Spirited and whip-smart, these laugh-out-loud autobiographical essays are "a masterpiece" from the Emmy Award-winning actress and comedy writer known for 30 Rock, Mean Girls, and SNL". (Sunday Telegraph).

Before Liz Lemon, before Weekend Update, before Sarah Palin, Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: A recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon - from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've always suspected: You're no one until someone calls you bossy.

Includes special, never-before-solicited opinions on breastfeeding, princesses, Photoshop, the electoral process, and Italian rum cake!

Listening Length

5 hours and 32 minutes
Author

Tina Fey
Narrator

Tina Fey
Audible release date

April 5, 2011
Language

English
Publisher

Hachette Audio
ASIN

B004V6APR2
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	5 hours and 32 minutes
Author	Tina Fey
Narrator	Tina Fey
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	April 05, 2011
Publisher	Hachette Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B004V6APR2
Best Sellers Rank	#1,303 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #3 in Comedic Performing Arts #18 in Biographies of Women #28 in Humor Essays (Books)

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

8,644 global ratings

5 star		62%
4 star		20%
3 star		11%
2 star		4%
1 star		3%

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Patricia Bridge

love, career

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 7, 2017

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In this humorous memoir, Tina Fey writes about a plethora of topics and stories, all the way from her childhood in Pennsylvania, to her starting her comedy career in Chicago, to her success all over the world. By telling her own stories with witty commentary, Fey also provides a lot of advice about femininity, love, career, and growing up. It is incredibly engaging right off the bat. The cover of the book pictures Fey with a suit, tie, bowler hat, and two large male hands holding her head up. This gives the reader a good idea of the central themes of the book. Fey is one of the most prominent females in the industry, and was a pioneer for women in comedy. The cover is not only humorous, but can be considered commentary about how she is in a very male dominated field. Even the title, “bossypants” is a funny yet accurate representation of Fey’s life. Fey also does a good job of engaging the reader with the first page. With the first line reading “welcome friend”, Fey establishes a very casual tone that makes you feel as if she is a dear companion or an older sister writing to you. She cracks a few jokes, asking the reader why they bought the book. This also says a lot about the structure of “Bossypants”. It is not organized in a way that is especially formal, which to me, makes it easier and more enjoyable to read.
There is not so much a “plot” as much as there’s a progression of stories, all told with a unique voice and moral. The stories progress from childhood to professional, which lets readers find different ways to identify with Fey, making the book relatable for many different kinds of people. That’s one of the things I liked most about the book. As a woman, one of the best pieces in the book was the commentary about body image. Fey says “But I think the first real change in women’s body image came when JLo turned it butt-style. That was the first time that having a large-scale situation in the back was part of mainstream American beauty. Girls wanted butts now. Men were free to admit that they had always enjoyed them. And then, what felt like moments later, boom—Beyoncé brought the leg meat. A back porch and thick muscular legs were now widely admired. And from that day forward, women embraced their diversity and realized that all shapes and sizes are beautiful. Ah ha ha. No. I’m totally messing with you. All Beyonce and JLo have done is add to the laundry list of attributes women must have to qualify as beautiful. Now every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits. The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes.”
This excerpt is also a good example of the language Fey uses. Again, it’s very casual and relatable, creating a relaxed tone for everyone to enjoy. You often times forget that you are reading a real book, because it seems more like an editorial or essay. Another positive of the casualness of the book is that you can read at whatever pace you want. You can read a few stories and stop, or you can read the whole thing in one sitting. The lack of “chapters” and “cliffhangers” makes it a much more lighthearted read. There is such a strong presence of voice, which is a huge positive in my opinion. Also, it really helps that you are already familiar with Fey and her persona. She has a very strong voice and distinct sense of humor, it makes it even more enjoyable. Even if you have never heard of Tina Fey or her work before, you will find it witty and thought provoking. There is also a lot of interesting information about Fey’s professional life, such as her time with saturday night live, and 30 Rock. The lack of plot or characters does not hurt the value of the book. To me, it is driven by heart and smart humor. You learn a lot, you laugh a lot, and relate to a well known celebrity more than you thought you would. I would recommend this book to anyone of any walks of life, because everyone can take something from it as a “self help” book, as well as a incredibly entertaining and lighthearted read.

