Bossypants

Bossypants by Tina Fey
Published: 2011
Narrated by: Tina Fey

I started watching 30 Rock this last fall (I’m way behind, I know), and as everyone probably does after they start watching, I’ve become obsessed with Tina Fey. I’d heard rave reviews of her new book, the audio version of which was nominated for a Grammy, so I knew I had to read it.

To say I’m an overrated troll, when you have never even seen me guard a bridge, is patently unfair.

It’s a fairly quick tour through her life, keeping it fun and humourous. It begins in her younger years, growing up awkward, and continues through to her current success in 30 Rock after her time as Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live. This book is hilarious, and it seems Tina could write about anything and make it funny. I found myself laughing out while listening on a number of occassions, and literal LOLs don’t come that often to me while I’m reading.

As a child she was slashed in the face with a knife, an attack that has left her with a scar across her cheek, but she doesn’t spend much time on that. She mentions it, and discusses growing up with a facial scar, but it’s only a brief section. She really could have used it as a (very valid) sob story, which has to be tempting when writing a memoir. Some autobiographies can turn into a competition of who’s had the most shit piled on them.

[…] ever since I became an executive producer of 30 Rock, people have asked, “Is it hard for you being the boss?” and “Is it uncomfortable for you to be the person in charge?” You know, in that same way they say, “Gosh, Mr. Trump, is it awkward for you to be the boss of all these people?” I can’t answer for Mr. Trump, but in my case it is not.

Her feminism comes up quite a bit in this, and I think she’s a great role model for that. She pokes fun at the sexism she encounters, which highlights it in a much more obvious light than straight attacking might. It feels like a lot of people, both men and women, learned about feminism from 90s comedies, where butch lesbians spend their time hating on the men around them. Tina Fey shows the small ways in which it comes up in life, and also shows how some things have changed for the better over the years.

I feel about Photoshop the way some people feel about abortion. It is appalling and a tragic reflection on the moral decay of our society…unless I need it, in which case, everybody be cool.

Tina Fey is hilarious. Everyone should read this.