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Jan 13, 2012

Gail rated it:

I honestly cannot remember the last time I laughed this hard reading anything (only a Jonathan Tropper novel or a Dave Sedaris collection comes close). I finished the other night with wet cheeks from the tears that'd escaped my eyes. The bed had been shaking I was laughing so hard!

So what's to love about "Bossypants," besides everything? For starters, how Tina just tells it (and by "it," I mean everything from working at SNL to impersonating Sarah Palin) like it is More...

6 comments like (49 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Aldrin rated it:

Who said women aren't funny? A lot of people, apparently, most of them men. One of these was Christopher Hitchens, the controversial journalist who published an essay in Vanity Fair titled, quite plainly, Why Women Aren't Funny. To this and to the dozen other polemics written about the perceived humor gap between men and women, Tina Fey, in her new book called Bossypants, says, "We don't fucking care if you like it." She adds,

Unless one of these men is my boss, which none of them

More...

19 comments like (36 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Sarah Pi rated it:

Three and a half stars. I think Tina Fey is awesome. I think this is a slight but solid book. Her authorial voice sounds exactly like her speaking in my head. It's sometimes funny, sometimes self-deprecating, sometimes empowering. It spends more time than one might expect on some things, and no time on others. I think she tried to skirt a line between memoir and humor essayist that is a difficult one to skirt. I think it's an easier thing to do if you're David Sedaris and nobody has specific sto More...

9 comments like (26 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Jeanette rated it:

So yeah, I was a Tina Fey virgin. Her name meant nothing to me until this book came out. [Insert gasp of incredulity.] People say, "You know, Saturday Night Live?" To which I say, "You know, no telly in my domicile?"
No, I don't really live under a rock. I just tune out nonessential information.
Anyway, I like Tina because she's funny in the way I would be funny if I were actually capable of being funny on a regular basis.

I listened to the audio book, More...

7 comments like (18 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Antof9 rated it:

I figured I would feel exactly about this book as I do about Tina Fey. 90% of the time, I think she's hilarious and smart and I want to be friends with her and I wish I'd thought to say what she said. The other 10% I'd like to tell her (because I'm friends with her) that something she just said was beneath her and I wish she hadn't said it. I was right - that's exactly how this book was. I loved it and I loved her, and I marked something about every other page that I wanted to quote or refer More...

10 comments like (13 people liked it)

May 13, 2011

RandomAnthony rated it:

Tina Fey's Bossypants was a disappointment. I don't know that expecting much from a comedy writer's cash-in big-font-with-pictures essay/memoir...thing...is fair, but I've been a Tina Fey fan since 30 Rock began, ready to trust her literary aspirations, and even to me this book barely scratches onto the two star plateau.

What did I expect? Well, it's probably easier to explain what I didn't expect. I wasn't counting on a sour, muddled, defensive screed against anyone who pissed off More...

38 comments like (101 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Lena rated it:

Tina Fey first became vaguely familiar to the American public when she began co-hosting the "Weekend Update" segment of Saturday Night Live. Though she was the first female head writer of SNL and creator and star of the award-drenched sitcom 30 Rock, it was her ability to expertly wield her passing resemblance to Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential campaign that finally shot her to the heights of youtube fame.

Bossypants is a memoir of sorts, discussing a few choice bi More...

6 comments like (11 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Cat rated it:

Tina Fey is fabulous. I realize I am neither the first nor the last person to say this; it may ultimately prove that I am simply a member of my would-be sophisticated, confessedly neurotic generation; or it may simply reflect my narcissism that says "ah, yes, someone with glasses who admits that she spills on herself. Obviously a kindred." So, I recognize that when I rate this book of collected memoiristic (is that a word?) essays "five stars," I am not actually saying it is More...

2 comments like (9 people liked it)

May 26, 2011

Joel rated it:

Sure, you could read Bossypants. Provided you like all that self-deprecating "I'm Tina Fey and I am enormously successful and I am thankful for that, but at the same time I still struggle with being a working woman with a real life, because it is so weird that I am a media icon when I still really think of myself as an unpopular high school theater dweeb, and isn't life weird, like when I was seen as a major influence during the last election because I kind of look like Sarah Palin?" s More...

17 comments like (83 people liked it)

Apr 18, 2011

Mark rated it:

Tina Fey is funny - but we knew that. I think some of us also had the impression that she was sweet - and she is (just listen to her talk about her husband and daughter). She's also rational, thoughtful, smart and she sometimes talks like a drunken sailor who just got kicked in the balls!

