1. Room by Emma Donohue
2. Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
4. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
5. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
6. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
7. A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
8. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
9. The Shack by William Young
10.The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
11. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
12. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
13. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
14. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
15. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
16. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
17. Bossypants by Tina Fey
People who will love this book:
1. Women.
2. People who already find Tina Fey hilarious.
3. The literate, illiterate or barely literate (worth it just for the pictures).
People who may not love this book:
1. Men.
2. People whose opinion of Tina Fey is somewhat ambiguous.
3. People with no sense of humor.
In all seriousness though, whether or not you like Tina Fey is a good indicator of whether or not you will like this book. Some people don't "get" her, and that's fine. Even though I personally don't "get" those kinds of people.
Also if you are a man, you may still enjoy this book- Ronnie did. But I should warn you that she talks in great length and detail about such topics as a woman's menstrual cycle, giving birth, breast-feeding, and body issues.
Bossypants got its name because Tina (successful comedian, writer, and executive producer on 30 Rock) is constantly asked whether it is hard for her to be the boss, to be in charge of other people. As Tina puts it, "You know, in that same way they say, 'Gosh Mr. Trump, is it awkward for you to be the boss of all these people'?" Just kidding, because no one would ever ask Donald Trump that, because he is a man.
The rest of the book is more of the same.
We all know that Tina is funny (well, the people who are still reading at this point probably do) but she is also incredibly smart and a great role model for women in the comedy or any other male-dominated industry out there. So, most industries.
Tina Fey has gone so far in proving that women can be funny, that most of us probably forget that people used to- and still do- think that women aren't as funny as men. She tells of her struggles when she first started out with improvisation, the stereotypes and type-casting that she fought against, and the hilarious women who proved themselves right along with her. Such as Amy Poehler- and this book was written before they tore it up at the Golden Globes together.
Speaking of women paving the road for other women (please take that ironically), Tina even addresses the Sarah Palin skit that gave her so much fame, in a way that I thought was partisan but tactful. She espouses her philosophy that "girl-on-girl sabotage is the third worst kind of female behavior, right behind saying 'like' all the time and leaving your baby in a dumpster."
She doesn't just tell you how she got to where she is, she gives a lot of sound advice on how other women can get there too.
"Do your thing and don't care if they like it."
"If you're so mad that you could just cry, then cry. It terrifies everyone."
"Don't eat diet foods in meetings."
And so on.
Here is an example of a passage that made me literally laugh out loud. And I mean literally literally, not the incorrect-but-now-technically-correct definition of literally:
"To say he was unfriendly would be the biggest understatement since the captain of the Hindenberg said 'I smell gas'...or since Warren Buffett said 'I can pay for dinner tonight.'"
I would give you some more, but out of respect to Tina I want you to buy the book yourself.
Seriously, do it.
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