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Bossypants

by Tina Fey (Author, Narrator)

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 211,461 ratings · 20,884 reviews

Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.

She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her you...more

Audio CD, 5 pages

Published April 5th 2011 by Hachette Audio (first published January 1st 2011)

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Apr 14, 2011 Gail rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-authors, memoir

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. She's got a fierce feminist...more 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. She's got a fierce feminist streak in her, but it's a feminism that exhibits itself in her trademark no-bullshit kind of way. It's more or less the message of, "I will be who I want to be and I do not care if you like it". Oh, and she's quick to call other women out for being catty — while, at the same time, being the first to admit she's played that card plenty of times in her own past.

And that, perhaps, is what makes Tina Fey so gosh darn likable. She IS us, right down to admitting her faults. You have to laugh reading chapters like "Amazing, Gorgeous, Not Like That" (in which Tina breaks down what a photo shoot is REALLY like) because you think, "YES! That is exactly what I thought it'd be like!" What I loved most about this book is Tina's voice can be heard through the whole thing. That's not an easy thing for an author to do, but you feel as though Tina is reading these stories to you (fan girl I am, I still want the audio version so, you know, Tina actually CAN read these stories to me!)

Personal highlights:
• The chapter on her dad, "That's Don Fey" ("How can I give [my daughter] what Don Fey gave me? The gift of anxiety. The fear of getting in trouble. The knowledge that while you are loved, you are not above the law.")
• Her chapters on being very very skinny and being a little bit fat— brilliant essays on women and weight shared in a way I think only she could nail.
• She has a girl crush on Amy Poehler and a work crush on Alec Baldwin (whom she gives way too much credit for the success of 30 Rock, IMO).
• She refuses to hire/work for jerks and she's not above using this book to get revenge on those who've criticized women's ability to be funny (on the success of the Sarah Palin-Hilary Clinton sketch she did with Amy: "That night's show was watched by 10 million people and I guess that director at The Second City who said the audience "didn't want to see a sketch with two women" can go shit in his hat.")
• She writes lines that seriously just make you bust a gut: "Do I think Photoshop is being used excessively? Yes. I saw Madonna's Louis Vutton ad and honestly, at first glance, I thought it was Gwen Stefani's baby."
• The chapter on her attempt to film a scene with Oprah, play Sarah Palin for the first time on SNL and plan her daughter's 3rd Peter Pan-themed birthday party ("By the way, when Oprah Winfrey is suggesting you may have overextended yourself, you need to examine your f*cking life")
• Her thoughts on parenthood and struggling to breastfeed and why she refuses to take guilt from (her words, not mine) "Teat Nazis"
• And finally, a chapter that struck a chord with me in those final pages, "The Mother's Prayer For Its Daughter," because, dang it all, Tina does what so few can and it's write something that can be so beautifully poetic and LOL funny at the same time. ("First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.")

So yeah, it's brilliant. It's hilarious. JUST GO READ IT ALREADY! haha

(less)

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May 31, 2011 Sarah Pi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir

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

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Apr 23, 2011 Aldrin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 is, it's irrel

...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Jeanette rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio, biography-memoir, celebrities, giggles, nonfiction

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, which is really the only way to go with this...more

39 likes · like · see review

May 21, 2011 Antof9 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-read, americana, biographies-memoirs, bwa-ha-ha, fathers, liberry, mothers, women

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 to....more 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 to. Now I have to figure out which I'll use for my review :)

You know the expression "the most serious things are said in jest"? Well, even in her introduction I found what I believe to be a Truth. She's saying who the book is for and what the reader will find in it: "Perhaps you're a parent and you bought this book to learn how to raise an achievement-oriented, drug-free, adult virgin. You'll find that, too. The essential ingredients, I can tell you up front, are a strong father figure, bad skin, and a child-sized colonial-lady outfit."

She's not so far off. A strong father figure is a big deal.

There are several things in this book that make me think Tina and I are soul sisters. Or at least, that we think the exact same things. After describing how her mother handled talking to her about reproduction and menstruation (about the same way as my mom; she didn't), she says about a pamphlet, "The explanatory text was followed by a lot of drawings of the human reproductive system that my brain refused to memorize. (To this day, all I know is there are between two and four openings down there and that the setup inside looks vaguely like the Texas Longhorns logo.)"

