[REVIEW] Yes Please

By: Lorraine Chune

Amy Poehler really seems to have it all, and to have done it all. Her career has been prolific in the last two decades; she’s helped start a sketch-comedy training center (The Upright Citizens Brigade), risen to Saturday Night Live stardom, and portrayed the hilariously endearing Leslie Knope for six seasons of Parks and Recreation. She somehow manages to do this all while maintain- ing a sense of normalcy in her life and parenting two small children. So it’s not surprising that in her new part-memoir, part-satire (and in many ways, part-self-help book) Yes Please, she imparts a sensible, heart- warming wisdom.

Considering her book is a memoir, Poehler is lucidly selective about what she shares with readers. She doesn’t hesitate to recount elaborate childhood tales, vivid accounts of her early improv career, or details of her BFF-ship with Tina Fey. But she reminds us that her memoir is not the place for divulging truly intimate information, and sets clear restrictions early on; mainly, she draws the line at her divorce, which is "too sad and too personal" to write about.

Despite setting these boundaries, Yes Please is still, at times, vulnerable and honest. This is perhaps most apparent when Poehler recalls her first big television faux pas, and the subsequent guilt and shame that followed her for years later. She shares this story, among many others, with an acute introspection and fantastic comedic delivery. And with each comical story, she also shares a tidbit of (mostly legitimate) life advice.

The book sometimes verges on chaos. For instance, much to my delight, every few pages are interrupt- ed with a nostalgic relic from a Random Stage in Amy’s Life (my personal favorite is a melodramatic poem written by her 13-year-old self for social studies class). In one particularly manic chapter, she crams all the highlights of her SNL career into one 20-page stream of consciousness (which includes anecdotes about humping Justin Timberlake, high-fiving Queen Latifah and how Antonio Banderas smells good). Rather than being abrasive, however, such pandemonium just seems to capture the essence of SNL and the whirlwind that is Poehler’s life.

Fans of SNL and Parks and Recreation alike will devour the inside scoop on what day-to- day life is like in TV-comedy land. Just like her on-screen personality, Poehler's writing is punchy, funny, and instantly likeable. Anybody who already loves Amy Poehler will surely appreciate Yes Please.