Book Report: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

I was excited to read Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by "The Office's" Mindy Kaling.  The title really spoke to me, as did the contrast between Mindy's fun pink top and perturbed facial expression.

In some subconscious attempt to prove (if only to myself) that I also read "real" books, I used this Virginia Woolf bookmark.  For the record, this attempt was completely futile.  The last time I read anything by Virginia Woolf was in high school, and even then when I said I liked To the Lighthouse I was lying.

Anyway, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? is laugh-out-loud funny.  Really.  I was yukking it up like a hyena as I turned the pages, prompting the bf to ask, "What are you reading?"  (This might be a good place to add that the book was a gift from him.  He deserves that much, if only for being cool with serving as my foil on so much of this blog.)

Here are a few parts I particularly enjoyed:

"Here were some titles for my book that I really liked but was advised strongly not to use:

When Your Boyfriend Fits into Your Jeans and Other Atrocities

The Book That Was Never a Blog

Sometimes You Just Have to Put on Lip Gloss and Pretend to Be Psyched

The Last Mango in Paris (This would work best if "Mango" were the cheeky nickname for an Indian 

woman, and if I'd spent any time in Paris.)

So You've Just Finished Chelsea Handler's Book, Now What?" (7)

Then there was Kaling's take on romantic comedies, which were very much like my own (and I suspect most women's).

"I love romantic comedies.  I feel almost sheepish writing that, because the genre has been so degraded in the past twenty years or so that admitting you like these movies is essentially an admission of mild stupidity.  But that has not stopped me from loving them." (99)

Kaling goes on to list several common romantic comedy heroine stereotypes.  My favorites included "the klutz," "the ethereal weirdo," "the woman who is obsessed with her career and is no fun at all," and "the woman who works in an art gallery." (100-103)

Now, I'm ashamed to admit that I, like many Office fans, assumed that Mindy Kaling was like her superficial and sometimes manipulative character, Kelly Kapoor.  Kaling herself pokes at this assumption, going as far as to list ways in which she is and isn't like her onscreen persona.  Here are a few things I didn't know and would never have guessed about her before reading this book:

She graduated from Dartmouth.

All through high school she was a book-reading nerd.

She got her big break by writing and acting in a play about Matt Damon and Ben Affleck called "Matt and Ben." Its poster boasted the tagline "Friendship isn't always about good will."

She's also a writer and co-executive producer for "The Office."  (I know, I know.  Despite years of watching, this somehow escaped my notice.)
    
Of course, now I can't help but watch "The Office" with a fresher eye.  Just the other night I caught the booze cruise rerun and realized that the outside consultant Michael hired is Kaling's best friend Brenda.  I knew this because her character's name was also Brenda and because she looked just like her picture in the book.

Movie Moment: The Adjustment Bureau

I wasn't sure what to expect from The Adjustment Bureau. It wasn't the kind of movie I typically wanted to see, but I found myself drawn to it. Here's a spoiler-free synopsis.

David Norris (Matt Damon) is running for the New York Senate. He's young. He's brash. He's just has his lead in the polls killed by a picture of him mooning his old classmates at his college reunion. Before giving his "I tried" speech at the Waldorf he slinks into the men's room and starts talking to himself. Then a beautiful woman (Emily Blunt) holding a champagne bottle emerges from one of the stalls. She tells him that she's hiding from security because she crashed a wedding, establishing her fellow rebel status. They kiss. Then David has to go off and give his speech. Up on stage he starts to say all the things he's supposed to. His staff looks on from the wings, smiling with approval. Then he starts talking about how they picked out his tie for him, how certain colors mean certain things and how important it is to convey just the right message. He talks about how his shoes can't be too shiny because shiny shoes alienate working class men, but that they need to be a little shiny because shoes that are too scuffed turn off the businessmen who pay for the studies that helped them figure out what they know about ties and shoes. His staff is no longer smiling. Then he takes off his shoe to show everyone just what the proper amount of scuffing looks like. Flashbulbs explode; people cheer. David's gone from defeated candidate to the front runner in the next election. I liked this part a lot. Not only is it a classic damn the man scene, but it sets the audience up for what follows. Soon after, David boards a bus and runs into the woman he met in the bathroom. He finds out that her name is Elise, and she gives him her number. But it can't be as simple as that. All of a sudden, men in suits and fedoras are chasing David. Once they've got hold of him, they explain that he can never see Elise again because she isn't part of the plan. Everyone, apparently, has a predetermined plan from which he/she cannot deviate.

To say too much more would spoil the movie. But I will say that this fate vs. free will story is more complicated than it seems. To risk a cliche, it makes you think.