Her descriptions of women -- blonde and otherwise -- are brilliant. After an updated list of How Women Should Be (based on Beyonce and JLo), she says, "The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes. Everyone else is struggling."

As someone who spends a lot of time with gay people (hello, she's in show business), her gay-related stories are sprinkled throughout the book, and ... I like them. One of her best though is close to the beginning of the book: "I guess I should also state that Karen and Sharon never hit on me in the slightest and it was never weird between any of us. Gay people don't actually try to convert people. That's Jehovah's Witnesses you're thinking of. ... If you could turn gay from being around gay people, wouldn't Kathy Griffin be Rosie O'Donnell by now?" Seriously, I wish some of my ultra-conservative friends could grasp that part. *sigh*

And in her description of her favorite "summer camp", she makes a (perhaps unintentionally) poignant statement: "With his dream of a theater program for young people, Larry Wentzler had inadvertently done an amazing thing for all these squirrels. They had a place where they belonged, and, even if it was because he didn't want to deal with their being different, he didn't treat them any differently. Which I think is a pretty successful implementation of Christianity." *another sigh*

And then I like the fact that her dad is very similar to my dad. I not only like some of her descriptions of "Don Fey", but the point she makes about him when others meet him:

My dad has visited me at work over the years, and I've noticed that powerful men react to him in a weird way. They "stand down." The first time Lorne Michaels met my dad, he said afterward, "Your father is ... impressive." They meet Don Fey and it rearranges something in their brain about me. Alec Baldwin took a long look at him and gave him a firm handshake. "This is your dad, huh?" What are they realizing? I wonder. That they'd better never mess with me, or Don Fey will yell at them? That I have high expectations for the men in my life because I have a strong father figure? [me: THAT!]

Only Colin Quinn was direct about it. "Your father doesn't fucking play games. You would never come home with a shamrock tattoo in that house."

That's Don Fey.

I have tons more things marked -- tons, including this: "You have to remember that actors are human beings. Which is hard sometimes because they look so much better than human beings."

... but I don't have time to quote anything else because this book is due at the library today and there are holds on it so I can't renew it. You'll just have to read it yourself. Really, you should.(less)

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Sep 26, 2012 Megan Baxter rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was expecting more funny.

Having read a small portion of this book online (A Mother's Prayer) and having found that very entertaining, I had high hopes for this book. And I should say, it's not a bad read. It's just not that funny. I laughed out loud maybe once, and smiled a few times more. Most of the jokes fell under the category of fairly amusing. Maybe as a script, it'd be great.

But that isn't to say that this isn't a pleasant read. Her stories are interesting, and I looked forward to pick...more

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Apr 10, 2011 Meghan Wilker rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 have gleaned that from the title but I expected it to...more

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May 04, 2011 Very rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: true-story, true-hollywood-stories, bought, own, 2011, secret-lives-of-writers, short-stuff, city-girls, nyc, wiseacres, xx

I love Tina Fey. But I loved her more before I read this book. Now I know she's 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 would be blue because of...more

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Apr 11, 2011 Cat rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 To the Lighthouse, a...more

14 likes · like · see review

May 29, 2011 Lena rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, memoir

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 bits from her childhood,...more

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May 13, 2011 RandomAnthony rated it 2 of 5 stars

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 the author in...more 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 the author in the last thirty years. I wasn't hoping for forced, obvious stories about the professional discrimination in Fey's history. I wasn't looking forward to insecure ramblings about the long hours she put into Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock. And I definitely wasn't expecting all of the above to be sugarcoated by a combination of weak, insecure meta-analysis and self-conscious “oh, I'm really not that great” coverups.

You know why Bossypants bugged me? Tina Fey has nothing for which to apologize. She's smart, she's funny, and she's talented. So I assume this book had some sort of cathartic impact and she needed to get this bile out of her system. Bossypants gets credit for three short, quality sections. First, Fey tackles the “what's that scar on your face?” question right up front and follows with some funny, interesting commentary on how she can gauge people by how they respond to the scar. Second, she answers a few critical emails/blog comments as a “question and answer” chapter. Third, she walks the reader through a detailed analysis of the whole “I look like Sarah Palin” era. I read this book quickly, over two nights, and while Bossypants is well-written, for the most part, the subject matter's dour nature left me cold, oh, 75% of the time.

