Recently, comedian Mindy Kaling released her book “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?” She has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence, “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”

Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!

In “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?,” Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

Here’s more from Mindy herself:

I am so terrified, you guys. Not because I don’t think the book is great-– which it really is, I swear-– but because it is the first thing I’ve ever done creatively that is 100% me. There hasn’t been a more complete representation of who I am then this book. So win or lose, it’ll all be on me.

Remember this summer, when that Beyonce documentary, Year of Four, came out?

It’s only twenty minutes or so, and I recommend you watching it. It really resonated with me; Beyonce’s tirelessness, her sense of fun, her passion for making music, her love of fashion, her decisiveness, and especially, her ambition, are all on display. Ambition in women is not rewarded all the time, and in this documentary, it is celebrated. I was writing my book at home in my parents house when it came out and it really inspired me. Not so much in content (I will never be in as many fabulous situations as Beyonce Knowles), but in its spirit. She works her ass off, because she loves her craft, and she loves being a baller.

Even though it was an intense personal journey writing the book (don’t worry-– that was just the process), the material is funny. It’s stories about my childhood, essays, my friends, my phobias, a few romances, Hollywood, how I got where I am now. You’ll really like it, guys. I promise.

You can get the book on amazon ( hardcover, kindle, or paperback)

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

Revenge Fantasies While Jogging excerpt : “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?” by Mindy Kaling