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

Mindy Kaling (Goodreads Author)

3.86 · Rating details · 435,898 ratings · 22,563 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

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Hardcover, 222 pages

Published November 1st 2011 by Crown Archetype

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Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler

Funny Women Memoirs

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Best Beach Reads 2015

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Dec 13, 2011 Catie rated it liked it

Recommended to Catie by: Maggie

Shelves: memoir, audio, read-in-2011, humor

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 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.
...more

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Apr 06, 2012 Shannon Lee rated it did not like it

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 24, 2011 Jessi rated it it was amazing

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 t ...more

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Jul 13, 2014 Ariel rated it liked it · review of another edition

This was exactly what it wanted to be. It felt like sitting in an LA coffee shop and chatting with Mindy for a few hours, hearing a bunch of funny anecdotes, and getting to know her a little better.

What did I like? I liked the conversational tone, the funny stories, the pictures, learning about her climb to becoming a comedy writer, some insightful moments, the emphasis on family, her love of comedy and creation, and her all round positive and "be a good person" attitude.

What didn't I like? The ...more

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Dec 28, 2016 Nat rated it really liked it

Shelves: diverse-reads, essays, nonfiction, memoir

I made the mistake of thinking I would read only one essay of this book before going to bed... I stayed up till 3am to finish the whole thing in one sitting. It's been so long since this has happened, especially going into it not even expecting to finish one essay. But Kaling has one of the most conversational, delightful and funniest voices in writing. It's nearly impossible to put down Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

This book was simply fun, and I unexpectedly learned a lot about vario ...more

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Nov 07, 2011 traci rated it liked it

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

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Nov 13, 2011 V. Briceland rated it really liked it

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

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Feb 06, 2016 Clumsy Storyteller rated it really liked it

i love Mindy , i love comedy , i love laughing , i love reading , i love laughing while reading ! This Audiobook was totally worth my time :D she is amazing and funny , Especially her high school bullying stories. i love how she can make a terrible thing so funny.

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Jan 09, 2014 Fabian rated it really liked it

I've been reading a few comedic autobiographies & I guess I'm probably justaboutnow a 'lil addicted to them ("Born Standing Up" by Steve Martin, "The Bedwetter" by Sarah Silverman...). This one by far is my favorite. It is contemporary and as refreshing as it is informative--and very, very amusing. To get the working comedic TV writer's POV is an absolute luxury. We are inspired by her avant-garde beginnings (she wrote a script about Matt Damon & Ben Affleck writing "Good Will"-- and played Affl ...more

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Jan 11, 2012 Nicole rated it it was amazing

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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Jul 25, 2017 Whitney Atkinson rated it liked it

Shelves: memoir, read-in-2017, audiobook

This book was just fine! I'm not a huge fan of Mindy-- meaning, I do like her in what I've seen her in, but I'm not die-hard for anything she's done--but I decided to read this nonetheless because I'm all about supporting successful women. my main thoughts about this book i'm just going to repeat from my initial comment on it: i turned on this audiobook as i tried to untangle a whole ball of yarn, and it took me over an hour and a half but I didn't even realize it because this book was so fun. I ...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Lisa rated it it was ok

Of all the books I've read in the past few months, this is the book that has me wondering several things. A) How did it get so much pre- and post-release publicity and b) why do so many people like it? No offense, but this book can't hold a candle to 'Bossypants'by Tina Fey, or 'Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea'By Ms. Handler or 'I know You Are, But What Am I' by Samantha Bee. Or any number of funny-memoir type books I've read. Which is weird, because I usually finish a book like this no mat Of all the books I've read in the past few months, this is the book that has me wondering several things. A) How did it get so much pre- and post-release publicity and b) why do so many people like it? No offense, but this book can't hold a candle to 'Bossypants'by Tina Fey, or 'Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea'By Ms. Handler or 'I know You Are, But What Am I' by Samantha Bee. Or any number of funny-memoir type books I've read. Which is weird, because I usually finish a book like this no matter what, but this one I returned to the library with a third left unread. It just didn't 'take'.

Here's my thoughts on why I didn't care for it (and I guess I'm a lone wolf, here!) Mindy Kaling tried to come across like a good friend, and listed one of the reasons to read the book as: 'What else are you going to read after you finish Chelsea's book?'...Ummm...I know Chelsea isn't for everyone, but it's not easy to be funny like she is, and don't assume you can do it.Don't be so presumptuous! I felt Mindy was trying to imply some kind of intimacy with the reader that she hadn't earned.Like she was saying: "Nudge, nudge, you know what I mean! Right?" - but I really didn't.

