Bossypants Book Review by McKenna O'Meara

Title of the Book: Bossypants
Author: Tina Fey
# of Pages: 277
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 
Review:
Bossypants 

            “Don't waste your energy trying to change opinions ... Do your thing, and don't care if they like it.” This quote by Tina Fey encaptures the essence of the entire book. In Tina Fey’s new book she does not shy away from approaching intense social topics, in very comical and easily understandable ways. In Fey’s story she starts us off talking about “how she got her scar”. When she was little a man came up to her and slashed her in her face with a knife. Fey opens the story with this to talk about image and how she came to be who she is today. This is just one of the many great stories she talks about throughout her book.

            Tina Fey talks about a range of things in a very unique way. The story is not one cohesive story line, but a system of essays about some of the most important times in her life. These stories range from anything from her time in Chicago doing improv, to her getting her start on SNL, to her writing the pilot of 30 Rock, to even her time in high school at theatre summer camp. Each story tells us how this very famous and wonderful actress got her start in the business doing what she loves. Tina Fey does not only tell us these hilarious stories about her life, but tells them with a hidden meaning behind them. My favorite story is one where Fey talks about her time at summer theatre camp and how she became great friends with all the homosexuals at camp. Then she proceeds to talk about how her family welcomed them with open arms, but she also talks about how homophobic a lot of her teachers and friends were. She says “One day, in what I hope was a departure from the state curriculum, Mr. Garth devoted an entire period teaching us ‘how to spot and avoid homosexuals.’ I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

            Fey addresses many serious issues about our society, body image, being a woman, and even how we view people who aren’t exactly like us. This book is incredibly unique compared to many other books of its type and to other traditional fiction books. One way this book is unique is that her writing style and tone conveys incredibly serious matters in very comedic ways. It makes reading about social issues fun! She also has an incredibly unique story structure. It is a bunch of stories and essays compiled together instead of one big long story line. This makes it not only easy to read, but interesting too. 

              I would highly suggest this book to anyone who wants a fun read, but also wants to read about topics that are important through a comedic lens. I really think people who like theatre, arts, television, 30 Rock, improv, or people who watch SNL will really enjoy this book. I think maybe people who wouldn’t enjoy this book would be people who don’t get Tina Fey’s sassy humor. Sometimes her humor can be a bit dry and hard to understand. Some people may take offense to this. I would highly suggest this book to any actor, improver, or just a person who has laughed at one of Tina Fey’s books in the past.