Bossypants

Tina Fey is possibly best known for her 2008 appearances on Saturday Night Live as Sarah Palin in a series of parodies leading up to the presidential election.  If you missed her there, maybe you saw her on 30 Rock, which she created and executive produced, in addition to starring as Liz Lemon.  No?  What about Mean Girls?  Sisters?  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?  Fey is a powerhouse of the writer/actor/comedian/producer variety, and in 2011 she took her deadpan snark to the page in her memoir, Bossypants.

Fey’s narrative is an irreverent and self-deprecating account of her life’s highlights that many fans will be hard-pressed to dislike.  Though some may feel that presenting herself as a “regular person” is disingenuous (because she’s famous), others will argue that fame doesn’t make her a superhero.  If you can accept that a famous person is still, in most respects, a regular person, then Bossypants will be the funny history of a Hollywood star.  The audiobook is a thoroughly entertaining experience: the brisk narration includes accents, energy, and emotion; and since it’s read by the author, the delivery encompasses all the intonation and humor that Fey intended.  (For my part, reading the book silently to myself would not have been nearly as amusing as Fey reading the book to me.)  So go on, head out for a run, take a long drive, or learn a new hands-on hobby while you listen to Fey make fun of herself for a couple of hours.  Okay, or you can curl up with the book and a nice drink this weekend.  That works, too.