I didn't relate to her life, the camp story (tedious, went nowhere),her high school 'crew', who identified themselves by a word made up of of each person's initials (boring- they did nothing interesting or funny!) and her bitchiness about her friends once they stopped hanging out came across as very callous. Because one friend liked horses she comments- I hope she found a nice horse to run off with (better than hanging with you, it seems) and making fun of people's looks and dress ("I may not have been that pretty, but at least I wasn't five inches taller than the guys') You have to have a certain voice to pull off that kind of talk and not come across as nasty. Mindy K. does not have that skill.

Let me just say: I don't get it. I don't know why this book is so well-reviewed- it's just not my cup of tea. Even though the genre is one of my favorites. And ps: I went in wanting to like it. I felt about the book the way I feel about her character on 'The Office'-I get annoyed and can't wait for her part to be over. ...more

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Apr 19, 2014 Melki rated it really liked it

Shelves: humorous-essays, memoir, as-seen-on-tv

So, she was born the same month and year I graduated from high school, which technically makes her young enough to be my daughter...I STILL want to be Mindy's best pal!

I haven't a clue why I decided to read this book. Kaling's character on The Office drove me nuts, and though I enjoyed the few episodes of The Mindy Project that I saw, I am in no way a regular viewer. Probably the fact that I found it at the Goodwill Store for a buck had something to do with it.

But then again...

There's a little p ...more

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Feb 21, 2016 Emer (A Little Haze) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read2016, reviewed, non-fiction, 4stars

“Sometimes teenage girls ask me for advice about what they should be doing if they want a career like mine one day. There are basically two ways to get where I am:
(1) learn a provocative dance and put it on YouTube;
(2) convince your parents to move to Orlando and homeschool you until you get cast on a kids’ show...

or do what I did, which is
(3) stay in school and be a respectful and hardworking wallflower, and go to an accredited non-online university.”

Ahhhh this book was EXACTLY what I wa

“Sometimes teenage girls ask me for advice about what they should be doing if they want a career like mine one day. There are basically two ways to get where I am:
(1) learn a provocative dance and put it on YouTube;
(2) convince your parents to move to Orlando and homeschool you until you get cast on a kids’ show...

or do what I did, which is
(3) stay in school and be a respectful and hardworking wallflower, and go to an accredited non-online university.”

Ahhhh this book was EXACTLY what I was looking for. It was short and sweet and at times laugh-out-loud funny… I’m convinced my neighbours will think I’m nuts at the manic sounds of my laughing at 3am in the morning… Eeeeep!!!

Is it a very gritty, detailed memoir???… Well no, but did you expect that from Mindy?? It is fluffy, light and filled with lots of witty observations about life in general. Each chapter is almost like an essay on different topics. There are lots of funny anecdotes about growing up, starting out as a comedy writer, her time at the US Office and at SNL… It is just a lovely way to pass a few hours.

4 stars

Some of my favourite quotes:

“We’d come back to our apartment and do Abs of Steel together. Even though we mercilessly made fun of the video, which was from the deep eighties and included Tamilee Webb wearing aqua bike shorts and a pink thong leotard, we did it religiously. Tamilee had a rock-hard butt, and there was nothing ironic about it. The whole experience was surprisingly fun and cemented a friendship between Brenda and me for life. How can you not make a best friend out of a girl who has seen the sweat-soaked pelvis area of your gym pants, daily, and who still chooses to spend time with you?”

“If my parents have any soft spot, it is for books, and I knew that the best way to get out of chores, or sports, or talking to elderly relatives on the phone was by holding up a book and saying, “But I’m just enjoying Little House on the Prairie so much!” I may have read the entire Laura Ingalls Wilder canon simply to get out of raking the lawn with my brother”

“A handful of bad experiences when I was small have made me a confirmed nonathlete. In psychology (okay, Twilight) they teach you about the notion of imprinting, and I think it applies here. I reverse-imprinted with athleticism. Ours is the great non-love story of my life.”

