TOW #11 Bossypants by Tina Fey (IRB)

Bossypants by Tina Fey is Fey's comical retelling of her life. What strikes you first is the visual rhetoric right on the front cover. It is Tina Fey, with man hands. Literally, just man hands. Since I'm not that far into the book, I'm not really sure what it means, but it seems to have to do something with feminism. Maybe it is saying that she didn't need to be a man to succeed, or maybe it is just there to look funny. As most autobiographies do, this one starts at the beginning of Fey's life, when she is an awkward, gangly child. Most of her rhetorical devices revolve around humor, as she uses a wry tone to describe her life. Her look back includes lots of hyperbole, as she admits to using it a lot to make it seem like her life is more interesting, as she says. There is a lot of biting sarcasm in the book, like when she is retelling the 'incident' I won't say any spoilers, but the second hand embarrassment she feels when looking back at the incident is enough to enduce her tone to turn sharper, while still staying funny.
Fey is the funnyman, sorry, funnywoman of television. From SNL to 30 Rock, and a million movies in between, she has made thousands of people laugh. She downplays her famousness though, making it seem as though she is just a normal person, which I suppose, she is. Another stellar part of this book is that Fey knows she's namedropping, and she uses it well. There's the name dropping of producers and actors, but most importantly her partner in crime Amy Poelher. Again, in her super sarcastic tone, Fey calls herself out on the namedropping, increasing the love the audience feels for her, aka, pathos. Fey is at her best in this funny, groundbreakingly feminist book.