Listen. I didn't pick this book up whispering, under my breath, “Make me laugh right NOW, Tina Fey! Dance, monkey, dance!” But I feel like Tina Fey wrote this book for 1) young women she's trying to inspire, and 2) all the people who hate her who will never read this book, anyway. Maybe 41 year old white guys weren't her target audience. I can live with that. I'll still watch 30 Rock, though, and not just because she's hot. I just hope next time Fey writes a better book. (less)

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Mar 17, 2012 Kristen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who finds Dave Barry 'too edgy'

Recommended to Kristen by: Someone else's idea of a 'beach read'

Shelves: funny, biography

First, I must preface this two star rating by saying that since Goodreads does not allow zero stars I'm forced to reserve my one star ratings only for very special pieces of shit. Secondly, at no time while reading this did my blood alcohol content drop below twice the legal limit and even that hardly made this book tolerable.

I wasn't expecting much, obviously, but this "book" fails to live up to even the exceeding low standards of airport bookstores. I liked Tina Fey before I read this book....more

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Jan 11, 2012 Melki rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humorous-essays, memoir

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 mine, w...more

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May 26, 2011 Joel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, ha-ha-hee-hee-ho-ho, library-books, non-fiction, vote-getters

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?" stuff.

Perso...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir, do-not-own

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. Tina is smart, for one...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Anthony Chavez rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As a huge fan of Saturday Night Live and of Tina Fey, I was super excited to get this book and preordered it last year. It is about what you'd expect; by that I mean that it is a funny page turner full of self deprecating moments that make you laugh, and want to say "Oh, Tina!" Tina Fey's "Bossypants" is full of her trademark humor, but it isn't a "stand-up" book like many comics write. It's more biographical than that, and its main theme is the role of women in comedy. Fey speaks about her road...more As a huge fan of Saturday Night Live and of Tina Fey, I was super excited to get this book and preordered it last year. It is about what you'd expect; by that I mean that it is a funny page turner full of self deprecating moments that make you laugh, and want to say "Oh, Tina!" Tina Fey's "Bossypants" is full of her trademark humor, but it isn't a "stand-up" book like many comics write. It's more biographical than that, and its main theme is the role of women in comedy. Fey speaks about her road from improv with Amy Poehler at Second City, to writing and then acting in sketch comedy at SNL, to producing and starring in her own sitcom. There are plenty of stories about her family and growing up, her college days, her cursed honeymoon (which is a real surprising one), etc. Fans of Fey will find much to like in the sections about Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock. It's definitely a light read with some great pictures, reprinted script pages and funny cover blurbs. I certainly recommend it to fans of Fey or of fun and funny'ness.

Speaking of funny... I did laugh out loud at many points during this read. It was well needed too as my last few reads and reviews were serious gruesome novels. It was amusing the way she kept divorcing herself from celebrity. She spoke about glamorous movies stars as though she hasn't made the lists of Hollywood's most beautiful and powerful. Somehow she's retained an everywoman quality that leaves her relatable and approachable. I enjoyed her touches on Lorne Michaels and his "opposite of Bossypants" style of management, and her creating "30 rock" for and around Alec Baldwin without even telling him. By the end of this slight book, I felt I knew a lot more about Fey. I liked and respected her even more than I had going in. And I was thoroughly entertained. I can't ask more than that.

It was little random bits of wisdom such as this one that made me laugh throughout: "I was a little excited but mostly blorft. "Blorft" is an adjective I just made up that means 'Completely overwhelmed but proceeding as if everything is fine and reacting to the stress with the torpor of a possum.' I have been blorft every day for the past seven years."

(less)

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Feb 09, 2013 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, memoir, e-books, re-read-it, book-club

Re-read it 2/2013 for Open Books Book Club and still really enjoyed it!

