Tina Fey's hilarious and light memoir, Bossypants, has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 12 weeks now. Currently, it's hovering at #5 on the list of bestselling hardcover fiction--one slot above Ann Coulter's latest screed, Demonic, I might gloatingly add.
I'm very happy about the visibility of Fey's memoir for a number of reasons. Unlike some people who are famous for being famous (and go on to write irrelevant memoirs about their irrelevant famousness), Fey is actually a multi-talented, hard-working, and very intelligent woman. In Bossypants she starts from the beginning, describing her middle class upbringing (the chapter about her father, Don Fey, is excellent), her dorky, boyfriend-less years at the University of Virginia, her first job, and her time with Second City. We learn that Fey is, in some respects, as average as you or me. She truly was a dork growing up, working at a community theatre camp and dealing with unrequited crushes*. Fey is in turn modest about her success, suggesting that she lucked into certain circumstances, while also giving off an air of sarcasm toward those who would mock or detract her (in one chapter she responds directly to trollish online comments about her). She never comes off as bitter, though she is definitely wry.
Fey goes on to write about her ill-fated honeymoon, her start as a writer and eventual performer on Saturday Night Live, her experiences as a mother (the section about pumping breast milk while watching Entourage is not to be missed!), and, of course, Sarah Palin. Fey's insights into what actually happens "behind the scenes" in showbiz removes the glamour and reveals the surprising ordinariness of Fey's work.
Although Fey avoids political statements (and is diplomatic--quite diplomatic--toward Palin), she does discuss feminism quite a bit. I liked this. Fey is a rare person in the spotlight who is an "out" feminist and actually uses the word. She discusses being part of a number of "boys' clubs", where she was treated respectfully and equally as compared to other environments where she was subject to explicit "institutionalized gender norm nonsense" (at Second City they told her that no one would want to watch a sketch starring two women). So Fey is not railing against the patriarchy, or anything like that, since she didn't experience as many setbacks because of her gender as one might think. However, she's not shy in pointing out the subtle unfairness and sexism women face as mothers and in their careers. She even deconstructs the famous Sarah Palin/Hillary Clinton sketch she and Amy Poehler performed, pointing out that it was less about politics and more about the ways women in the political sphere are condescended to and mocked. Fey handles all this discussion of feminism and sexism with humor and a clear-eyed perspective. She calls a spade a spade, but never exaggerates to make her point.
Overall, Bossypants is consistently funny and interesting. Fey comes off as the real deal: modest, but not falsely so; warm, yet pleasantly sarcastic; intelligent, but not dryly academic. She's the woman you meet and instantly want to be friends with. I am in love with this woman.
4.5 out of 5 stars
*Did you know--Tina Fey not only didn't have a boyfriend in high school or college, but she lost her virginity at age 24 to the man she ended up marrying. See also: Paul Feig, creator of Freaks and Geeks and author of Superstud: Or How I Became a 24-Year-Old Virgin. Seems as though some late bloomers in romance often become successful in later life.
Read this too. Just, seriously, read it.
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