Book Review: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

I've become a recent fan of Mindy Kaling. I have watched The Office for years, and honestly, her character of Kelly Kapoor was never a favorite of mine. Somehow I started reading about how Mindy Kaling got started and was shocked to learn that she was one of the first writers of The Office and remained one of the key writers throughout! That means one thing: she is funny, my friends. (Well, funny to those who are heartbroken that The Office is over, anyway.)

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) is just plain great. Clever, witty, interesting, and oh-so-easy-to-read. It is autobiographical but does not give the play-by-play of her life, reading more as a collection of essays. In her intro, she writes:

In this book I write a lot about romance, female friendships, unfair situations that now seem funny in retrospect, unfair situations that I still don't think are funny, Hollywood, heartache, and my childhood. Just that really hard-core, masculine stuff men love to read about. I wrote this book in a way that reflects how I think. Sometimes it's an essay or story, and sometimes it's a pliest, which is a piece with a list-y quality, a term I've just made up.

I love her list of alternate titles for her book, which she gives in the first chapter and which give a glimpse into her tone. Here are my faves:

1. The Girl with No Tattoo
2. When Your Boyfriend Fits into Your Jeans and Other Atrocities
3. Harry Potter Secret Book #8
4. The Last Mango in Paris (this would work best if "Mango" were the cheeky nickname for an Indian woman, and if I'd spent any time in Paris)
5. So You've Just Finished Chelsea Handler's Book, Now What?
6. There Has Ceased to be a Difference Between My Awake Clothes and My Asleep Clothes

Really, this is a great take-to-the-beach read for this summer. Amazon gives a pretty lengthy sample, so check it out! And as always, let me know what you think if you end up reading it.

Happy Summer Reading!