Tina Fey is my kind of woman - intelligent, interesting, and f-ing hilarious! If not having a driver’s license, falling asleep while someone else is driving, and being developmentally stunted in general are qualities needed to get into comedy acting and writing, well I should be famous by now, indeed!

Actually, this book was well written and held my attention all the way through. I really enjoyed Tina's anecdotes about her SNL...more

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Jun 27, 2011 Will Byrnes rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comedy-satire, non-fiction, biography-autobiography-memoir

Big Tina Fey fan here. I have always enjoyed her work on SNL and have seen almost every episode of 30 Rock. I have seen some of her movies, not all. She is very definitely funny and smart. Her Sarah Palin kills. So what might one expect from a Tina Fey book? One of two things, either a straight ahead comedic book with plenty of anecdotes, jokes and maybe a bit of behind-the-scenes info, or a personal memoir, with detail about her background. I felt that Fey committed to neither fully and wound u...more Big Tina Fey fan here. I have always enjoyed her work on SNL and have seen almost every episode of 30 Rock. I have seen some of her movies, not all. She is very definitely funny and smart. Her Sarah Palin kills. So what might one expect from a Tina Fey book? One of two things, either a straight ahead comedic book with plenty of anecdotes, jokes and maybe a bit of behind-the-scenes info, or a personal memoir, with detail about her background. I felt that Fey committed to neither fully and wound up producing half of both in a book that was inconsistent and at times very thin.

After reading this book, do you feel that you know Fey any better than you did before? Sure there are some details about this and that, and she does address internal conflicts around work-vs-family, but my take is that this was all very surfacy material and did not really get much, if at all, below the skin. As a memoir I found it very unrevealing. There is the matter of the scar. She tells us nothing. And tunes out those who ask. Doesn’t it make you think there is something there? A little kid is harmed so violently and she has nothing to say about it? Really? Had no effect on her growing up? Another sore point was the minimal info offered on her relationship with her father, Don Fey, who was clearly a very powerful figure in her life. Colin Quinn, having just met the guy, was impressed. “Your father doesn’t fucking play games. You would never come home with a shamrock tattoo in that house.” Yet TF offers us very little about him and virtually nothing about how his personality affected her growing up.

There was definitely some fun behind-the-scenes material here, most especially in her chapter on staff urination practices. I felt that her portrait of life in Second City was thin. Re 30 Rock, nothing on Alec Baldwin, really? We assume that they got to know each other when he hosted SNL, but how did it come to be that she wanted to write a sit-com that he starred in? Nada. Thin. But plenty of respect and admiration for Lorne Michaels and several of her workmates. That offered at least a hint of heft.

Some chapters function mostly as short comedic bits. In one she responds to hostile e-mails that certainly could have been real, although one wonders. But real or written it was rather low-hanging fruit.

She does allow some warts to dot the portrait. Basically stealing a job from a lifer at the Y was a pretty crappy thing to do in her early years. It makes one see TF as someone who gets what she wants no matter who she hurts. And she certainly seems to have had a remarkable run of success. One wonders if there are more wounded and dying left on the field of battle. How much has luck played a part in her achievements? In terms of how she functions in the world as a competitive person I felt that we got only the very tip of the TF iceberg.

She points out more than a few of the gender-bias barricades she and other female writers and comedians have had to hurdle. That was one of the strengths of the book, as was her conflicted feelings about parenting versus work.

Many years ago I knew a fellow who worked at one of the main New York comedy clubs. He made it pretty clear that, as a group, comedians were “not nice people.” Tina Fey may or may not be a nice person. I did not get a strong enough sense to overcome my predisposition. She is certainly very smart, talented and funny. I would like to know more about her, but this book is not the goto source for that. My sense is that TF is not gonna let anyone too close, not show too much, other than to her best buds and family, and who knows, maybe not even them.

In a way, I felt the book resembled SNL. In pretty much every production of the show, there are some good bits and some that fall flat. I expect there are more publications ahead for Fey. Hopefully the next one will offer a better overall product, with heftier content.

PS - One quote I particularly enjoyed:

When I was a kid there was a TV interstitial during Saturday morning cartoons with a song that went like this: “The most important person in the whole wide world is you, and you hardly even know you." You’re the most important person! Is this not the absolute worst thing you could instill in a child? They’re the most important person? In the world? That’s what they already think. You need to teach them the opposite. They need to be a little afraid of what will happen.