“In the genre of “making you feel like you’re not having an awesome American high school experience,” the worst offender is actually a song: John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Jack and Diane"… I wish there was a song called “Nguyen and Ari,” a little ditty about a hard-working Vietnamese girl who helps her parents with the franchised Holiday Inn they run, and does homework in the lobby, and Ari, a hardworking Jewish boy who does volunteer work at his grandmother’s old-age home, and they meet after school at Princeton Review. They help each other study for the SATs and different AP courses, and then, after months of studying, and mountains of flashcards, they kiss chastely upon hearing the news that they both got into their top college choices. This is a song teens need to inadvertently memorize. Now that’s a song I’d request at Johnny Rockets!” ...more

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Nov 02, 2011 Joel rated it liked it

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 11, 2011 Margot rated it liked it

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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May 03, 2020 ALet rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2020

This was fun and entertaining audiobook

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Mar 01, 2018 Katie rated it liked it

Listened to this on my 10hr drive today, and it was exactly what I needed! It kept me in a great mood on an otherwise very bleak, rainy drive. Rating it 3 because it was enjoyable but overall didn’t have a big impact on me.

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Sep 26, 2017 Vanessa rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: on-my-bookshelf

Fun and enjoyable audiobook read by Mindy herself. Light entertainment to keep me company on my commute to and from work.

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Nov 08, 2011 Lucy rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir

To quote the author: “This book will take you two days to read. Did you even see the cover? It’s mostly pink. If you’re reading this book every night for months, something is not right.”

Except it took about two and a half hours tops. It's a cute book and I recommend it to anyone whose pushing through to a book goal count for the year. It's not really a biography -- just little snapshots of an interesting life and the fortunate chances she's been given. Kaling is proud of all the work she put int ...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Thomas rated it liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, biography-or-memoir, humor

A light, humorous, and overall forgettable memoir about Mindy Kaling's upbringing and her success as an actress and television writer. The content ranges from her childhood as a self-proclaimed chubby kid to her feelings about romantic comedies. Kaling injects humor into even ordinary anecdotes, and I even laughed aloud a couple of times (e.g., when she writes that she went to Dartmouth to pursue her love of white people and North Face parkas).

Overall, recommended to fans of Kaling and to those ...more

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May 02, 2018 Elizabeth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: i-own, memoir-bio, new-york-city

For those of you who didn't find this book funny, I'm going to go ahead and assume that you probably didn't get the humour. In which case, why are you even reading a Mindy Kaling memoir? It stands to reason that if you don't find this book funny, then you mostly likely don't find The Office or The Mindy Project funny either. I mean have you SEEN The Office? It's full of incredibly oblivious, narcissistic, annoying characters. They are hilarious. Mindy has many narcissistic, annoying moments, whi ...more

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Dec 18, 2016 Donna Ho Shing rated it it was ok

I was suffering through this book, and swore it wouldn't get more than one star when a remarkable thing happened in the last 70 or so pages, Mindy Kaling stopped boring me to death about her struggles as a t.v. writer, her time on The Office etc. and started talking about herself, her views on life and started being totally relatable and hilarious. That is the Mindy Kaling I'm a fan of and that's how I'd expected the entire book to be.

So the whole book is divided into seven parts: the first fou ...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Rachel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir-esque, own-it-kindle

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 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! ...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Zoë rated it it was amazing

I love Mindy Kaling with all my heart and this book just sealed the deal. I love reading books like this and Tina Fey's Bossypants as I want to peruse a creative career and I am so interested in how these two wonderful women got to where they are today. ...more

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Apr 02, 2017 Ammar rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2017, female-authors

I had greater expectations for this memoir or essays. It had a promising beginning, but I didn't learn anything from reading this book, it's funny in some parts but overall it was okay. ...more

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Jul 14, 2014 Regan added it

Shelves: books-owned-read

I love Mindy, wish I got the audio book! Still super funny though

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Aug 15, 2012 Kelly (and the Book Boar) rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2013, non-fiction

Quick confessional: 1. I am unequivocally in love with David Brent, therefore I have never cheated on him and watched even one episode of the American version of The Office. 2. The only thing I had ever seen Mindy Kaling in was that Ashton Kutcher/Natalie Portman movie that I can’t even remember the name of, but that I know I liked better when Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis were the stars.

That being said, I wanted to read a funny comedian book and have already been through Tina Fey, Kathy Gri ...more

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Dec 21, 2015 Amy | littledevonnook rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

I was so excited to read this one as I had had it on my wishlist for such a long time. Unfortunately I really didn't get along with the tone of this read and finished it feeling very disappointed.

