Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

At the age of 26-ish, Lena Dunham was the writer, director, producer and star of her own TV show, after having written, directed and starred in a well-reviewed independent film. Like her or hate her, that's impressive. Yet when she gets the opportunity to tell her story, in her own words, this is what she talks about: - Why she gets naked in front of the camera - Her eating habits, including detailed food diaries - Her weird obsession with her sister - Her relationship with her therapists - Extensive depiction of her sex life, her sexual experiences, and yes, the rape-not-rape, Barry-not-Barry incident This is what she does NOT write about in this book: - How she developed her writing voice, how she learned to write - How she came to create her first film - How she pitched her show. - How she creates her show, how the show works, anything at all about the show OTHER THAN the experience of being naked - What it was like to create Tiny Furniture (I'm not sure the movie is ever mentioned) - How she became a director - How she developed her working relationships (none of her colleagues or costars are even IN this book) In Mindy Kaling's book (WHICH I LOVED), she writes extensively about how she became good at comedy, how hard she worked, the jobs she took before becoming successful, the little steps along the way that made her successful, and a huge, long, detailed section on what it was like to be part of building The Office. All of it hysterical, and filled with tiny, revealing details while keeping her private life private. Tina Fey did the same thing. So did Amy Poehler. So did Neil Patrick Harris, for that matter. All of these people wrote their books understanding that we want to know - how did you get where you are? How did it work for you? Lena apparently isn't interested in any of that - nothing about her work, nothing about her craft or developing it. She writes ONLY about the most "shocking" parts of her life. It's absolutely stunning to me, how many press conferences and interviews she gives in which she complains that no one wants to hear about her craft, and they only want to talk about her nudity, and that topic has been done to death - but then in her book, when it's her choice and her voice, she does the same thing. She does have a way with words; she clearly can tell a story. But for all of that, I've never gotten into Girls, and I was really disappointed with this book. I wanted to hear how a young woman, at the age of 26, developed her craft and her voice to the point where she was writing, directing and starring in her own show. I wanted to hear what it was like to run a set, to hire actors, to fight for your vision in an industry that doesn't encourage such things in young women (and what it was like to find people who support you, as she obviously did, as Amy, Tina, Mindy and Neil all did). None of that is in this book. Instead, she seems to go out of her way to write ONLY about things that will be shocking and "offensive" - going for shock value and reaction, rather than inspiring or exciting us. This book was written only to get attention and to maximize the "shock value" of her life. Fine, that's her right to choose to write that kind of book, but then don't be shocked when you get negative attention and people are offended. I have read Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling and Amy Poehler's books again and again, relishing their wisdom, their insight, their humor, and getting inspired by their accomplishments. I will never touch this book again.