I'm with you on this one, sister.(less)

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Nov 20, 2011 Deborah Edwards rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 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 more women to the forefront of sketch comedy and fought against the idea that "women aren't funny." Luckily, she had some powerful men supporting in her in this effort (Lorne Michaels, most prominently) and some really funny women for whom to write (Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Molly Shannon, for instance) or who knows how all of that groundbreaking idealism might have gone. The journey from teen summer theater to the Groundlings to SNL to "30 Rock" and a film career is wonderfully engaging and filled with her trademark clever humor and absurd self-deprecation, but I enjoyed this book the most when it offered some real insights into how the television business really works and the types of obstacles facing creative artists every day, particularly female comedians who still face an old-boy network that refuses to validate or finance their efforts. One of the more striking observations in the book comes near the end when Fey has reached the height of her success to date and is agonizing over whether or not to have a seocnd child. The time this would take from her career, she muses, would leave her "unemployable and labeled crazy in five years anyway." She goes on to state a harsh reality:

"Let me clarify. I have observed that women, at least in comedy, are labeled "crazy" after a certain age...I've known older men in comedy who can barely feed and clean themselves, and they still work. The women, though, they're all "crazy." I have a suspicion - and hear me out, 'cause this is a rough one - I have a suspicion that the definition of "crazy" in show business is a woman who keeps talking even after no one wants to fu** her anymore."

Yup. She said it. One of the many times I silently cheered "Good for you, Tina!" while reading this book.

There are a lot of funny stories, laugh out loud moments, and touching little vignettes in Tina Fey's book "Bossypants." It's a really likable, well-intentioned, and smart little read. But every now and then she gives you an insight like the one above and reminds everyone why it's so important that she's here. That's why I love Tina Fey.

(Three and a half stars, btw - which I think is a really good rating for a book I definitely recommend to Fey's fans, people who want to get into the business, and young women everywhere. Plus, the little behind-the-scenes peeks into the world of SNL and "30 Rock" were really fun for me.) (less)

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Dec 17, 2012 Jacob J. rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, humor, women, biography-memoir

It was all right. Heck, it was better than all right. It was adequately satisfactory.

I prefer to watch and listen to Tina Fey, so perhaps I would have enjoyed an audiobook more, if read by the author. Nothing in this book was as funny as her angrily shouting "Ah, Nerds!", or imitating Eleanor Roosevelt before being abruptly cut-off, and subsequently awkwardly recoiling. I am a fairly recent 30 Rock fan (credit to Netflix), and I hate to say it, but watching television in this case may be time b...more

8 likes · like · see review

May 24, 2011 Brandon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, 2011, non-fiction, biographies, laughtacular

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 sarcasm.

H...more 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 sarcasm.

Her stories about growing up as the lucky daughter of the always stylish Don Fey, made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion. Her adventures in dating are both entertaining and sad at the same time. I can’t believe someone as awesome as Tina Fey ever had a hard time attracting the opposite sex.

Her opinions on sexism in the media are pretty spot on and easy to sympathize with (not that she’s looking for it). She succeeded in an industry that has an extra amount of pressure on her just for being a woman. From her days struggling to get noticed in the Second City to her feelings about a particular sketch in which fellow cast mate Amy Poheler was passed over in favor of Chris Khattan in a dress, Tina argues passionately for feminism. However, it’s not to the point of where it ever becomes overbearing. Fey has this undeniable charm and is equipped with razor sharp wit that makes everything she talks about entertaining.

