Something between a memoir and a supposedly humorous take on life, the narrative mode of Bossypants appears more like a hotchpotch of biographical revelations, poorly written essay-like prose, and a meandering commentary imposed upon the writer’s own personal experience. The story generally follows her life, her junior high school issues which are typically related to her looks, self-image and sexual matters, her average jobs in the beginning of her career, to her achievements in show business (mostly consisting of behind-the-scenes stories of “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock”). But if you are familiar with great humour writers, or if your knowledge of comedy as a genre is not limited to the popular TV-comedy then this is not the book for you. If you are already a Tina Fey fan, you will probably like this book. The 277-page book at times feels like an elongated punch line. To say Tina Fey’s comedy memoir Bossypants is one such failed attempt is to risk being too generous.

Unfortunately, not all experiments are successful. Literature today is the result of much experimentation and there’s nothing more enticing than reading a unique work.

Bossypants book review