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Do You Mind If I Cancel? (Things That Still Annoy Me)
by
Gary Janetti, the writer and producer for some of the most popular television comedies of all time, and creator of one of the most wickedly funny Instagram accounts there is, now turns his skills to the page in a hilarious, and poignant book chronicling the pains and indignities of everyday life.
Gary spends his twenties in New York, dreaming of starring on soap operas whil ...more
Gary spends his twenties in New York, dreaming of starring on soap operas whil ...more
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Hardcover, 159 pages
Published
October 22nd 2019
by Flatiron Books
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I want to start this review by stating, I am obsessed with Gary Janetti’s Instagram. The Prince George memes are absolutely incredible and I love Family Guy, always have. But, I didn’t love this book. It felt disjointed all the way through. He jumped around telling stories about growing up but I feel like I learned more about his favorite soap opera plot lines than I did about him.
I did enjoy the last two pages of the book, but would have loved reading more stories about him getting into the wr ...more
I did enjoy the last two pages of the book, but would have loved reading more stories about him getting into the wr ...more

I knew this would be funny, but it's also personal and honest and moving. Janetti manages to be vicious AND likable, even while chastising you for not knowing what Norma Rae is (I knew that one!). These essays are equal parts insight and acid, and you will love every second of them.
...more

have been a fan of Gary Janetti for years. I follow him on twitter and I am told his Instagram is hilarious. He constantly amazes me with his outrageously odd tweets.
I have also followed his career. As a producer and writer on Family Guy, the original Will & Grace, to being the executive producer and creator of Vicious, a hysterical show about an English couple, Freddie and Stuart, who have been together for over 50 years and their love/hate relationship with each other and their small group of ...more
I have also followed his career. As a producer and writer on Family Guy, the original Will & Grace, to being the executive producer and creator of Vicious, a hysterical show about an English couple, Freddie and Stuart, who have been together for over 50 years and their love/hate relationship with each other and their small group of ...more

You would think autobiographical sketches by a writer/producer of 'Will & Grace' and 'Vicious' would at the very least be uproariously funny - but these are just shallow, silly and a bit sad. I almost ditched it at the 1/3 mark, and really should have. It would have helped also if the stories had been presented in chronological order, to cut down on a lot of repetitious back-tracking - but that would have made a short book even shorter, I suppose. Disappointing, to say the least (and not to be T
...more

Do you want to get drunk over the course of a 150-page essay collection?! If the answer is yes, do I have the drinking game for you! While reading Do You Mind If I Cancel?, simply drink every time Gary Janetti:
-reminiscences about how hot he was in his 20s (bonus shot if he mentions his thick, dark hair or how impressively in shape he was!)
-mentions a soap opera and/or musical you have never heard of (bonus shot if he mentions an obscure actress by name!)
-declines to take an opportunity for self ...more
-reminiscences about how hot he was in his 20s (bonus shot if he mentions his thick, dark hair or how impressively in shape he was!)
-mentions a soap opera and/or musical you have never heard of (bonus shot if he mentions an obscure actress by name!)
-declines to take an opportunity for self ...more

I laughed and even cried in parts at Gary Janetti's new book Do You Mind If I Cancel. Some of you may know Gary because he puts up hysterical memes on Instagram of Prince George. Some of you may know Gary because he is married to the amazing stylist Brad from the Rachel Zoe show and soon after his own TV show. Last but not least you may know Gary because he is an amazing television writer. No matter how you know Gary you should definitely pick up Do You Mind If I Cancel. You will laugh and you m
...more

I don't know much about Gary Janetti, but this definitely didn't make me a fan of his...
...more

I won an ARC of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I was not familiar with Gary Janetti when I entered the giveaway, but the praise in the description saying this would be laugh-out-loud funny and similar to Tina Fey or David Sedaris drew me in. Sadly, those descriptions were just completely untrue.
I thought this book started off fine, but the chapters seemed disordered. I have no idea how they chose which story to put when. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason.
It also seemed to end abruptly. I ...more
I was not familiar with Gary Janetti when I entered the giveaway, but the praise in the description saying this would be laugh-out-loud funny and similar to Tina Fey or David Sedaris drew me in. Sadly, those descriptions were just completely untrue.
I thought this book started off fine, but the chapters seemed disordered. I have no idea how they chose which story to put when. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason.
It also seemed to end abruptly. I ...more