This is not the hilarious book I thought it would be. It's much better than that. It's a funny, sometimes personal memoir (first period, anyone?) with a great cast of family, friends and colleagues a More...

5 comments like (47 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Meghan rated it:

I almost gave this book 5 stars, and it is damn near perfect.

Let's start with the good stuff:
- It's extremely funny. And not just "laugh out loud" funny, but "laugh *so* out loud your spouse asks you to go read in another room because you're keeping him awake." If you enjoy Tina Fey's humor, you'll really appreciate this book. It's damn funny.

- It's (unexpectedly) full of really good advice about how to be a good boss. I mean, maybe I should hav More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Deborah rated it:

Tina Fey manages to be one of those people I simultaneously respect, admire, envy, and want to hang out with all at the same time. Her cerebral, edgy, and original humor has done for women in the field of comedy what, say, Hillary Clinton (no, not Sarah Palin, ironic as that may have been) has done for women in politics. She has made everyone re-examine their preconceptions and helped people to accept women in roles once reserved for men. As head writer of Saturday Night Live, she helped bring m More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Brandon rated it:

In my opinion, biographies are the best possible option for audiobooks. This may come from my love of talk radio and podcasts or perhaps audio interviews in general but hearing the author talk about his/her life can be very satisfying. It can lend a quality that cannot be experienced while reading the physical book. In Tina Fey’s Bossypants, those qualities are Fey’s impressions, which are often hilarious (listen for Fey’s Alec Baldwin) as well as her natural skill for storytelling and sarcas More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Very rated it:

I love Tina Fey. But I loved her more before I read this book. Now I know she is human and capable of disappointing me. This moment was inevitable. But still a little sad.

That said, there were portions of this book that killed me. Her "Origin Story" was hilarious, especially the talk about her scar and people’s reactions to it. Also, she is a genius when it comes to discussing everyday gender fuckery. I loved her whole take on menstruation and how she thought period blood wou More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Maria rated it:

I love Tina! I love comedy! I love reading! I love laughing while reading. For me, this book wasn't as funny as I had hoped.

While I appreciated the memior I was surprised when I didn't feel it was candid enough. Maybe that was a conscious effort. There was a trauma as a child that she explains but doesn't elaborate one. Fine! I don't think she needs to give us the details, they are hers but I felt that she was approached to write a book and agreed but didn't really want to. There is More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Eastofoz rated it:

I listened to the audio book version and it was funny and interesting for the most part. Fey describes her childhood, how she got into show business, her subsequent fame and then she jumps into her life now as a mom and working woman.

The show biz details get a bit boring and the book tends to drag around that point in the middle but it picks up when she starts talking about how her career took off when she took on the role of Sarah Palin. She's funniest when she talks about her chil More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 15, 2011

Kemper rated it:

There’s a chapter in this book where Tina Fey is describing the hectic week that culminated with her filming scenes of 30 Rock with Oprah Winfrey, then rushing to get to the Saturday Night Live studio for her debut performance as Sarah Palin all while she was still making last minute arrangements for her daughter’s birthday party. In between takes, Tina was watching You Tube clips of Palin to work on the voice while holding her daughter and Oprah was asking with genuine concern if she’d have ti More...

3 comments like (39 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Melki rated it:

Except for the parts about being a talented, wealthy television writer and performer, Tina Fey basically STOLE MY LIFE! Our early years were SO similar, I found myself wincing instead of laughing as Fey recounted her childhood and awkward adolescence. Yeah, that was me - virtually invisible to boys, trying to be liked, always falling for guys who turned out to be gay... Interestingly enough, we both received disfiguring scars during our kindergarten years. True, Fey's is on her face, and min More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 07, 2011

Catie rated it:

I don’t typically read memoirs, but I absolutely love Tina Fey. She could write a religious horror novel, and I would probably read it. I’ve also always wondered; is Liz Lemon just a thinly fictionalized version of Tina Fey? It turns out that she really isn’t. What comes across more than anything in this audiobook (besides Tina Fey’s punchy yet silly sense of humor) is that she’s a confident, intelligent woman and a highly successful boss.

This book is a very nice mix of serious More...

