The Funny Business

 

Bossypants by Tina Fey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Tina Fey’s Bossypants is quite funny, though I would expect no less of Tina Fey. I loved her on SNL, particularly on Weekend Update with Amy Poehler, I loved her in 30 Rock, and I loved her in Mean Girls and Sisters. In short: Tina Fey is hilarious on screen.

Is she just as funny on the page?

The book is written in essay-like chapters which roughly follow a chronological order of her life from childhood to motherhood. There is not an overall plot or story and if there were an overarching message for the book, it would probably be that the public’s understanding of Fay is much more glamorous than she is in real life. That, and there is a double-standard for women. So, she tells a lot of truths.

The structure of the essays does not feel as formal as a typical memoir or as deliberate as David Sedaris’s essays, but more like musings, something along the lines of a standup routine. The episodic telling is musing and it feels off hand, like a journal or conversation with an incredibly witty friend. The book contains several photos, though not in a glossy center section like some memoirs, but throughout the book on normal pages between blocks of text--at least in the paperback edition. The photos appear as evidence to prove her points, very much like a meme or, I am just going to leave this here. While I prefer non-fiction that conveys a tighter story, for Fey, I will make an exception.

In addition to the humor, what makes Fey’s book highly likable is the way she has of letting the reader in on secrets of the entertainment world, or really, the mechanics of how TV is magically made. Which means it is not magic but many pretty normal people working very hard. There is something terribly fascinating about demystifying a profession by showing the art and work of it. Show business, yes, because we admire (worship) our celebrities, but it is not just that. Most jobs can be immensely gratifying, depending on how you portray them. (Note to self: even teaching!)

Fey begins with her childhood and briefly mentions her much spoken of scar, but the book becomes introspective when she begins to tell of being involved in youth theater during high school and being taken underwing by fellow theater people, in particular gay boys and lesbian women. As she tells the story of her friendships and her burgeoning theater interests, she works toward a conversation about how she was guilty of prejudice herself, not in our usual view of homophobia, but in her using of the boys, in particular, as objects of her entertainment while not appreciating the full meaning of being gay--boys wanting to be romantic with other boys.

The fact that the book is better when Fey is being funny and exploring actual ideas reminds me of a true fact about comedy: the best comedy is not just funny but also discusses an important, complicated, and controversial tenet of society.

The funniest part of the book, the most Lizzing inducing, is a section in which Fey addresses internet trolls. I did not Google the specific postings to see if they actually existed, though they sound close enough to the stupid things people say that I would not doubt it. Fey takes a moment to respond to the comments, most of which are roasts of her appearance, with her own even funnier mockings of her appearance. This is the part of the book in which I laughed out loud. No, seriously, my kids were sleeping and I had to take deep calming breaths so I would not wake them up.

While Fey makes a point of saying the celebrities do not get to respond to the media or comments about them, in general, the book does respond to some of what has been said and written about her, in particular an inside recounting and explanation of her stint portraying Sarah Palin. If you did not know who Tina Fey was before Palin ran as Vice President on the Republican ticket, you sure did then. I do not want to spoil some of the best storytelling in the book, but as someone who still sometimes says, “I can see Russia from my house,” I appreciated the illuminating first-hand account Fey gives.

I am glad I read Bossypants. Reading the first couple of chapters, I was not sure that I would be, but even then, it was hard to put down. Very good for an entertaining read. And yes, she is just as funny on the page.

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