Mar 06, 2020
Tzipora
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
ebooks,
biography-and-memoir,
essays,
read-in-2020,
power-of-the-imagination,
library-books,
lgbt,
humor
3.5 stars
I feel almost guilty for rating this one so low because I did genuinely enjoy it and relate to it quite a bit. Yet it’s such a short book and I was really hoping for greater depth. Or maybe more humor? I love and follow the author’s Instagram account where he has endless hilarious parody posts about Prince George, imagining him as a young gay boy. Gary Janetti is hilarious. At least in internet meme form. In the book? There’s some fun lines that made me crack a smile but that was basica ...more
I feel almost guilty for rating this one so low because I did genuinely enjoy it and relate to it quite a bit. Yet it’s such a short book and I was really hoping for greater depth. Or maybe more humor? I love and follow the author’s Instagram account where he has endless hilarious parody posts about Prince George, imagining him as a young gay boy. Gary Janetti is hilarious. At least in internet meme form. In the book? There’s some fun lines that made me crack a smile but that was basica ...more

This is a deceptively short and simple collection of essays. I needed to read it because Gary Janetti's instagram is just...amazing. It's snarky and hilarious, and I love it so much. And, he's married to Brad Goreski. So obviously I needed to see what was up.
Janetti's trademark humor is certainly here. His humor is sarcastic and wry, which is often my favorite kind. The kind that's subtle enough that you could easily miss something hilarious if you're not paying attention.
I couldn't help, at o ...more
Janetti's trademark humor is certainly here. His humor is sarcastic and wry, which is often my favorite kind. The kind that's subtle enough that you could easily miss something hilarious if you're not paying attention.
I couldn't help, at o ...more

Look, I feel a little bad giving this two stars because it implies that it was bad. But really, it wasn't bad, it just wasn't an enjoyable read for me, a young straight Gen Z (I think?) woman. If you are the opposite of my four traits, you may enjoy this.
Gary Janetti is a gay white man who grew up in Flushing in the 80s on the bread-and-butter of young gay youth in the 80s: soap operas, Patti LuPone, Sonny & Cher, etc. Most of his essays are about this, along with other things related to growin ...more
Gary Janetti is a gay white man who grew up in Flushing in the 80s on the bread-and-butter of young gay youth in the 80s: soap operas, Patti LuPone, Sonny & Cher, etc. Most of his essays are about this, along with other things related to growin ...more

Author Gary Janetti has been many things: Executive producer of hit tv shows (Will and Grace), writer for the tv show Family Guy and an actor. Add a hilarious author to his list. This book "Do You Mind If I Cancel?: (Things That Still Annoy Me) is filled with short chapters/essays about his life that will crack up even the oldest curmudgeon (is there a female word for curmeudgeon?) Anyway, this book is a irreverent, hilarious coming of age book...also a coming out book.
*I read an advance copy a ...more
*I read an advance copy a ...more

Light memoir from a TV industry guy about growing up gay in Long Island and NYC in the 80s and young adulthood in the early 90s. Not bad, and could be great for anyone really into an 80s preppy gay aesthetic. Janetti pens chapter-long paens to Patti Lupone, One Life to Live, long lost jobs and old boyfriends. There's a bit too much of the 'in my day there WAS no Google, children', but otherwise an interesting glimpse into a vanished time and place.
...more

If you like David Sedaris you will probably like this book. It’s quick and mostly light and funny. Gary talks about growing up in the 70s and 90s and groans a lot about how much life would have been easier had google existed back then 😂
My only critique would be that some of the stories would reference elements of other stories in a way as if he hadn’t just talked about it. The individual chapters weren’t as cohesive as it could’ve been. Still an enjoyable read!
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5, rounded up.
Thanks to the ...more
My only critique would be that some of the stories would reference elements of other stories in a way as if he hadn’t just talked about it. The individual chapters weren’t as cohesive as it could’ve been. Still an enjoyable read!
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5, rounded up.
Thanks to the ...more

3.5/5
I was in the mood for a lighthearted, funny read and this one hit the spot. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Gary Janetti, he has been a long-time writer for Family Guy as well as one of the executive producers of Will & Grace. The book does not cover his time on either one of these shows, but rather his arduous and unlikely path to success.
Janetti provides a humorous and brutally honest insight into his journey to become a successful writer in Hollywood. You learn about his obsessi ...more
I was in the mood for a lighthearted, funny read and this one hit the spot. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Gary Janetti, he has been a long-time writer for Family Guy as well as one of the executive producers of Will & Grace. The book does not cover his time on either one of these shows, but rather his arduous and unlikely path to success.
Janetti provides a humorous and brutally honest insight into his journey to become a successful writer in Hollywood. You learn about his obsessi ...more

