Girl Walks into a Bar...

Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle

By: Rachel Dratch

Narrated by: Rachel Dratch

Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

In this side-splitting memoir, the former Saturday Night Live star recounts the hilarious adventures and unexpected joy of dating and becoming a mother when she least expected it - at the age of 44.

Anyone who saw an episode of Saturday Night Live between 1999 and 2006 knows Rachel Dratch. She was hilarious! So what happened to her? After a misbegotten part as Jenna on the pilot of 30 Rock, Dratch was only getting offered roles as "Lesbians. Secretaries. Sometimes secretaries who are lesbians."

Her career at a low point, Dratch suddenly had time for yoga, dog-sitting, learning Spanish - and dating. After all, what did a forty-something single woman living in New York have to lose? Resigned to childlessness but still hoping for romance, Dratch was out for drinks with a friend when she met John.

Handsome and funny, after only six months of dating long-distance, he became the inadvertent father of her wholly unplanned, undreamed-of child and moved to New York to be a dad. With riotous humor, Dratch recounts breaking the news to her bewildered parents, the awe of her single friends, and the awkwardness of a baby-care class where the instructor kept tossing out the f-word.

Filled with great behind-the-scenes anecdotes from Dratch's time on SNL, Girl Walks into a Bar is a refreshing version of the "happily ever after" story that proves female comics - like best sellers Tina Fey and Chelsea Handler - are truly having their moment.

©2012 Rachel Dratch (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Hanging out with Rachel Dratch

Would you listen to Girl Walks into a Bar... again? Why?

Yes, because there is ALWAYS something new for me to hear.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Girl Walks into a Bar...?

The letter from Doug.

What does Rachel Dratch bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

See additional Comments

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Both! There were some really funny parts and some parts that made me shed a tear.

Any additional comments?

I just finished the audio book. It is SO funny! It’s open & honest with a slight edginess. It’s that edginess that is it’s GREATEST charm. Listening to Rachel's easy conversational style, I get the feeling that I’m hanging out, (at a bar, of course, with a couple of glasses of Pinot) talking to an old friend.

I wanted to like this more than I did

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I felt like Rachael Dratch was a little whiney. The most interesting part was where she was describing her days with Second City (the try, try again section) as most of us can identify with not getting what we want right off the bat of having a great idea. Other than that, she seemed fixated on how she was type cast by the Saturday Night Live aristocracy and how Hollywood followed that "type". I personally never liked the "Debbie Downer" franchise of Dratch's, that she brings up as a sample of success at SNL. I found it too irritating to be really funny. But calling this skit to mind seemed apt as it matched the tenor of this memoir. Sorry Rachael! I wanted to like this more than I did. Wasn't there anything funny about sitting around back stage at SNL?

What do you think your next listen will be?

Won't be one.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

See above.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

Loves it!

Would you listen to Girl Walks into a Bar... again? Why?

Yes, feels like you are in the car with your best friend.

Which character – as performed by Rachel Dratch – was your favorite?

Baby F'in Nurse!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed and cried, a great story!

Any additional comments?

Love the mix of SNL and her personal life. Very touching and honest.

Need some cheese with this whine

What did you like best about Girl Walks into a Bar...? What did you like least?

Well I always liked Rachel based on her performances, I was hoping this would be a funny casual listen but this is a total whine fest about how much her life sucks.

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

Still slogging through, couple hours to go

Which scene was your favorite?

None really

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

Worth avoiding unless your life sucks more than hers

i LOVE Rachel Dratch! Highly recommend.

Would you consider the audio edition of Girl Walks into a Bar... to be better than the print version?

Listening to Rachel read her book must be 100 times better than reading it yourself

What was one of the most memorable moments of Girl Walks into a Bar...?

too many to rememeber

Engaging, insightful and of course, hilarious

I enjoyed this novel on a very long car ride and do not require one single cup of coffee for the entire duration due to the engaging hilarity Rachel Dratch treated me to. If you are a person, you should like this audiobook.

A Human Celebrity

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I wish more people would read this book b/c it is both funny and genuine. This is one of the few times that a celebrity opens herself up enough to seem like an actual human being instead of someone trying to sell you some spin.

What other book might you compare Girl Walks into a Bar... to and why?

Like Tina Fey's memoir but somehow a little more personal.

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

I thoroughly enjoyed some of her accounts of new mommy drudgery.

Love it. Need to see Rachel on t.v. again.

in her own words Rachel fills the listener in on her life after SNL and 30 Rock. I hope she does a follow up book.

Loved it!

Where does Girl Walks into a Bar... rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is the only the 2nd audiobook I have listened it, but I did not want it to end.

Which character – as performed by Rachel Dratch – was your favorite?

Rachel herself

Any additional comments?

I love the Rachel does not take herself too seriously. Her take on some of her experiences with her career, trying to find love, having a baby, etc had me laughing out loud on numerous occasions. She is hilarious, smart and a great storyteller. By the end of the book I felt like I knew her and was sad to say goodbye.

Living the dream

It's fun to spend time with this gal, and learn about her creative journey, her dating adventures. Unsentimental and funny, a valuable perspective on reaching mid-age, mid-career, being baby-with and baby-without.