I have only ever seen Mindy Kaling on the TV show 'The Mindy Project' so a lot of the people and things she was talking about in this book I had no idea about. It left me feeling a little bored and come the end I was really struggling to carry on.

I just don't think this was one for me, I expected the b ...more

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Mar 08, 2014 carol. rated it liked it

Recommends it for: fans of humorous autobiography

Shelves: non-fiction, auto-biography, humor

A book that delivers exactly on its premise, nothing more, nothing less. I honestly hadn’t known who Kaling was before picking this up at a friend’s house (being an indifferent watcher of television) but I enjoyed her writing. As a rough autobiography, it’s filled with short vignettes from the timeline of her life interspersed with lists relating to her life at that moment. A section on high school and discovering a distant friend was a mutual comedy fan led to a chapter on best moments in comed A book that delivers exactly on its premise, nothing more, nothing less. I honestly hadn’t known who Kaling was before picking this up at a friend’s house (being an indifferent watcher of television) but I enjoyed her writing. As a rough autobiography, it’s filled with short vignettes from the timeline of her life interspersed with lists relating to her life at that moment. A section on high school and discovering a distant friend was a mutual comedy fan led to a chapter on best moments in comedy film. A chapter on moving to New York with her two best friends was followed by a list of rules for living with best friends. Likewise, a section on dating was followed by a list of attractive male characteristics.

Overall, it is largely composed personal stories that don’t necessarily expose a lot of herself in potentially controversial ways. While there were moments I laughed out loud, I couldn’t help but spend an equal amount of time wondering at the hints of unfinished thoughts. She mentions Rainn Wilson a couple of times, and I’m not sure after reading if they are really frenemies or not. More curious is her virtually aside mention of rather unusual choices–living in a one bedroom with two best friends and sharing a bed, for instance–tantalizing the reader by mentioning how they fit perfectly into the lesbian-gentrified neighborhood, but largely leaves issues of her sexuality ambiguous until the final chapters about dating guys. I don’t care what sexuality Mindy has as much as her hints at awareness that she is not appropriately ‘feminine’ enough, and what that might mean to a perception-drenched profession. This became even more curious when I learned that her big break was an off-off-off Broadway production of her and one of the besties doing sketches in drag as “Matt and Ben.” No discussion of the political ramifications of gender impersonation was mentioned (or even of impersonating celebrities).

What interested me even more was the experience of being both female and Indian in Hollywood. She alludes to her (failed) attempts at race-based jokes a couple of times, but not specifically what they were or how they were inappropriate, except to say that Dave Chappelle and Sarah Silverman do a better job at pulling it off (I’d beg to differ on Silverman). Although she certainly mentions her looks standing out when she was growing up, she concentrates as more on her pudgy physique than Indian background. I feel like there is a great amount left unsaid that has the potential for bitingly funny insight and social commentary, so it’s disappointing that some of the sections seem like columns written for In Style. I find myself contemplating her mission, her personal code, at her politics. I don’t read many autobiographies, but I find it curious that something potentially so intimate could feel so generic.

However, I’m not sure she intended her book to be any more than a two day read, as she alludes to in the introduction, so a solid three stars for an entertaining, facile read. ...more

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Play Book Tag: [Poll Book Tally] Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by MIndy Kaling 3 stars	1	5	Nov 02, 2020 04:57PM
Play Book Tag: [Poll Ballot] Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling 4 stars	1	8	Jan 21, 2020 07:37AM
YA Buddy Readers'...: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? By Mindy Kaling-- Starting February 8th	21	23	Feb 18, 2018 11:56PM
Challenge Corner: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling -> Starting February 8th, 2018	9	9	Feb 11, 2018 11:40AM
AP Language SHS: Kallysta Strong, Summer Reading	6	10	Oct 22, 2017 10:20AM
bSmart book club: Discussion of Mindy Kaling's memoir "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?"	4	14	Sep 16, 2017 10:18AM

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About Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling

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Mindy Kaling is an actor, writer, producer, and director. She currently stars in the Hulu original comedy series “The Mindy Project," which she also writes and executive produces.

Before "The Mindy Project," Mindy was best known for her work on the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning NBC show “The Office.” In addition to directing, producing, and portraying celebrity-obsessed Kelly Kapoor, M ...more