Let me preface this by saying, I am a BIG Amy Poehler fan. I've seen every episode of Parks and Rec twice, I often get lost in a late night YouTube spiral watching her SNL sketches, and I feel like there's an Amy Poehler gif for everything in my life on Tumblr. So when she released her book, Yes Please, I was all over it.
I'm going to keep this brief because in essence, I really liked this book. As much as I'm a fan, I didn't have high hopes, I found Tina Fey's book average and I was bitterly disappointed with Lena Dunham's so I expected mediocrity at best with Amy's book. I feel like this was a perfect, positive book to end 2014 on, and a nice, lighthearted book to read throughout the festive period.
In the spirit of keeping this brief and non rambly, I'm going to bullet point list this. Just so I don't go off topic.
- I love reading about how successful people I admire got to where they are today. This could be because 2015 holds the impending doom of my graduation, and having to get a 'real job' and be a 'real adult', but I find it so comforting to hear how successful people get successful. It's nice to hear that it doesn't always go right, and it can be slow, and it is hard work. But hard work gets you there in the end. I need to hear that right now. Amy is a great example of that, and I loved getting to learn more about how she started her career. It was also great to read that Parks and Rec was a slow burner, not an outright success from day one. Success comes in many ways, not always the most obvious.
- It's full of fantastic little quotes on how to live your life. 'Good for you, not for me', 'Yes please', ''It takes years as a woman to unlearn what you have been taught to be sorry for. It takes years to find your voice and seize your real estate' and 'Be whoever you are'. These are the kind of things I need to hear in my life.
- Amy Poehler is the kinda lady I want to be. She's classy. Look at how well she handled the topic of her divorce in this book. Classy. She simply acknowledged that it happened, she acknowledged it was painful, and she left it at that. All references to her ex husband, Will Arnett, were positive. She even thanked him in her acknowledgements. See. Classy lady. She's also a woman who knows exactly who she is, and is unapolagetic about being that person. She won't conform to anyone elses ideals about who she should be. I like that a lot.
- There is an entire chapter devoted to talking about each character/actor on P&R in detail. As a P&R fan, this is gold.
- She's brutally honest. She talks about sex and drugs and being sad. And it's all okay. And it's not meant to be shocking, it's just normal and makes her seem relatable. It's kinda heartwarming.
- This book made me giggle, made me think, and made me cry. The chapter on her trip to Haiti was unexpected, poignant and a good pause for thought. It added a rounded feel to the book that really helped me keep everything in perspective.
What did you think of Yes Please? Did you love it like I did, or did you find it lacking?
