Mindy Kaling’s second book, Why Not Me?, is filled with short stories and essays — some thought provoking, some funny, all brutally honest. It features Kaling’s quintessential sharp humor and bulldozing attitude about tough topics.
It’s been a while since we read her first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), published in 2011, but to us Why Not Me? is a solid follow-up. She seems more candid and doesn’t hold back in telling it like it is, while still capturing her sometimes-bizarre, but mostly-sunny outlook on life. If the first book was about how she got to Hollywood, the second is about how she’s still living there.
The events that she mentions in the book are all fairly recent — the California drought, The Mindy Project being canceled and bought by Hulu — making us wonder when she submitted this book for deadline and how quickly it was turned around in print. But, lets let bygones be bygones, and instead focus on what makes her book so good.
Mindy is the boss
When creating and executive producing a television show, one must build a team of only-the-best. Several times throughout the book, Mindy explains why she brought a certain someone onto her show’s team. Be it her amazing, Emmy-nominated costume designer, Salvador Perez, or her Director of Photography, Marco Fargnoli, she hires people because their vision aligns with hers.
We’re all still very interested in her relationship with B.J. Novak
It’s their life and they can do what they want, but Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak will forever be inexplicably linked together in pop culture history. And Mindy knows it. The first mention of B.J. Novak is on page 42 (hardcover, US version). From there on out he is mentioned a lot – Mindy even calls him her “soup snakes,” a reference to Michael Scott’s verbal mix-up on The Office when he meant “soul mates.”
Mindy Kaling suffers the same kind of Hollywood pressure most women do
Her candid and honest essay about trying not to succumb from pressure to fit the typical mold of a celebrity is refreshing in a strange way. It shouldn’t be refreshing, it shouldn’t be groundbreaking in its strong voice saying ‘yes I wish I was as thin as Kiera Knightly (a name-drop from Kaling herself)’ and not being ashamed of it.
‘The Mindy Project’: An oral history
Between writing her first book and writing her second Mindy got a show, lost the show, then still kind of kept the show. The Mindy Project was born out of a development deal with NBC that was put in her contract to keep her at The Office for its final seasons. She explains the process she went through to write the pilot, send it to NBC, then having to pitch it to Fox, and then how Hulu ended up buying it.
Mindy loves a lot of things
Mindy loves food, pop culture, and working. But above all, Mindy loves her family and her friends. Some friends come in and out of the picture, like Gretta, the woman Mindy befriends whilst still the new kid in Hollywood, who opens her eyes to a different part of life, to Jocelyn, her best friend since day one (figuratively) when they were freshman at Dartmouth. Between her first book and second, Mindy’s mom passed away. Mindy has been open about her loss, which puts her career highs and lows into perspective, and influences basically everything she does. The book is dedicated to Kaling’s mother, and makes readers want to call their parents just to say hello.
She remains one of the most admirable women in Hollywood
As a 20-something who has admired Mindy since she first saw her as Kelly Kapoor in season 1 of The Office, this book was a delight to read. Mindy is a role model, and she realizes that (you can read the moment she painfully realized it on Glamour). Mindy makes a lot of references to ‘a decade ago’ or to when she was in her early 20’s and young and naïve. Mindy is 35 now, and whip smart. She switches tracks constantly. In one paragraph she mentions California Pizza Kitchen, Cornell and House Hunters: International.
Overall, the book is an easily digestible read (227 pages) and features some fun peeks behind the curtain that fans of Kaling (or any celebrity) rarely see. Pick up the book for the chapter “(Minor) Fame Has Changed Me,” stay for “A Day in the Life of Mindy Kaling” — complete with pictures!
Why Not Me? is available in book stores now.
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