4 people found this helpful

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She Treads Softly

Fey tells the truth about Red Lobster cheddar biscuits

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 9, 2013

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Bossypants by Tina Fey is part memoir, advice column, personal reflection, and cultural essays, but every part of this nonfiction narrative is humorous. Fey's writing style is comfortable and pleasant but at the same time she is side-splittingly funny. Fey does briefly cover growing up in Upper Darby, PA and she shares some unexpected but hilarious advice about how to keep your teenage daughter a virgin.

There is actually some good advice on being a boss:
"In most cases being a good boss means hiring talented people and then getting out of their way." (Page 5)

"This is what I tell young women who ask me for career advice. People are going to try to trick you. To make you feel that you are in competition with one another. "You're up for a promotion. If they go with a woman, it'll be between you and Barbara." Don't be fooled. You're not in competition with other women. You're in competition with everyone. Also, I encourage them to always wear a bra. Even if you don't think you need it, just... you know what? You're never going to regret it." (Page 88)

"But there is not one management course in the world where they recommend Self-Righteousness as a tool." (Page 128)

There is a touching chapter about her father.
"How can I give her what Don Fey gave me? The gift of anxiety. The fear of getting in trouble. The knowledge that while you are loved, you are not above the law. The Worldwide Parental Anxiety System is failing if this many of us have made sex tapes. "(Page 54)

There are stories about her time with Second City, Saturday Night Live, and 30 Rock, as well as a chapter on a glamor photo shoot, and some stories about being a woman.
"However, of all the places I've worked that were supposedly boys' clubs, The Second City was the only one where I experienced institutionalized gender nonsense. For example, a director of one of the main companies once justified cutting a scene by saying, 'The audience doesn't want to see a scene between two women.' Whaaa? More on that later." (Page 87)

"In 1997 I flew to New York from Chicago to interview for a writing position at Saturday Night Live. It seemed promising because I'd heard the show was looking to diversify. Only in comedy, by the way, does an obedient white girl from the suburbs count as diversity." Page 119

I connected with so many of her stories, but some of the stories that deal with things only a woman would understand were priceless like the strident pro-breast-feeding moms (Fey's name for them in her book is better - I would argue that it's not only breast feeding, but these dilettantes have moved into areas of food police, sports experts, and activity booking agents for their children) and the male producers not understanding why the Classics Kotex pads commercial for SNL was funny.

Here are two more quotes for women:
"I had noticed something was weird earlier in the day, but I knew from commercials that one's menstrual period was a blue liquid that you poured like laundry detergent onto maxi pads to test their absorbency. This wasn't blue, so... I ignored it for a few hours." (Page 14)

"My mother knew the importance of getting the right fit for a bra, so she took me to JCPenney and tried one on over my clothes. She tried a bra on me over my clothes in the middle of JCPenney. I thank her for this. This early breast-related humiliation prevented me from ever needing to participate in "Girls Gone Wild" in my twenties." (Page 104)

Admittedly, Fey didn't delve in deep to her personal life of her deepest thoughts, but that's okay. She shared the information and stories she was comfortable sharing. While I did see Fey on SNL, I'll have to admit I don't watch 30 Rock. (Hey, I don't watch much TV - not enough time in the day to do it all.) This didn't stop me from appreciating this very entertaining book and I'll look forward to another book from Tina Fey someday.
very highly recommended

"There is no one of-woman-born who does not like Red Lobster cheddar biscuits. Anyone who claims otherwise is a liar and a Socialist." (Page 252)
True, so true...

