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A Librarian’s Road Trip with Tina Fey

22 Apr

Today there are many ways for readers to enjoy books.

Digitally-inclined readers can use Kindles, Nooks, Sony eReaders, and iPads–all of which can be borrowed from the Hoboken Public Library. (Click here for details.)

Audiobooks and Playaways, for those who prefer listening to books, are available to borrow from HPL as well.

Despite these options, I still prefer reading, and holding in my hands, an actual book. Hey, books are one reason I decided to become a librarian!

A few months ago I drove to Washington, DC, to visit one of my best friends. I decided to borrow an audiobook for entertainment on the four hour drive–and to avoid the inevitable loss of familiar radio stations during the trip.

I chose Bossypants by Tina Fey, the former head writer and cast member of Saturday Night Live and star of 30 Rock, because I haven’t yet read the book. Also, Tina narrated the audiobook and I wanted to hear her tell the story. (This title is also available on Playaway.)

bossypants

Tina was good company. It was almost as if she was in the car with me. She talked about her childhood and her awkward teenage years, which was way more entertaining than recounting my own childhood and awkward teenage years.

I liked Tina’s behind-the-scenes stories about her time on Saturday Night Live, as I am a longtime fan of the show. She recalled giving notes to Sylvester Stallone on a sketch she wrote, and felt intimidated as she was relatively new to SNL and he was a huge celebrity. Tina said Sly was totally cool about the feedback, though.

Tina also acknowledged that some celebrity hosts were more difficult than others but sadly didn’t name names. I admire her discretion, but still would love to know the dirty details. (Any guesses in the comments? Tina was with SNL from 1997-2006.)

My favorite part of the audiobook was the origin story of Tina’s brilliant, award-winning portrayal of Governor Sarah Palin on SNL during the 2008 presidential election.

After Palin was announced as Senator John McCain’s running mate in August 2008, many people noticed a resemblance between her and Tina. Tina believed people made that connection because she and Palin wore similar eyeglasses.

Lorne Michaels, SNL’s creator, asked Tina to return to the show to play Palin in a sketch. Tina said that was a particularly busy week–she was planning her daughter’s Tinkerbell-less, Peter Pan-themed birthday party and filming an episode of 30 Rock on which Oprah was a guest star.

Tina agreed to do the sketch if it included Amy Poehler*, her co-anchor on SNL’s Weekend Update segment in the early 2000s, and with whom she performed improv with The Second City in Chicago earlier in their careers. Lorne agreed, and SNL head writer Seth Meyers wrote a sketch where Tina played Palin and Amy, who was then very pregnant, portrayed Hillary Clinton.

The sketch was a huge hit. Tina nailed Palin’s accent and mannerisms. She even returned to SNL to reprise the role several times. The audio of this sketch is included in the audiobook, and it is still as funny now as it was in 2008.

Did you catch the joke about Sarah Palin’s “Tina Fey glasses” at the four minute mark in the video?

The audiobook package contains five discs. The first four include the story and the last disc contains media extras like photos and .pdfs. I finished the first two discs on the way to DC, and the last two on the way home. (I didn’t have a chance to use the last disc.)

Although I listened to the audiobook, I still want to borrow and read the actual Bossypants text. Tina made many references to 30 Rock that I couldn’t follow as I wasn’t caught up on the show until now.

If you’re planning a road trip and want some light entertainment for the drive, definitely consider Bossypants. This audiobook made driving on I-95 much less boring.

Don’t forget, there are plenty more audiobooks available at HPL, and from other libraries in the consortium. I definitely plan to borrow another audiobook for my next (currently unplanned) road trip.

“Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.”

Kerry Weinstein, Reference Librarian

*Apropos of nothing: Amy Poehler was on the Upright Citizens Brigade in the late 1990s before she joined SNL, and an episode of that show was filmed in my high school’s cafeteria when I was a student. I did not meet Amy, but saw her film some scenes. If only I could have met her then, before she became famous!

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A Fashionable Read: Grace, A Memoir

18 Mar

Who is Grace Coddington, the woman behind this fascinating memoir?

Grace a Memoir

Grace is the creative director of Vogue*, arguably the most influential modern fashion publication today. Her primary responsibility is styling and executing many of the fashion photo shoots that appear in the magazine each month.

Anna Wintour, Vogue’s formidable editor-in-chief whose icy, composed persona inspired the Miranda Priestly character in the book and film The Devil Wears Prada, is the most visible figure associated with the brand.

Grace was behind the scenes until The September Issue, a documentary that followed the Vogue staff as they created the eponymous issue in 2007, premiered in August 2008.

In the film, Grace cursed when frustrated and was occasionally ornery with the filmmakers that trailed her as she worked. She was the anti-Anna. This all made her a breakout star.

Although The September Issue has brought much attention to Grace, she has a long history in fashion that she recalls in this memoir.

Grace’s story begins with her childhood in Wales, where she saw her family’s home used as a base for the British military during World War II. But the action starts after she moved to London to start a modeling career in the early 1960s–just as the decade started swingin’.

She was one of the first to sport Vidal Sassoon’s famous five point haircut. She modeled for Mary Quant, the designer who brought miniskirts into fashion. She almost had a dalliance with Mick Jagger before the Rolling Stones hit it big.

Her modeling days ended in the late 1960s after sustaining injuries in a car accident, so she took a job at British Vogue. Over the years she rose through the ranks, and eventually landed at American Vogue in 1988 when Anna Wintour became editor-in-chief.

Throughout her career, Grace has collaborated with an impressive roster of photographers, designers, hairstylists and makeup artists, models and supermodels, and celebrities. She wrote about these relationships, dropping a lot of famous names. But it flows with the narrative.

In the book Grace shared plenty of juicy anecdotes about in-fighting among Vogue editors, as well as supermodels (i.e. Kate Moss) and celebrities (i.e. Mike Tyson) behaving badly on photo shoots. My favorite story is about a model that flirted with Grace’s partner, Didier, during a shoot, and Grace expressed her displeasure by “accidentally” sticking the model with pins when adjusting her outfit.

There is substance behind the style in this book. Grace wrote honestly about her two divorces and her sister’s untimely death, after which she adopted and raised her nephew. A whole chapter is devoted to her decades long friendship with Liz Tilberis, who was editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar magazine (a rival to Vogue) in the 1990s.

Many color photographs from Grace’s modeling career and her fashion spreads in both British and American Vogue appear throughout the book, which bring her stories to life and demonstrate her distinct romantic, British aesthetic.

Grace’s original pen-and-ink illustrations of herself, her Vogue colleagues (many are featured in the book’s end papers), scenes from her life, and her cats are included throughout as well.

I must mention that there is an entire chapter about Grace’s cats, past and present. She had a cat named Puff, after the rapper P Diddy–an instance of the previously mentioned name dropping. I think she loves cats more than fashion. Grace even appeared on Martha Stewart’s talk show in a segment about cats, which she recounted in the book.

I enjoyed visiting Grace’s fashionable world and was sad when the book ended. Grace is witty and an engaging storyteller. Her frank tone shows that she doesn’t take herself, or her new fame, too seriously.

If you’re interested in fashion, Vogue, or Grace–and even cats–this is an excellent book to check out. The September Issue is also a good complement to this book.

Fashionably Yours,

Kerry Weinstein, Reference Librarian

*Stop by the Reference Department on the second floor to borrow current issues of Vogue, and other fashion magazines! 2012 back issues are also available.

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