s supply closet. I was so envious. I snuck into the supply closet later that same day to weight myself. I was a whopping sixty-eight pounds.

Some of the first math I understood was that i was closer to twice Ashley’s weight than to her weight.

“Don’t be closer to TWICE a friend’s weight than to her actual weight,” I told myself. This little mantra has helped me stave off obesity for more than two decades.

For fans of Bossypants and Bridget Jones’ Diary alike. Even some dudes. And if none of that has got you sold on this book, check out the childhood photo of Kaling on the back cover. Then tell me you don't want to own it.

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6 likes · like · see review

Nov 09, 2011 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-it-kindle, memoir-esque

I laughed out loud so many times!

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.

(I want to throw out a WARNING about this book, similar to what I did when I read and reviewed Tina Fey's Bossypants - If you already don't like Mindy Kaling, if you already don't like The Office, if you already hate female comedians, etc, you probably won't like this...more I laughed out loud so many times!

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.

(I want to throw out a WARNING about this book, similar to what I did when I read and reviewed Tina Fey's Bossypants - If you already don't like Mindy Kaling, if you already don't like The Office, if you already hate female comedians, etc, you probably won't like this book. I wrote my review earlier today and then I thought, "I wonder what other people thought about Mindy's adorable book" and checked out some other goodreads reviews this afternoon. Sure enough, the first review below 3 stars is some yahoo who says that he doesn't like The Office and had no idea who Mindy Kaling was, and therefore he didn't appreciate the references in the book and some of her anecdotes didn't make sense. If you KNOW you don't like something, WHY would you read it in the first place?! I KNOW i don't like Star Trek, so I think it is pretty obvious that I will only be disappointed if I read a memoir of a Star Trek actor, where in which most of their writing is going to be about how they got to be on Star Trek, their life on Star Trek, and how being on Star Trek affected them. Boom - 1/5 stars, that book sucks.

Anyway - on to my actual book review:

I don't have a twitter account, so I don't know her hilarious, character (as in keyboard characters)-limiting quips that she is well-known for, but I do read her blog and I think she is cute and funny. It is also kind of like hanging out with a friend - like, "hey, what kind of eye shadow are you wearing?" and then she tells you about it, but as a blog post rather than over coffee.

Reading her book was like getting to know someone at a slumber party (partially because I read it at night before I went to sleep). Mindy Kaling has turned into the celebrity that not only you feel like you know, but it doesn't seem like stretch that you could meet her and have a normal conversation with her without feeling like you are talking to a celebrity (which is a good thing!) The stories from her childhood are pretty funny, in a looking-back-that-guy-was-an-asshole-hahaha kind of way, and if she is holding a big ole grudge, you can't tell. Her opinions are earnest and it sounds like she's thought them all out for a pretty long time, probably thinking in blog-mode while killing time and calories on a treadmill.

Which is also hilarious, because I have to distract myself pretty well on a treadmill in order to actually stay on it for very long, which Mindy also does. Except her "treadmill fantasies" (quotes are mine, not hers) are ridiculously over-the-top. Love it.

Good work, Mindy! I think you did an awesome job!(less)

18 likes · like · see review

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