ABOUT THE BOOK (from Amazon):
The former SNL star recounts the adventures and unexpected joy of dating and becoming a mom when she least expected it—at the age of forty-four. Anyone who saw an episode of Saturday Night Live between 1999 and 2006 knows Rachel Dratch. She was hilarious! So what happened to her? After a misbegotten part as Jenna on the pilot of 30 Rock, Dratch was only getting offered roles as “Lesbians. Secretaries. Sometimes secretaries who are lesbians.”
Her career as a female comedian at a low point, she suddenly had time for yoga, dog-sitting, learning Spanish—and dating. Dratch reveals the joys and terrors of putting herself out there in a quest to find love and then becoming a mother in an undreamed-of way. With riotous humor, she recounts breaking the news to her bewildered parents, the awe of her single friends, and romance and coparenting with her baby-daddy, John.
Filled with great behind-the-scenes anecdotes from Dratch’s time on SNL, Girl Walks into a Bar . . . is a funny book with a refreshing version of the happily-ever-after story, full of sensitivity, candor, and plenty of comic relief, as only Rachel Dratch can tell it.
MY REVIEW:
I will admit, I knew Rachel Dratch was on SNL before I read this, but that was about all I knew about her. And I couldn’t have named a single scene she was in (now I know — Debby Downer!). I would not have been one to be asking, “What happened with 30 Rock?” or “So, what’s the deal with you and John?” I had no idea about anything in her personal life. However, now that I’ve read this book, I love Rachel Dratch!
If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, you know I’ve been on a humor audiobook kick for awhile now. Girl Walks into a Bar looked interesting. I figured it would be similar to Bossypants by Tina Fey or maybe Here’s the Deal by Howie Mandel, BUT…it was better than both!
Dratch tells a little bit about her time on SNL and what happened afterward (30 Rock and “going in another direction”), she talks about the dating scene in New York and unexpectedly becoming a(n unwed) mother in her 40s. For me, this book contained a perfect balance of humor and drama. Dratch made me laugh in some moments and nearly cry in others.
I highly recommend this book for any woman – particularly any woman who has at some point experienced the feeling of not being completely perfect in their career or motherhood (or both). You will identify with Dratch and come to love her as I did.