MixedThe Washington PostIt’s probably unwise to expect soul-baring candor from a book with a made-up biographical note on the jacket flap. Those who hoped Tina Fey...would shed her comedic persona and play it straight are going to find her sort-of memoir, Bossypants, disappointing. At times, it’s almost like Fey and Liz Lemon, the self-loathing comedy writer Fey plays on the show, are struggling, exorcism-style, for control of the book: Just as Fey lets her guard down and introduces a serious topic, Lemon milks it for the gag. But that’s okay — because I would gladly read a book by Liz Lemon. In fact, I have ... The writing doesn’t so much flow from one topic to another as stop for scene changes. Sketch comedy, meet sketch narrative ... Fey doesn’t say much about what she thinks is funny or why. But, then, this isn’t really a book about the making of a comedian; it’s a book about the making of a woman ... And just because she’s funny doesn’t mean she’s not fuming: A vein of righteous feminist indignation runs through the book ... There’s a certain strain of human behavior that Fey labels \'May I be amazing at you?\' and is clearly hoping to avoid ... The life coach in me wants her to knock it off and own her awesomeness. The cynic in me suspects that she does, but she’s too shrewd to let on.
