Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

By: Mindy Kaling

Narrated by: Mindy Kaling, Michael Schur, B. J. Novak

Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this hilarious instant classic, the creator of The Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood.“[Kaling is] like Tina Fey’s cool little sister. Or perhaps . . . the next Nora Ephron.”—The New York Times

Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”

Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly! With several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? proves that Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

Praise for Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

“Where have you been all our lives, Mindy?”—Glamour

“Who wouldn’t want to hang out with Mindy Kaling? . . . [Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?] is like a mash note to comedy nerds.”—Time Out New York

“Very funny.”—Boston Globe

©2011 Mindy Kaling (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

“She’s like Tina Fey’s cool little sister. Or perhaps… the next Nora Ephron.” (The New York Times)

“The fashion opinions of Kelly Kapoor mixed with a Miss Manners-esque advice column.” (Entertainment Weekly)

“If you love Kelly and think the three minutes or so allotted her on episodes of The Office are too few, you can take home Mindy.” (The New Yorker)

A fun and pleasant read

I enjoyed listening to Mindy tell her stories, I enjoy her strength of character, sarcasm and writing abilities. She is a fearless and self aware writer and her essays and stories are interesting, I recommend if you're a fan and like an enjoyable monologue.

Love her!

Listened to this during a 10 hour drive and was completely entertained! She is captivatingly self deprecating and totally confident at the same time. I love her sense of humor and her writing style effortlessly flows from anecdote to anecdote. I just want to be friends with her and go shopping and eat donuts and quote Will Ferrell movies. Is that too much to ask?!

Awesomeness

Made me LOL uncontrollably ..... And I now want to be her BFF! Recommend to anyone who needs a quick laugh about brown girls in America.

Worth the price and if you've been curious

Glad I read it, but wasn't expecting it to be so surface.

Liked hearing about Mindy's past and thoughts about key points in her life. You can tell she wrote the book for herself (which can be a good thing!).

So, if you have been wondering, read it. Then go out and listen to Amy Poehler's book.

entertaining and likable

What did you love best about Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)?

I loved all of her personal stories (both of growing up and becoming successful) ...I enjoyed less her opinions of movies and celebrities. Mindy is likable and endearing.

Light, Entertaining Read

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I loved the way Mindy tells simple stories and anecdotes in entertaining ways. It was great to listen to her speak about her experiences as a woman, as a writer on The Office and just navigating through life. There is definitely a lot of humour in this book.

However, I did find that the "collection of essays" format became a little annoying. Mindy has a great voice and gives a good performance, but after a while, short story segments varying in length from 2 to 7 minutes just don't make it a compelling audiobook. I felt myself longing for a longer chapter, more linear storytelling and overall themes.

I think this might be better enjoyed as book as she clearly injects a lot of personality into her writing.Nonetheless it was a very light-hearted, enjoyable experience and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys her comedy!

I just love this

This is so real. Thank you for a look into your world. I was happy to hear I wasn't alone on some of my thoughts.

Mindy is the best

This audio book was everything I wanted and more. Mindy is smart, self-deprecating and, of course, hilarious. She made me want to become her best friend, instantly.

Nice!

I liked it. Of course I am a fan so I'm a bit biased but it was very interesting. With audible I like to listen memoirs and more comical books and her deliverance is great compared to listening to a monotone Grapes of Wrath. I hope she writes more.

Fun Listen!

Where does Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have only listened to two audio books so far but I enjoyed this one.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It is an autobiography and she is young so the ending is really just the end of her stream of consciousness.

What about Mindy Kaling and Michael Schur ’s performance did you like?

If you like Mindy on The Office and The Mindy Project, then you will like listening to her read her own book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I laughed out loud when she described her awkward childhood, especially her tales of summer camp. Her honesty about her social struggles and lessons learned is refreshing.

Any additional comments?

If you like Mindy's comedy writing work, you will enjoy her book. Hearing an autobiography narrated by the author is a somewhat intimate experience so you definitely have to like the person you are listening to for a few hours during your precious free time. I gave it three stars for story only because it moves from story to stream of consciousness/observational humor about half way through. Again, if you like Mindy, you won't mind.