This is one of the most ill-written memoirs I have ever read. Throughout the book, Janetti proved that he is completely out of touch and is largely inappropriate.
In several parts of the book, he perpetuates the idea that a gay man only has value if he has a muscular body. This is a dangerous idea to put out there and is harmful to the LGBTQ community.
Additionally, each essay lacks introspection. Instead, he just explains the events that happened to him and never reflects on what they mean or h ...more
In several parts of the book, he perpetuates the idea that a gay man only has value if he has a muscular body. This is a dangerous idea to put out there and is harmful to the LGBTQ community.
Additionally, each essay lacks introspection. Instead, he just explains the events that happened to him and never reflects on what they mean or h ...more

This is a quick read, and a really funny one. Several times I was laughing out loud at Gary Janetti's memoir told through stories. There were several that resonated with me, and the one that sticks out the most is the letter he wrote to his younger self. If only we knew that half of the stuff we worried about would turn out to be no big deal, how freeing would that be? The line that gets me tearing up every time I think about it? "Hug your dogs while you still have them." Gahhh.
To leave it on a ...more
To leave it on a ...more

Eugh.
Let me just say, Vicious is one of my favourite tv shows. I absolutely love it and his Prince George memes are occasionally off the wall hilarious. So I wanted to love this. I really did.
But this just wasn't it. He comes across catty, deluded, attention seeking, dramatic, juvenile, self involved, arrogant, shallow and has the opinion that he knows best out of everyone in the world. He also seems to often over step too. (Like that woman who got him on the set of his fav tv show. The present ...more
Let me just say, Vicious is one of my favourite tv shows. I absolutely love it and his Prince George memes are occasionally off the wall hilarious. So I wanted to love this. I really did.
But this just wasn't it. He comes across catty, deluded, attention seeking, dramatic, juvenile, self involved, arrogant, shallow and has the opinion that he knows best out of everyone in the world. He also seems to often over step too. (Like that woman who got him on the set of his fav tv show. The present ...more

Maybe I should knock this down to 2.5 stars as sometimes the writing style was a little repetitive (this book is best not devoured too much at once) and this was the second library book that fell into the bath this week (I realize this is not the book's fault, but what is going on with my bath tub's edge?!).
BUT, I did find this rather amusing at times and that these short essays on coming of age from your teens on up to your late twenties to be poignant and relatable. I have started to realize a ...more
BUT, I did find this rather amusing at times and that these short essays on coming of age from your teens on up to your late twenties to be poignant and relatable. I have started to realize a ...more

My friend Laurie gave me this book and I see why she did. Gary and I agree about several things - the difficulty one faces as a 30+ year old gay man; the specialness of soap operas in the 80s and 90s; how technology has made everything easier, but also the problems it has caused; and the struggle of coming out. I enjoyed his essays (some more than others), but was left feeling like the emotion and heart in some of his stories was missing. Gary is definitely funny. Gary also seems to have a very
...more

I’d say this is a generous 1.5 stars and I’ll give the book its credits:
A very easy read and I enjoy the anecdotal style. The last chapter is a very nice way to end it but apart from that nothing else really resonated with me . Perhaps that is just simply the fact that I am not a gay dude and can not relate to these experiences ??
A very easy read and I enjoy the anecdotal style. The last chapter is a very nice way to end it but apart from that nothing else really resonated with me . Perhaps that is just simply the fact that I am not a gay dude and can not relate to these experiences ??

3.5 ⭐️. I liked this book, it was light and easy. It was written as short essay chapters that jumped around, which worked fine but I think I would have preferred them in a timeline order. I also would have loved a chapter focused on how he got his break and started writing for the shows, plus more about Brad! Maybe that’s in his next book. :)

Considering this book is labeled "Humor," I feel like it should be a lot more funny. Janetti did have some good stories, though, and I definitely learned a bit from him. At the very least, I feel less bad about being 25 without a "real" job. There's always time to do what you love, and we don't always have to live up to everyone else's expectations.
...more
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