Funny Girl

Yes Please by Amy Poehler
2014
Reviewed by Diane K. M.
My rating: 2.5 stars rounded up to 3


I am probably not the only one who has a girl crush on Amy Poehler. She's funny, she's smart, she's sassy and she does good work. 

But I hope my future best friend will forgive me when I say her book is less than great. "Yes Please" is a fun little memoir about Amy's childhood, how she got her start in comedy, and some good behind-the-scenes stories, but overall, it's scattered and not very deep. She briefly discusses her marriage and divorce to actor Will Arnett, but the focus is primarily on her career. My favorite chapters were about her years at "Saturday Night Live" and "Parks and Recreation," which is a favorite show of mine.

Early on, Amy discusses how difficult it was to write a book, and that she had to work on it when she had a few spare moments between jobs and taking care of her two children. It definitely felt like it was worked on it bits and pieces; it was not cohesive and some of the chapters even felt like filler. 

I listened to this on audio, performed by Amy Poehler and several of her entertainment friends, including Seth Meyers, Carol Burnett, Mike Schur, Kathleen Turner, Patrick Stewart, and also some cameos by Amy's parents. I think I liked the book more on audio than I would have in print (similar to when I listened to Tina Fey perform her book "Bossypants," which was much more enjoyable than reading it). There were a few good quotes about friendship and show business and trusting yourself, and if I ever get a print copy from the library, I will revise this review and add those lines.

I think I would only recommend this book to serious Amy Poehler fans; some celebrity memoirs have deeper themes and can resonate with a wider audience, but I don't think this is one of those books. (Sorry, Amy. Can we still be BFFs?)