Parks & Reading-Creations

Hello all! Again with the busy college-ing. I've really been into creative non-fiction lately, and so I picked up Amy Poehler's book, Yes Please. I recently finished Parks & Recreation, which Amy stars in, and I loved every second of it. Her book was right up there with Parks & Rec in how funny, heart-warming, and relatable it was.
The majority of the book was essays, but they were all easy to read and fun. Amy traced her journey in comedy throughout her whole life, from her blue-collar childhood to being on SNL. She told tales of living purely for comedy and friendship in tiny apartments, the events surrounding the birth of her sons, how she met her best friends, and stories from her school days. There were also quirky and funky lists and letters sprinkled throughout, which I loved. Amy's personality shone through every page. Her essays, while on Hollywood-esque topics, all had relatable themes for the average person. My favorite essays were "Gimme That Pudding", "Bad Sleeper", "Time Travel", and "Treat Your Career Like a Bad Boyfriend". While they were all about specific events in Poehler's life, I could still see myself reflected in them. The everyday person gets jealous, anxious, grumpy, tired, hopeful, nostalgic, and overworked. Poehler did an excellent job of making her stories approachable, with her classic comedic flair.
The setup of the book was also great. The essays were interspersed with colorful, potent quotes, humorous sidebars, and authentic pictures. By adding all of these features, Poehler gave the book a scrapbook/yearbook sort of feel, especially with the shiny pages she used.
Overall, Amy Poehler did a great job on her book. It felt authentic, a rarity in celebrity books, and appreciate her more as an actress and a person now. It was funky, funny, and fresh, a set of adjectives I'm sure she would approve of. Hats off, Leslie Knope!


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