0 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Denae rated it:

Tina Fey is one of the funniest women in the comedy world. Bossypants is her venture into the comic memoir and it is a success. I highly recommend that you listen to the audio book. While the first third, largely a description of the years before she moved to New York, dragged a little bit, by the time she hit NBC she was in perfect groove. Ever wondered what it is like to be in a photo shoot? Want to know more about raising a child who has always seen her mother in the media sphere? Have you ev More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Jun 29, 2011

Jenn rated it:

Er, I am a thirtysomething white girl who moved to New York from Ohio, although I did an obligatory stint in Chicago first. I lean left and self-identify as a feminist. I self-support and have incredibly geeky tendencies, terrible eating habits and an addiction to NPR podcasts. I frequently think about taking up new hobbies, but usually opt to watch tv instead. I've worn glasses since elementary school and would probably rock the librarian look even if it weren't my chosen profession, just becau More...

5 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Crystal Starr Light rated it:

"There are no mistakes, only opportunities.”

If you asked most people who Tina Fey is, most people would probably say the woman on SNL whoo played Sarah Palin during the 2008 debate. But Tina Fey has been in theater, drama, comedy for much longer than that. Here is a humorous take on her life.

After listening to "Me Talk Pretty One Day", I was a little nervous about these humor biography books. Did I not like them, was it my mood at the time of reading, o More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Chris rated it:

Dear Tina,

Will you be my new best friend? I just finished reading your book, “Bossypants,” and realized you and I have so much in common and could be fast friends! You worked in the theater during school summer vacations--so did I! You have a scar on your face--so do I! (Although my story is far less interesting than your own.) You lived with bad haircuts until college--so did I! You love food and were boy-like looking growing up--so was I!

I apologize if I offended callin More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Amanda rated it:

So, I'm not entirely familiar with Tina Fey- I've never seen 30 Rock and I only saw her do Sarah Palin on You Tube. This is because I don't have cable, and THIS is because I'm culturally superior. Or cheap, and newfangled TVs with more than one remote freak me out so much I won't buy one.

Moving on.

I've been on a run of female-funny-people-do-books, meaning I read this one and Jenny McCarthy's book on pregnancy. This one was funny in all the ways Jenny's book was un-funny. More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Sasha rated it:

I enjoyed reading Bossypants. You should know that the book is not a tell all of Tina Fey's life or a guide for women in a man's world - nor does it try to be. It is just about Tina reflecting on her life to date, acknowledging her deficits, sharing her proudest moments and doing so with a humorous condescending attitude directed, at times, at herself but mostly at the ignoramuses we all encounter everyday.

As a character, Tina Fey is kind of boring - no history of great personal tra More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Kathy rated it:

This book is laugh out loud funny and I know for sure because when I came home from a business trip yesterday and found my power out and the tap water undrinkable, I read the last 50 pages or so by a tiny booklight in the pitch dark while clutching a bottle of water and waiting for one more storm to knock the huge tree that dangles over my house into bed with me, and still laughed like a maniac pretty regularly

While there was a little drag in the middle of this book (oddly, the 30 Ro More...

5 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Julie (Klickitat) rated it:

This book isn't so much a memoir as a collection of essays about (among other things) Fey's experiences growing up, cutting her teeth in the entertainment industry, her management style, her feminist philosophy, and her approach to parenting. Given the range of topics covered in a such a short book, it can feel a little disjointed if read in one sitting. But I wouldn't let that deter you. Just because it isn't a linear narrative doesn't mean it isn't a great read. There are an equal share of hil More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Malbadeen rated it:

I rarely read other people's reviews before I write my own, but for some reason I did with this one and I wish I hadn't because I strongly disagree with some friends (Hi RA, Hi Michelle) but I don't care enough to articulate my argument in great detail. At the end of the day this book made me laugh really hard during some parts (at one point my son got exasperated with my shaking the couch cushion fits of laughter and moved to a different seat) and not at all during others. And that's about what More...

8 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 08, 2011

Caitlin rated it:

ALL THE STARS. I laughed. So hard. Cackled. My neighbors either think I had some sort of tumor in the chicken noises of my brain or I am being murdered and tickled at the same time.

God. Fucking Tina Fey. The last thing I laughed at, after the ending chapter where she talks about whether or not she wants to have a second baby... I flipped to the back jacket flap where I found her author blurb. "Tina Fey lives in Denver with her ferret, Jacoby." and then I almost swallowed my t More...

0 comments like (13 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Jen rated it:

My favorite line from this book: (By the way, when Oprah Winfrey is suggesting you may have overextended yourself, you need to examine your fucking life.)

Part memoir, part advice book for professional women, part show-biz expose, this was utterly enjoyable. The only thing I didn't love was the constant joking--reminded me of an old boyfriend who was hilarious, until it got frustrating being around him because he never stopped joking around.

Very quick read, and if you're a More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)