A particular favorite chapter of mine is when she “answers” comments written by anonymous users on message boards and online articles. Fey cuts them to shreds – trust me, it’s awesome.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I can’t really say why exactly. I always enjoyed Fey on Weekend Update, I loved Baby Mama and I’m a big fan of 30 Rock. Those statements alone predispose me to love the book but I was a little hesitant regardless. I think this is one of the better biographies written by someone in comedy and I highly recommend it.(less)

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Apr 30, 2011 Maria rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 humor, joke...more

12 likes · like · see review

Jun 30, 2011 Eastofoz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, memoir-bio, 2011

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 childhood, being...more

5 likes · like · see review

Mar 25, 2012 Gary McTiernan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I expected this to be very funny and I wasn't disappointed. I wasn't prepared for how sensible and life-affirming it would be. It's like spending the weekend with Liz Lemon without all the distractions of 30 Rock. She is able to balance her manic sense of humor with a thoughtful analysis of the factors which have made her such a success. She is generous with her praise of others and humble enough to acknowledge those who have helped her along the way. She doesn't focus on negative influences but...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, audiobook, humorous, lgbtq, non-fiction, reviewed, challenge-1010

Hilariosity. I just made that word up. Or maybe I made it up before, not sure. Definitely me though and not someone else, despite what someone else may say.

I did not know much about Tina Fey before reading this - or rather listening to it. In my mind, Tina Fey was "That woman from SNL who makes Sarah Palin sound like she's from Minnesota." (Not that I'm complaining, it's still funny.)

So, listening to this, I learned a lot about her life and stuff, and laughed a lot, and it was good. I enjoyed....more

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May 15, 2011 Kemper rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, humor, biography, non-fiction, tv

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 tim...more 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 time to get to SNL and rehearse. As Tina puts it:

“By the way, when Oprah Winfrey is suggesting you may have overextended yourself, you need to examine your fucking life.”

What makes that line extra funny is that while Fey writes about the long hours and stress of doing her TV show and movies, that she went ahead and wrote a book, too. (I think that while she may have had some help that Tina did the heavy lifting here without ghost writers because it’s such a personal story with her style of humor all over it.) The book is called Bossypants because it’s mainly a tongue-in-cheek account of how she became a success and her feelings about her career.

As you’d expect, it’s extremely funny with several laugh out loud lines and stories. My favorite chapter was the description of what it’s really like to be the subject of a professional photo shoot for a magazine and how being pampered by hair and make-up professionals while everyone tells you how great you are makes it a bit disconcerting to go home and cook macaroni for your kid.

Fey has a lot of fun pointing out her own contradictions. She’s a working woman who is irritated by the double standard of being asked about a being a successful boss and mother when no one thinks twice about successful fathers, but she still feels guilty at the time she’s spent working instead of with her daughter. She’s mocks her own appearance relentlessly but is willing to put herself on magazine covers in tight dresses. She considers herself a poor actor yet stars in a TV show. She’s often insecure and shy, but refuses to be pushed around by anyone. It’s all of these elements and her willingness to mine them for laughs that make this such a funny memoir.
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Apr 09, 2011 Catie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, read-in-2011

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 and humorous: Ti...more

17 likes · like · see review

Mar 04, 2013 Arda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read a good chunk of reviews about this book after I finished it, and came to the conclusion that those who listened to it as an audio book had more fun with it than those who actually read the thing.

That's what I did, and it was fun. Tina Fey is a performer. She knows the power of her own voice and makes the perfect intonations to grab attention and get heard. She picks her words with care and is a comedian-with-a-conscience. She's not out there to hurt anyone with her humorous skill, but us...more

4 likes · like · see review

Oct 30, 2012 Nenia Campbell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: x-2011s

My original plan was to go through this book and collect all the funniest quotes and then place them in my review. By the end of chapter one, however, I quickly realized that my original plan was going to get me in trouble for copyright infringement because at the rate I was dog-earring lolz-filled pages I was going to end up quoting the entire book.

Well, crap. Plan B it is!

I now, officially, am in love with Tina Fey (in a benevolent womancrush sort of way, not a "mailing cow hearts to you in a...more

5 likes · like · see review

May 28, 2011 Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 Rock commentar...more

4 likes · like · see review

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About Tina Fey

Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. She has received seven Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards. She was singled out as the performer who had the greatest impact on culture and entertainment in 2008 by the Associated Press, who gave her their AP Entertainer of the Year awa...more

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“Some people say, “Never let them see you cry.” I say, if you’re so mad you could just cry, then cry. It terrifies everyone.” — 2,721 people liked it

“Do your thing and don't care if they like it.” — 2,578 people liked it

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