"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 is full of words to live by." via Goodreads
Anyone who knows me knows I would happily leave any man for Amy Poehler. In everything she does she is witty and smart, generous of spirit, and has moments of incredible insight and wisdom, which are always quickly followed with a punch line of some kind. Yes Please is no exception. While the genre 'memoir' is the common term for books like these, Amy describes it as being "a missive from the middle.. a street level view of my life so far" she says that "I haven't lived a life full enough to look back on, but I'm too old to get by on being pithy and cute."
The book is filled with essays and anecdotes ranging from her time on SNL playing Hilary Clinton alongside her 'comedy wife' Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, addressing the nation as two very different woman in politics (Watch here) to the 2011 Emmy's where she and Martha Plimpton created the hilarious plan of getting all their woman in their category to walk up to the stage when their name was called, each acting as if they'd one (Watch here). But not all the stories are filled with humour - Amy talks about the sudden demise of her OBGYN the night before her first son Archie was due to be born, an apology that took her far too long, and sheds a small and appropriate amount of light on her divorce to comedian Will Arnett, in a chapter called "My Books On Divorce".
The pages are also spotted with lists, an acrostic poem dedicated to Tina Fey, as well as a number of Haiku's on plastic surgery. While every chapter and section is equal parts hilarious and intriguing on its own, what makes "Yes Please" so engaging is the absolute honesty every story is told with, Amy's writing is unapologetic which makes it incredibly refreshing - this is seen from the very first page 'Writing is Hard - A Preface' Amy divulges that writing is not as easy and as romantic or as beautiful as many authors may say, it is more akin to "hacking away at a freezer with a screwdriver".
This honesty is unwavering, even when she speaks of some of her darkest moments, including a compelling chapter I highly suggested people; particularly young girls paying attention to - "Plain Girl Vs. The Demon" a chapter focused on the inevitable struggle almost all girls meet in their adolescent years; meeting the demon. The demon is a symbol of the voice girls (and some boys) hear inside their head telling them they are not good enough, and they do not deserve love. Amy explains this concept very eloquently and accurately, whilst sharing some of her own experiences with her 'demon' both as a child and an adult. She is very candid about the fact the demon never really goes away, you just learn tactics on how to ignore it. Her advice is robust, charming and at times comical.
Those are probably the three best words to sum up 'Yes Please'; it is robust in the sense that this is clearly a strong woman, and this quality oozes in each tale. She is charming in her writing manner, her lack of care of peoples opinions of her (particularly she notes as she's gotten older) makes for an overall refreshing and engrossing read. And comical.. it's Amy Poehler for heavens sake.
(5/5)
By Liv xx