Audio Book Review: Bossypants

'Bossypants'
Author: Tina Fey


Format: Audio CD
Published: Hachette Audio UK; Apr. 2011
Narrator: Tina Fey
Genre: Memoir
Rating: A
Source: Personal copy


Synopsis: Once in a generation a woman comes along who changes everything. Tina Fey is not that woman, but she met that woman once and acted weird around her.
Before 30 Rock, Mean Girls, and '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 youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon - from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.
Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy.


My Take: I believe I've mentioned before that there are very few books that my boyfriend and I have in common. We are just different readers. That's fine. But every once in a while there are books that come along that we can both laugh at. That we can both enjoy together. And, well, that is a magical thing. I downloaded this and I started listening to it and I thought, actually we should listen to this together because he would like it too and that would make it a much more fun experience! So instead, we listened to Bossypants while cleaning the house, and you know what? It made cleaning the house go so much faster. That my friends, is a freaking miracle!


So, beyond being a rare book for the two of us, Bossypants was an audio book that I have been recommending to others since I finished it. I believe most everyone knows who Tina Fey is at this point. Be it from Mean Girls, Saturday Night Live, her run as Sarah Palin, Date Night, or her hit show 30 Rock she can be seen out there and rather than other celebrities she seems normal and approachable, especially as Liz Lemon on 30 Rock. I have loved all of these permutations of Tina Fey but what I didn't love was the cover of this memoir with those hairy, giant arms. Who thought that was a good idea? So I resisted picking this book up. Then everyone started raving about the audio and how it was read by Fey herself and I thought, perfect. I can listen to the book without having to look at the freakish cover.


I haven't read the paper book version of this but I can honestly say the audio is a great way to go for this. Fey's delivery is laugh-out-loud funny. It's her story and she is a comedian. She knows when to hit the punch lines from her hysterical childhood stories of 'let's talk about periods', to the awkward teenage years, to a honeymoon trip gone horribly wrong (I never want to go on a cruise after hearing this story), to her ultimate success. And bonus, listening to the audio you get to hear the full Sarah Palin skit that brought her world-wide fame. Yet the whole time, Fey seems completely humble and down-to-earth. It's hard not to smile reading this book when you aren't laughing out loud. Highly recommended to liven up your next family car trip (or, as we did, avoid cleaning)!


Cover Lust: Seriously, no joke, worst cover ever. Get rid of those big, hairy man arms for the paperback.