For anyone who loves The Office, or even if you’re not a fans but just like laughing (and, really, who doesn’t love laughing?), Mindy Kaling’s memoir Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) is a must read.
Kaling is an Emmy-nominated writer and actress on The Office, as well as one of the show’s co-executive producers. It’s quickly apparent she is much more kind and grounded than her character on the show Kelly Kapoor, a gossip who is infatuated with men at a level that rivals the average teenage girl.
The entire book is incredibly entertaining, but there was at least one part in every chapter that I had to go back and read six or seven times because it was so hilarious. One of my favorite parts came immediately after the introduction, in which Kaling shares a few “alternative titles” for her book that were vetoed, including “The Girl with No Tattoo” and “Harry Potter Secret Book #8.”
Another highlight is some of her lists such as “Best Friends Rights and Responsibilities” to “Franchises I Would Like to Reboot.” My personal favorite was “My Favorite Eleven Moments in Comedy,” which I might be a little biased about because it included a lot of my favorite moments, but it’s definitely interesting to see what someone who is obviously very successful in comedy thinks is funny.
While the majority of the book is an amusing look at her struggle to become a successful comedic writer, she does give some info about the writing and production of The Office, including a nice bit about what Steve Carell is really like (apparently he functions at a higher level than Michael Scott in most social settings) and what it’s like to work with the other writers.
This book is not a hard read at all (as Kaling says, “If you’re reading this book every night for months, something is not right”) and even though it’s about a young woman, and is clearly geared towards that demographic with the pink cover, I think her sense of humor spans a wide range of people.