Saturday, February 1, 2020

Do You Mind if I Cancel?

Book 11 of my 2020 Reading Challenge
read on January 31

Do You Mind if I Cancel?
by Gary Janetti

Summary (via Goodreads)
published 2019

Gary Janetti, the writer and producer for some of the most popular television comedies of all time, and creator of one of the most wickedly funny Instagram accounts there is, now turns his skills to the page in a hilarious, and poignant book chronicling the pains and indignities of everyday life.

Gary spends his twenties in New York, dreaming of starring on soap operas while in reality working at a hotel where he lusts after an unattainable colleague and battles a bellman who despises it when people actually use a bell to call him. He chronicles the torture of finding a job before the internet when you had to talk on the phone all the time, and fantasizes, as we all do, about who to tell off when he finally wins an Oscar. As Gary himself says, "These are essays from my childhood and young adulthood about things that still annoy me."

Original, brazen, and laugh out loud funny, Do You Mind if I Cancel? is something not to be missed.

My Opinion
3 stars

I didn't know I was going to read this in one sitting but I picked this up as a light way to pass the time while waiting for my daughter to get home and committed to finishing it once I realized I only had 30 pages left.  

Sidenote: she came in the house 30 minutes past her 11 pm curfew but says she made it because they were in our driveway at 11 (they sat and talked outside for the rest of the time)...does the curfew clock stop when you get on the property or when you get in the house?  I think it also makes a difference that she didn't tell us she was home and sitting outside (we weren't worried though because we knew she was there since my chair sits by the window).  Discuss amongst yourselves...

Anyway, the book made me laugh out loud a few times, especially when he talked about the struggles of anxiety pre-Internet when a) people weren't "allowed" to have social anxiety yet and b) so much of interaction had to be done face-to-face.  I also loved the line, "I estimate I can survive on my savings for two days, three if I just sit in a corner", when talking about quitting one job before having another one lined up.

No comments:

Post a Comment