Why Not Me?

By: Mindy Kaling

Narrated by: Mindy Kaling, Greg Daniels, B. J. Novak

Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

#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 “Player” tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in L.A. (“I had been replaced by a younger model.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.

©2015 Mindy Kaling (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“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

Soup Snakes

Listening to her books never feels like I'm listening to a book. I feel like I'm binge watching the Mindy Project. It's one long conversation with Mindy Kaling and it's a conversation you won't forget. She's amazing. This is amazing. One of my favorite parts is when she mentioned one of the thoughts that go through her head at night, "What if I'm not one of the greats? What if I'm only one of the fines?" She's managed to sum up what I've been thinking all these years (but couldn't find the words to say) in to two small sentences. I'm an 18 year old minority and I've taken away so much from this. I admire her sense of humor so much. I hope one day I get to meet her, in the mean time I'll stick to Instagram stalking and flaunting it.

I know you probably won't see this but thank you Mindy. Thank you for being you and in turn encouraging me to be my very best entitled- hard working self.

Always pleasantly surprised she keeps making you laugh

I often chuckle here and there at a good comedy. To me, that's the most any comedy can hope to get out of me, and that comes with high praise. So when a person or story can genuinely make me laugh heartily from beginning to end of the story, I'm elated and surprised. A huge feat. Not unattainable. Just so unusual. And yet, everything Mindy puts her hands (and wit to) turns to comedic gold! I'm not particularly a feminist or a die hard fan of The Office, so I feel like my criticism comes with little bias. A great read/listen! All those laughs and room for tons of heart! Kudos, Mindy!

Incredibly entertaining

I love what Mindy has to say about confidence and working hard. I wish she had been a role model when I was in my 20s.

so cute

I read Mindy Kalings first book and loved it so I was expecting or hoping for something similar and definitely got it. I'm honestly more a fan of her from these books than anything else, they are insightful, honest and easy to read. All qualities I appreciate. also by easy to read I don't mean that there isnt complexity or its simple, I mean that the flow is good and I can read or listen for hours without really noticing.

unlike some of the other autobios I've listened to I think Mindy mainly stuck to the text of the book, which is totally fine as it was well written and I dont absolutely demand extras in my listening experience, I see them for what they are, fun asides to the main body of text. Hearing her talk about stuff and her tone were enough to make me happy I chose the audio version of this.

A great collection of stories that both entertain and encourage reflection and growth

Mindy has an incredible ability to turn a teaching moment into a great story and a funny story into a teaching moment. It is a pleasure to hear from voices that are not lovely seen in the media. OK, that are rarely seen in the media. And yet she doesn’t fall into didactic, pedantic, diatribes.

Next step? Download and listen to her first book.

I love Mindy

This was a fun book to listen to and I really love her and her views on things. Some of the parts of the books I zoned out a bit while listening but I still really liked it!

Perfect!

Mindy didn't disappoint. Now I know that the friendship we have (in my head) is real!

Easy listen, entertaining

I chose this book because I needed something light hearted and entertaining coming off of two books set in WWII era. Mindy Kaling is a fantastic narrator, very funny, love her personality. Learned a lot about her and how she came to be successful. Her passion for ensuring little girls grow up to be strong women inspires me! Great listen!

Typical Mindy! Love it!

If you love Mindy, this is a great audiobook! Its like a four and a half hour Mindy episode. Looking forward to listening to her other books. Great ending about confidence.

Even better than her first book

As always, I enjoyed Mindy's wit and superior story telling ability. After I finished listening I went and caught up on Mindy Project episodes.