Bossypants - Tina Fey (Audio)

Disclaimer:  I am not a watcher of 30 Rock.  I haven't watched Saturday Night Live since before I had kids.  So that might make me a really bad person to be reviewing a memoir-ish collection of stories told by Tina Fey.  But I am a student of pop culture.  I know who she is, I've laughed at her Sarah Palin imitations, and I read EW, who loves the woman.  Above all, I recognize her for being a whip-smart working mom who barged into a man's world and made her mark.

And Tina Fey on audio?  Are you kidding me?  This is in the neighborhood of David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell...absolutely perfect self-narration, and the only way to experience the book.

OK, so no typical setup on this one.  We know that this book is a collection of stories that encapsulate Tina Fey's life, from her childhood, her life as a stand-up comedienne, all the way through to her work at 30 Rock and her infamous impersonation of Sarah Palin.  Her quips are so chock-full of droll, sarcastic one-liners that inspire hilarity, I couldn't possibly share them all with you.  Trust me, however, when I tell you that you will laugh out loud every 4.2 minutes.  Initially, I started frantically looking for pen and paper to document some of these, but gave up early.  Here are ones I could track down online:

On her hectic schedule: 

"By the way, when Oprah Winfrey is suggesting you may have overextended yourself, you need to examine your f-ing life."

Her response to one particular piece of hate mail:
"To say I’m an overrated troll, when you have never even seen me guard a bridge, is patently unfair."

On her bitterness at having dark hair:

"You could put a blond wig on a hot-water heater and some dude would try to f*** it."
On getting her period: 

"I was ten. I had noticed something was weird earlier in the day, but I knew from commercials that one's menstrual period was a blue liquid that you poured like laundry detergent onto maxi pads to test their absorbency. This wasn't blue, so...I ignored it for a few hours."
More of her self-deprecating humor:
"My ability to turn good news into anxiety is rivaled only by my ability to turn anxiety into chin acne."

I particularly loved her bit on her struggle to do all the right things as a new mom, and as a working mom.  All women are made to feel like inadequate ogres if they do not breastfeed, with particular pressure applied by a group of over-zealous women that Fey deemed the "Teat Nazis".  I've seen some reviews where people got their knickers in a knot over this phrase, but trust me, they are out there in full force, and are every bit as scary as Seinfeld's Soup Nazi.


In fact, if you are the least bit sensitive, you might want to skip this book entirely.  Fey doesn't hold back.  But if you like a little bawdy humor, combined with some smart advice from a smart woman who has climbed the ladder and made a success of herself?  You are going to love this one.

And do yourself a huge favor...listen to the audio!  If you are going to listen to one audio in your life, this would be the one.

5 out of 5 stars