In Amy Poehler’s highly anticipated first book, Yes Please, she offers up a big juicy stew of personal stories, funny bits on sex and love and friendship and parenthood and real life advice (some useful, some not so much), like when to be funny and when to be serious. Powered by Amy’s charming and hilarious, biting yet wise voice, Yes Please is a book full of words to live by.
This had been on my reading list for a long time and I discovered that Spotify has audio books. Isn't that cool? I haven't done a lot of audio books, but this was fun to listen to and I could listen while I worked. Amy reads it and she's hysterical.
The narration is a bit manic and not completely chronological, but it worked. Amy just takes you through her experiences, in her education experiences, her early days in improv and how she ended up at Saturday Night Live and Parks and Rec.
Bits of advice are dropped in amongst the story telling and I found myself wishing I had a hard copy to make some notes.
It could have sounded self-serving, but it was quite refreshing. Sure, she name drops a ton of celebrity names, but it's all in the context of how she worked with them, how they influenced her, and it didn't seem gratuitous.
Amy's voice rings true and there is an undertone of gratitude and appreciation for her success and the people who helped her get there.
The last chapter is read as part of a live show, and I could have done without the laughing/audience responses. They were distracting. The print version would have been better for that last chapter.
Loved the guest voices of Carol Burnett, Kathleen Turner, and Patrick Stewart.
There is mature language and content, so if that's not your thing, you might want to pass.
Read 8/24
* * * *
4/5 Stars
Hadn’t heard of this one. Thanks for the review.
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