Yes Please by Amy Poehler

4 Stars

Good Christ – just obtaining a library copy of this f*&^%$g book was like going on one of karen’s adventures. After my third trek down to the local bibliotheca, I finally had success.



Look at the happy!

You’re probably asking yourself “if she’s such a Poehler fangirl, why didn’t she just go to the B&N and grab herself a copy????” Well, you see … I am cheap.

Yes Please also wasn’t getting real stellar ratings and reviews so I decided to err on the side of caution. Turns out reading a synopsis can be really helpful sometimes. You see, the blip pretty much lays it right out there that is a book containing “real life advice” and “words to live by.” If you’re expecting another Bossy Pants or Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, you aren’t going to find it here.



Yeah, I know. Here’s some helpful advice from Amy herself:



It took me a loooooooonnnnnnng time (like half the book) to wrap my brain around the fact that the belly laughs were going to be few and far between, but once I did, I was able to enjoy Yes Please for what it was . . . a book of the dos and don’ts/successes and failures that made Amy Poehler who she is today.

If you’re a young puppy whose experiences in the world of Poehler revolve around maybe seeing a couple of Weekend Update reruns or watching the Golden Globes, you’re probably going to be super disappointed in this book and quickly realize this about Amy Poehler:



On the other hand, if you are a crazy fangirl who has followed her career since waaaay back in the days of the Upright Citizens Brigade and her break into fame in the comedy classic “Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigalow” (see first .gif above) like me, you’re still gonna like it.

Amy Poehler has been one of my imaginary BFFs for over 15 years now. She’s made me laugh ‘til I cried more times than I can count and brought constant funny to her term on SNL. She was she a breakout star from her first appearance



and continued to deliver until her final episode



(After which she left to make “Parks and Recreation” – a show I feel will go down in the history books as one of the best of all time).

Amy Poehler is who I want to be when I grow up. Not only has she performed in some of the funniest skits on television:


(she writes about this one in the book and just thinking about it made me almost wet myself)

Not only does she have the BEST friends in the universe (Tina Fey and Seth Meyers in case you live under a bridge somewhere) and not only has she totally humped Justin Timberlake on stage, but she has proved time and again that



She offers simple yet awesome advice in Yes Please. Stuff like “The talking about the thing isn’t the thing. The doing of the thing is the thing.”She reminds us all that in order to achieve success, hard work should be expected, but also realizes how lucky she was to be one of the people whose career and passion were one and the same. For the rest of us who aren’t so lucky, Poehler encourages us to keep listening to that little voice inside ourselves that says “I like this. Do this again. You are good at it.” This book was one giant "love cookie" so I'm giving it 4 Stars (while realizing it would more than likely receive 2 Stars max were it not written by Amy Poehler).

For those of you who end up not liking this book, I think Amy would probably say



But if you do happen to find yourself more than a little disappointed in your feelings about Yes Please, might I recommend to drown your sorrows Leslie Knope style . . .



And if that doesn’t work, the surefire cure for any ailment is . . .

MORE COWBELL!