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)

Mindy Kaling Feels Like Your Best Friend

What made the experience of listening to Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) the most enjoyable?

The best way to describe this book is: "Fun!"
Don't expect anything overwhelmingly 'deep' from this one. Topics include grade school friendships and dramas, camp tales, weight loss, weight gain, her love of trendy diets, parents, the photoshoot process, a bad LA neighborhood, The Office, being a comedy writer, SNL, guys, dating, and more. I mean this all in a good way though-- sometimes a light, fun listen is just what you need. Mindy's stories, lists, recounts, and essays are all interesting and amusing. This book was just a good time!

What did you like best about this story?

I loved her stories about The Office and her brief guest writer's spot on SNL. Also, as someone who would like to do the same, I enjoyed hearing about her move to New York.

Which scene was your favorite?

To give them titles, my favorites are 'The Amy Poehler Story' and 'Mindy vs. The Sample Sizes'. I'm not giving anything away!

Disappointed

I learned a lot about this actress/writer. I felt she was too young and without a lot of life experience to be writing a book. Her life story is not real compelling. I think the intent of this book was to be funny although she has a dry sense of humor and the narration was sort of monotone making the jokes subtle. I guess I was expecting laugh out loud humor or an interesting story. Sorry Mindy.

Fun Times

Would you listen to Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) again? Why?

I really enjoyed the first part. I am an avid Office fan and love Mindy's comedy. I also just came off a fantastic voyage thru the Tina Fey novel and was hoping to revisit the glory with Mindy Kaling. Funny enough, Mindy jokes about this comparison in the intro. I laughed a few times with the book, and actually made my teenage daughter listen to a few sections because I thought they were relevant to her, But by the end, I lost some interest. It really is short by audio book comparisons, but I felt like the beginning and early middle were fluid and towards the end it was a little more random.

Would you recommend Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) to your friends? Why or why not?

I recommend this book. But don't listen to it because you think she is going to go on and on about the office, she doesn't really. She has lots of other interesting stuff to talk about.

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

I liked that Mindy is sweet and unassuming, but also very intelligent and driven. Thats the kind of person I want to be,

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

Mindy has a line about people who are really popular in HS dont do anything else, HS is their peak. This stuck with me.. its SO true,

Funny Smart and Fabulous

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

The best.

What other book might you compare Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) to and why?

Tina Fey's Bossy Pants, Rachel Dratch's Girl Walks Into a Bar, and Lena Dunham's Not That Kind of Girl

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

Mindy says so many things that I think and would never verbalize. She also has a unique take life as a single woman and is a great story teller. Mindy is brilliant; among the most talented comedy writers and performers out there today. I didn't watch the Office after Season 3, and only saw one or two episodes of Season 1, so I didn't know her from that series. I started watching The Mindy Project and was hooked.

Any additional comments?

Buy this book. I've listened to some chapters twice!

Awesome, funny, and quick read

After reading yes, please buy Amy Poehler and Bossypants by Tina Fey, I didn't think any book could come close to the mark that they set. But of course, I was wrong LOL. Mindy Kayleen manages to make me laugh out loud and engage my very ADHD personality with no trouble at all. I found myself wishing there was more to this frothy, pink, and totally kick ass book.

Mindy Kaling is the Funniest author

Tickled my funny bone! Will re read in a couple of months. Love her reAlness

love Mindy !

loved listening to all of Mindys stories ! good and easy listen ! !

Loved this book! Mindy has a great comedy style

This was a very enjoyable book. I enjoyed listening to it while I walked. And I’m sure Mindy would appreciate that. I got exercise while listening to her book. I do recommend this book as it is a fun listen!

she is just so funny

I love this. she is so easy to listen to and everything she says is exceptionally funny

I LOL-ed

A light read, and especially funny read by the author. I liked hearing about how she worked her way to success in Hollywood.