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Janie U

Wanted to learn more about the author but was disappointed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 23, 2021

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There is no doubt that Tina Fey is a very funny comedian so when I saw this book I bought it hoping that she is also a funny writer of autobiographies.
It's 275 pages and nearly 30 chapters so clear that this short book has been presented in a way that is easy to read which it is.
Tina Fey raises some dark issues in the narrative then uses the format of the short chapters to deal with them in a light and humorous way without ever really exploring anything in depth. This makes the book entertaining on a superficial way but no much more than that.
It seemed that the book was written to entertain rather than to inform. The lists, photo, script extracts, etc were good but such a short book didn't really need them - I wanted more narrative.
I was mildly entertained by reading this but got to the end without feeling as though I knew anything more about Tina Fey

One person found this helpful

Georgiana89

Amusing read with some surprisingly profound bits mixed in

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 28, 2015

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Probably rather unusually for a reader of this book, I'e had very little exposure to Tina Fey beyond the ubiquitous Sarah Palin sketches that did the rounds a few years ago. I picked it up because I'd seen a few quotations from it that I found both clever and amusing - if you're debating whether this is for you, I'd suggest you take a look at some of them on Goodreads and see if they work for you.

"“Politics and prostitution have to be the only jobs where inexperience is considered a virtue. In what other profession would you brag about not knowing stuff? “I’m not one of those fancy Harvard heart surgeons. I’m just an unlicensed plumber with a dream and I’d like to cut your chest open.”"

or

“So, my unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this. When faced with sexism, or ageism, or lookism, or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: “Is this person in between me and what I want to do?” If the answer is no, ignore it and move on. Your energy is better used doing your work and outpacing people that way. Then, when you’re in charge, don’t hire the people who were jerky to you.”

The book is a mixture of autobiography and musings on life, particularly around comedy/acting and being a woman. It's all delivered with a healthy dose of humour, but parts of it end up being quite moving and profound too. I wouldn't say it either had me rolling around on the floor shaking with laughter or re-examining my life, but it's good fun and worth a read whether you're an existing fan or not.

6 people found this helpful

evonwise

Entertaining but not laugh out loud funny!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 27, 2022

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More a manual on how to succeed in TV comedy/production. Some really good stories and generally entertaining. It doesn't delve too deeply into past traumas, but seems to give an honest account of the struggles of a woman in a mostly male-led industry. I enjoyed it despite not knowing much about Tina Fey beforehand.

LJBentley

Quite funny

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 4, 2016

Verified Purchase

Memoirs are not really my thing. I dip in and out of them sporadically rather than being an avid reader. However, every once in a while I find an autobiography that really impresses me; Tin Fey’s Bossypants really impressed me.

With her inimitable sass, Fey walks you through key moments in her life flashing you a sardonic smile along the way. What is really great is that Fey peels back the layers of “celebrity” and lets you see the person behind it. She doesn’t do this with sad stories, tragic past and constant failures but by showing just how damn hard she worked to get to the level of success she is privy to.

It would be cheesy to say that her story is inspirational because to be honest we all want the lazy way to success – for it to just fall into our hands – but it is uplifting to see someone who seems so together saying that she is just human.

It is probably due to this level-headedness that makes Fey so likeable.

With her book Bossypants Fey adds another quiver to her bow of talent.

Bossypants by Tina Fey is available now.

Follow Tina Fey (@NotTinaFey) on Twitter.

One person found this helpful

Heather @ Random Redheaded Ramblings

The creator of cheesy blasters has created a wonderful book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 15, 2015

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Ok, so Tina Fey rocks, let's just get that out there right now, she is one of my total idols, in fact me and Liz Lemon could be socially awkward twins.

I first read this a couple of years back, I had seen Tina in Mean Girls and had started binge watching 30 Rock. I love it, it is smart and funny and nerdy all at the same time.

All of the cast of 30 Rock are great but Liz Lemon, she has all the best lines! Who can forget Meat Cat and Cheesy Blasters?

Anyway I saw this book and wanted to learn more about the enigma that is Tina Fey, she is genuinely funny and I hoped that any book of hers would be the same.

Thankfully it is, it is hilarious, sweet and honest. Charting Tina's life from awkward teen to screen queen via motherhood, it is a great read.

Full of snort-worthy passages - my favourite would have to be the Mother's prayer - choose to read this alone if you are a sprayer when you laugh!

3 people found this helpful

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