Yes Please

Starred review from November 3, 2014
Poehler, the sharp and self-deprecating Emmy-winning star of TV's Parks and Recreation, takes a stab here at autobiography mixed with advice on sex, babies, and even divorce. She mines her 20s, back in the 1990s, when she cut her teeth in theater at ImprovOlympic in Chicago, and with the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York. Poehler struggled for many years in part-time gigsâincluding doing bits on Late Night with Conan O'Brienâand her humility and good work ethic shine through: for example, in the chapter "Don't Forget to Tip Your Waitress" (which was excerpted last year in the New Yorker), she recounts rather poignantly her various early jobs, such as working as a junior secretary in a podiatrist's office at age 16 and doing waitressing stints in Chicago and New York. Poehler gives ample credit to current and former colleagues, such as Matt Besser of UCB, Seth Meyers at SNL, and the cast of Parks and Recreation; elsewhere she offers some wonderful advice on apologiesâboth receiving and giving. Her memoir is as bewitching and chameleonlike as Poehler herself is when she appears onstage and on-screen.

Starred review from December 22, 2014
Comedian Poehler exudes her signature, lovably awkward charm in the audio edition of her collection of personal essays. Over the course of the book, she ruminates on a number of topics—from motherhood to her raise to fame on the Chicago and N.Y.C. comedy scenes, with plenty of tales from behind the scenes of Saturday Night Live and Parks and Recreation to boot. Her narration is as spontaneous as the anecdotes she shares, with her voice ranging from goofy and spastic to subdued. The audio edition features a host of guest narrators, including Poehler’s parents and fellow Saturday Night Live alum Seth Meyers, along with hysterical cameos from Patrick Stewart and Kathleen Turner (the latter is the voice of Poehler’s dark side, in short interrupting clauses throughout). Poehler frequently mentions her unease at writing a memoir but when it comes to reading that memoir she is clearly in her element. A Morrow/Dey Street hardcover.