I Just Read About That…

[LISTENED TO: March 29, 2015] Yes Please

I typically don’t read memoirs.  I don’t really care that much about celebrities to bother with most of them. I do like author and comedian memoirs, however, because they’re usually well written and/or funny accordingly.  I have recently been on a big Amy Poehler kick because of the end of Parks and Recreation, so I was really exited when this (finally) came in at the library.

If you have read the book, note that the audio book is chock full of things that are not in the book.  She talks a lot about the “studio” she is recording in (she says she built it).  She and Seth Meyers seem to have a fun improv banter going on (which I assume is not in the book).  And the final chapter was read live in front of a UCB audience.  To my ear this chapter is the funniest thing in the book, probably because it is the least formal sounding and the audience really enjoys it.  On the other hand, after having looked through the book in the store the other day, I see that the book is chock full of things (mostly pictures) that are not in the audiobook.  So choose wisely.

The audio book is read by Poehler, which is pretty cool.  She has help from Carol Burnett and Kathleen Turner (although I don’t think either one says more than a few lines) and Patrick Stewart who recites her poetry and epigrams.  Seth Meyers gets a chapter and Amy’s parents chime in a few times.  But here’s the thing, evidently her Leslie Knope character is almost Poehler’s talking voice, but not quite.  There is something disconcerting about listening to her sound not exactly as you are familiar with her sounding.  I think she talks a little more slowly and deliberately (which makes sense for an audio book) than Leslie does.  So that actually took some getting used to.

Here’s the other thing.  This book is not all that funny.  And it is not really meant to be all funny.  I mean, there are funny parts sure, but it’s not a laugh a minute story.  Poehler gets into some serious issues (a lengthy chapter about apologizing to a disabled girl whom she inadvertently offended on national TV, visiting a third world country, and various other dangers of growing up and being a parent).  Poehler sprinkles these humor but they are quite serious.

The Preface goes on at length about how hard it was for her to write the book.  And it was kind of funny but she was again, mostly serious.

The book is not exactly chronological, as she jumps back and forth to present and past, and that’s kind of cool. We learn about her improv days at Boston College.  I was at BC for a year and saw the improv troupe she talks about, although she was not in them at the time, I don’t believe.  She also talks about doing improv in Chicago and later in New York.

I enjoyed very much her section about learning about the day your were born–listening to your mother tell the story about your actual birth day, and how much an important part of your life that is even though you don’t remember it.  She says to learn this and then be sure to tell it every year on your birthday.  Wish I had done that.

She talks a bit about her divorce (no gossip or dishing, just facts) and then creates a list of titles for future divorce books (that section is very very funny).

Some of her best and funniest stories involve others.  The story where Jon Hamm makes her laugh after her doctor has just died is hilarious (and also strangely sad).

Perhaps the funniest section in the audio book is the Seth Meyers chapter.  Seth and Amy are BFFs and since I’ve been enjoying Seth so much on Late Night, hearing him do his schtick is very funny to me.  It also turns out that he recorded it right after he broke his nose (an episode I saw) so that’s cool.  He has some good stories about Amy and SNL.

The sections on parenting are honest insights into how tough it is to be a parent.  In these chapters she seems remarkably down to earth. And like, yes, like she’d be a great friend to have.  There’s some humor in the idea that every mother needs a wife, but it is certainly true.

Perhaps my favorite takeaway from the book is this advice: “Good for you, not for me.”   This is something that you should say WHENEVER somebody tells you to do something differently.  Oh, when I raised my baby, we only at bananas for the first year–good for you, not for me.

But the main odd thing about the book to me is that Poehler curses–a lot.  She talks about being from Boston and cursing a mean streak  (FAAAHK YOU).  But she also says her jokes tend to fall flat when she works blue.  And I fear that that is true here.  Perhaps it’s because she is reading it in that almost formal reading style or it just seems shocking since she is otherwise so polite and calm, but the curses just really ring out awkwardly.  There’s a lot of sex in the book.  Clearly Amy likes sex and wants everyone else to like it too.  Which is cool, it’s just unexpected from the sweet Parks and Rec lady.

There’s a fascinating section about her inability to sleep–again, it’s not a weird gossipy/salacious detail bout her life, but it’s more than you ever wanted to know about Poehler.  Of course, since I have interesting sleep issues myself, I enjoyed hearing about this.

Aside from all of the personal stuff and advice, she also talks a lot about The Biz.  There’s lots of details about her work with the Upright Citizens Brigade. I enjoyed the TV show, but never had the opportunity to see any of the live shows–they sound insane.  She talks about how they made no money but had a great time and built a strong brand (and apparently UCB is huge now).

She talks about SNL which is pretty interesting. I never really watched while she was on and feel like I missed some good stuff.  Obviously, there;s a ton of name dropping (but how could there not be).  There are some very funny stories including the one where she goes in to labor the night before a show, and her memories of doing the rap while being nine months pregnant.  She also says she doesn’t really know how to impersonate Hillary Clinton.

Then there’s some fun business about Parks and Rec, which I enjoyed a lot.  She talks about the cast and favorite things about each of them.  This section is also a lot of fun because writer/director Mike Schur is there with her to talk about the show.  He likes to chime in  and say funny and or contradictory things (I assume this book is like this too, but it feels very natural).

The “third part” of the book is full of genuinely heartfelt sections that I think are wonderful.  The section about the apology (while being too long by about fifteen minutes) is really moving and had me tearing up.  Her advice to young girls about standing up for yourself and not worrying about what others think and not getting pushed into sex is nothing new, but her style and background makes her convincing and believable.

I had no idea that she came from a blue collar Boston ‘burb and then worked her as off to become what she is.  And even though she is clearly type A and would be impossible to hang out with, Sarah and I would like to be friends with her (and Will Arnett).

Her mom and dad are fun.  They read their sections in their Boston accents and they offers some pretty sound advice (both of them).

My friend Melissa said she didn’t really like the book and at first I wasn’t sure why but the more I thought about it, I think that the three parts of the book make for a fairly schizophrenic read.

So say part one is the personal “dirt about sex and drugs and divorce” section.  This is the adult part where you might want to get some personal insight into a celebrity.  Poehler doesn’t have a lot of dirt to spill–she just seems to work too much–and wisely keeps all the really personal stuff personal.  So while there are some embarrassing stories about her past, there’s nothing “juicy” which is fine by me, but I can see how some might hope for that.

Part two is the professional aspect–work in comedy and then on TV–that the casual fan might like.  This is perfect for the fan who wants to know more about the shows and what it was like on set.  She does give lots of details about episodes and how things were written and who was better at doing what on SNL and etc.  I could have used more about this because this is the stuff I was most interested in.

And then part three would be the inspirational section, which I thought were really good and which I’d actually like my kids to hear.  And this is the other reason why the blue language is upsetting to me. I could never in a million years let my kids hear this book, but I feel like there are so many good sections of decent advice to young people that I’d love them to hear it.  The apology section was pretty affective to me as were several other sections that I was genuinely moved by.  But again, with all cursing my kids will never hear it.

Can I ask is that Amy collects all her inspirational stories and uplifting segments and package them as a YA book?   I think that would work very well.

So overall, I enjoyed this book in parts.  Actually, that’s not true.  I enjoyed the entire book (except for a couple of sections that seemed to drag).  But it wasn’t really what I was expecting or what I wanted.

I did not read Tina Fey’s book and I wonder if I should give that a try as I understand it is much funnier.