Why Not Me? (Paperback) by Mindy Kaling

About the Book

Hollywood starlet Mindy Kaling shares her ongoing, laugh-out-loud journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life.

Book Synopsis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - From the author of Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and creator of The Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever comes a hilarious collection of essays about her ongoing journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life.

"This is Kaling at the height of her power."--USA Today

In Why Not Me?, Kaling shares insightful, deeply personal stories about falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, and believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you're constantly reminded that no one looks like you.

In "How to Look Spectacular: A Starlet's Confessions," Kaling gives her tongue-in-cheek secrets for surefire on-camera beauty, ("Your natural hair color may be appropriate for your skin tone, but this isn't the land of appropriate-this is Hollywood, baby. Out here, a dark-skinned woman's traditional hair color is honey blonde.") "Player" tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in L.A. ("I had been replaced by a younger model. And now they had matching bangs.") In "Unlikely Leading Lady," she muses on America's fixation with the weight of actresses, ("Most women we see onscreen are either so thin that they're walking clavicles or so huge that their only scenes involve them breaking furniture.") And in "Soup Snakes," Kaling spills some secrets on her relationship with her ex-boyfriend and close friend, B.J. Novak ("I will freely admit: my relationship with B.J. Novak is weird as hell.")

Mindy turns the anxieties, the glamour, and the celebrations of her second coming-of-age into a laugh-out-loud funny collection of essays that anyone who's ever been at a turning point in their life or career can relate to. And those who've never been at a turning point can skip to the parts where she talks about meeting Bradley Cooper.

Review Quotes

"Kaling has written a second book that's funnier, sharper and more confident than her 2011 collection of personal essays and pop culture riffs called Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). Even the title of that initial effort implied that Kaling was trying to find her place; the tone of this new one announces that she's found it and is more than comfortable inviting people to spend time with her there."--Washington Post

"Funny, thoughtful essays and anecdotes written in the star's trademark voice. But this time around, things are just little more grown-up...This is Kaling at the height of her power."--USA Today

"Mindy Kaling may be gearing up for the fourth season of her TV show, The Mindy Project, but that didn't deter her from writing another wildly entertaining and completely relatable book... Her first memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), spent time on several best-seller lists. Why Not Me? will certainly follow in its footsteps."--Associated Press

"Hilarious...Kaling knows her strengths, and plays to them brilliantly...Aside from that effortlessly conversational tone and her pitch-perfect humor, Kaling's biggest strength here is curatorial. She gives us the candy we came for--the advice, the anecdotes, the straight talk on body image--but sprinkles in something extra."--Entertainment Weekly, A-

"Why Not Me? is all that we've come to expect from the creator and star of The Mindy Project refreshing, confident, genuine, and, yes, absolutely hilarious." --Refinery29

"...insightful personal essays from one of Hollywood's cleverest writers... Intrepid and often irreverent, Kaling humbly probes her own triumphs and defeats with laugh-out-loud results". --Kirkus Reviews

"Kaling's irreverent take on life is both uproariously funny and dead-on...Advice on a variety of topics--including why extensions make everyone more beautiful and how the world needs to start assuming that all young women are confident--make this an empowering and entertaining read."--Publishers Weekly

About The Author

Mindy Kaling is an actor, writer, producer, and director. She currently writes and produces the Netflix original series Never Have I Ever, based on her own childhood. She also wrote, executive produced, and starred in the comedy series The Mindy Project. Before The Mindy Project, Mindy was best known for her work on the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning NBC show The Office. In addition to directing, producing, and portraying celebrity-obsessed Kelly Kapoor, Mindy wrote eighteen episodes of the series, including the Emmy-nominated episode "Niagara." Mindy was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in 2012. In 2014, she was named one of Glamour's women of the year.