Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Of the funny TV-lady memoirs I've read, this one is easily my favorite. Mindy Kaling is effortlessly funny and matter of fact. She's just a bit crazy, but seems aware of it. There's more than a little of her in her character on The Office, after all.

This book is organized as a series of short essays. Mindy talks about her childhood, her college experiences, and her early jobs. She reveals a lot of herself, while also holding just a bit back, which I understand and appreciated. You can tell there's a part of her life that she wants to keep private, and she does this by easily sharing all the other parts.

I laughed a lot while reading this book, and I also appreciated how close Mindy was to her parents. So often you get stories of broken homes and distant parents who just don't understand. But there was clearly a lot of love and affection in Mindy's home. It's almost a relief to read about happy families, even if they aren't as interesting as the unhappy ones.

This was a pretty quick read, good for traveling. And I'm definitely planning to pick up her second book when I come across it.

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