"Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" by Mindy Kaling

I knew very little about Mindy Kaling, except that she was a comedian on the American version of the television show “The Office,” which I had watched only two or three times, and now had her own show, which I have not seen. But I was given her new book, “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)” (Three Rivers Press, 2011), as a Christmas gift, and since it is a small paperback and looked like fun, I read it soon after. This young author writes with engaging humor about her childhood, her growing up, her first steps into the world of comedy, and her career so far as a writer, producer, actor, and director. She is modest, self-deprecating, and funny. She writes of her childhood chubbiness, of her identity as the child of Indian immigrants, her love life, her friends, her co-stars and co-writers on “The Office,” living in New York and in Los Angeles at various times, and other personal and career matters in a humorous and (seemingly, at least) candid way. I imagine she has smoothed over some of the hard times in her life in this retelling, but that's OK because her aim in this book is clearly not a “tell-all”; it is more like an enjoyable conversation with a very entertaining young woman who is pleased with her accomplishments but is endearingly low-key about them. Maybe I will check out her television show.