Bossypants [Kindle Edition]

Tina Fey (Author)

Book Description

Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "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.

(Includes Special, Never-Before-Solicited Opinions on Breastfeeding, Princesses, Photoshop, the Electoral Process, and Italian Rum Cake!)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, April 2011: Tina Fey’s new book Bossypants is short, messy, and impossibly funny (an apt description of the comedian herself). From her humble roots growing up in Pennsylvania to her days doing amateur improv in Chicago to her early sketches on Saturday Night Live, Fey gives us a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain of modern comedy with equal doses of wit, candor, and self-deprecation. Some of the funniest chapters feature the differences between male and female comedy writers ("men urinate in cups"), her cruise ship honeymoon ("it’s very Poseidon Adventure"), and advice about breastfeeding ("I had an obligation to my child to pretend to try"). But the chaos of Fey’s life is best detailed when she’s dividing her efforts equally between rehearsing her Sarah Palin impression, trying to get Oprah to appear on 30 Rock, and planning her daughter’s Peter Pan-themed birthday. Bossypants gets to the heart of why Tina Fey remains universally adored: she embodies the hectic, too-many-things-to-juggle lifestyle we all have, but instead of complaining about it, she can just laugh it off. --Kevin Nguyen

Review

A masterpiece in comedy writing...I was hooked from the first word Sunday Telegraph Mightily enjoyable ... Bossypants shows that 30 Rock's voice is very much Fey's voice: pithy, smart and as ironic as being run over by an ambulance ... if she has a point to make, if she feels something deeply, she can make it funny. That's why she is a great comedian The Times My love for the divine Tina Fey is river deep, mountain high ... Bossypants is as hilarious, candid and self-deprecating as fangirls like me would expect -- Lauren Laverne Grazia Wry, clever, biting and brilliant Daily Telegraph

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 1174 KB
• Print Length: 283 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: B004UQ2RZ6
• Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books; 1st edition (April 5, 2011)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0047Y0FGY
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #1 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Entertainers
  • #1 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Comedy
  • #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs > Specific Groups > Women

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

235 of 254 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost Perfect April 10, 2011

By Meghan C. Wilker

Format:Hardcover

I almost gave this book 5 stars, and it is damn near perfect.

Let's start with the good stuff:
- It's extremely funny. And not just "laugh out loud" funny, but "laugh *so* out loud your spouse asks you to go read in another room because you're keeping him awake" funny. If you enjoy Tina Fey's humor, you'll really appreciate this book. It's damn funny.

- It's (unexpectedly) full of really good advice about how to be a good boss. I mean, maybe I should have gleaned that from the title but I expected it to be more of a comedic autobiography than a sincere look at how to effectively manage people. And she's got some really great thoughts in this book about how to be a leader.

- Where books by other comedians are pretty much only for laughs (see: Chelsea Handler), this book also contains some social critique. And, not in a preachy way - in a very funny way. But Fey raises some excellent questions about how women treat each other, being a working mom, dealing with institutionalized sexism, and other hilarious topics!

I found myself wanting to know a bit more about SNL, or 30 Rock, but she keeps those experiences (and her personal life) at a pretty surface level. It appears to be a very conscious choice, and one I respect; you can tell she doesn't want to be a tell-all kind of person, and she's not interested in being the sort of celebrity that rips her whole life open for all to see.

All-in-all, I loved this book and devoured it in one day (not an easy feat with two preschool-aged kids running around).

My only gripe is that it's a little hard to tell what this book is trying to be. It's part comedy, part biography and part managerial guidance/life lessons. Not that that's a bad combination - it was just a little unexpected. And, at times, felt a little jumpy.

571 of 626 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good read! April 5, 2011

By Alan Mazer

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I enjoy a good memoir. It seems there's always something good to learn from other people's life experiences. And while I'm not a huge Tina Fey fan, I enjoyed her as Sarah Palin on SNL and occasionally watch 30 Rock. So after reading a review of the book, and being without anything to read at the moment, I took a chance and bought Bossypants, and I'm glad I did.

It seemed a little uneven starting out, but quickly transitioned into some very interesting pieces about her early jobs, her work with Second City, and then her transition into writing for SNL and her eventual creation of 30 Rock. Interspersed are stories about growing up and dating, her eventual marriage, and her struggles to balance work and family life, as well as some candid advice for other women on how to make it in a male-dominated industry.

Perhaps what I liked most about the book is that even though there is a lot of self-deprecating (and distancing) humor, my sense in the end was that Fey gave us an honest look at who she is: imperfect, stumbling, but always rising again, persevering, and continuing to do what she loves. I would say the book is well worth reading for any fan of Tina Fey, 30 Rock, or SNL, as well as for any woman who struggles to balance the roles of worker, spouse and mom. It was a good read!

217 of 250 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved It. April 5, 2011

By Cornflake Girl

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I read this book in its entirety in under 24 hours (AND I still managed to stick in sleep, work, and 3 squares). This book is perfect for anyone who loves Tina Fey's sarcastic wit. It's an insanely fast read and it literally made me laugh out loud in spots. Granted, if you're not a Fey fan, you probably won't like the bulk of this book. It's no shock-and-awe campaign either; you won't find any secrets here. In essence, this book is exactly what I thought (and hoped) it would be: 280 pages of Feytastic wordage. Fey is quite the wordsmith - no surprise there - and she really can weave a story. Some chunks of the book are stuff you've probably already heard/seen/read - SNL sketch scripts, 30 Rock lines, etc. And if you get the Kindle version some of the graphics outside the regular text will be hard to read (unless I'm just a moron) - but I give this book 5+ stars. Tina Fey is a smart and sassy woman, and her book is no different. I highly recommend it to fans of 30 Rock, SNL, and cake.

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

(What's this?)

#6 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs

#6 in Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs

#6 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs

#6 in Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs