TOW #20: IRB Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns) by: Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling, my biggest (unrealistic) friend crush of all time has crafted one of the most interesting autobiographies I’ve read. Actually, it may be one of the only autobiographies that I have read in my lifetime (but still). Right from the very beginning of Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), Kaling makes us fall in love with her genuine heart and spirit. In her book, Kaling employs an explicit purpose and a casual tone which both make her writing extremely effective.

Kaling explicitly states her purpose, which helps the reader to know why she wrote the book. Many authors write autobiographies with just themselves in mind, because they want to discuss their incredible achievements. Mindy, on the other hand, has an introduction section in which she answers frequently asked questions about her book. In it, she says that she, “wrote this book in a way that reflects how [she] think[s]...[she’s] only marginally qualified to be giving advice” (3). Mindy later on talks about how her book is just really a manifestation of things she would like to say, times in her life that are worth talking about, with a few lessons thrown in, that hopefully gets a lot of laughs. Mindy being extremely up-front about how she writes first, to entertain people, and next to talk about things that are relevant to her make her writing effective in that it helps the reader to know the underlying purpose to all of her stories and opinions. Thus, if the reader is curious about why she told a specific anecdote, they realize that it may be just because she was trying to entertain.

Kaling also employs a casual tone throughout her book in order to relate to the reader on a personal level. Kaling occasionally says random things directly to the reader in the middle of her writing in order to create a dialogue between herself and the reader. In her second chapter, called “I Am Not an Athlete,” she begins it directly by saying, “I know, I know. Did you put down this book in surprise?”(21). This sense of causality allows the reader to relate to her on a personal level because she is not speaking down to the reader like the superior writer of the book. Kaling seems like she is just having a casual conversation with you as friends.

In conclusion, Kaling utilizes a clearly stated purpose and a casual tone in order to entertain and relate to her reader in an extremely effective way.

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