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Book review: Mindy Kaling - smart, wildly entertaining and very, very hard-working

The star of The Mindy Project reveals her turbulent adolescence in her new memoir

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Mindy Kaling has become one of the most popular comic actresses of her generation. Photo: AFP

Mindy Kaling may be gearing up for the fourth season of her TV show, The Mindy Project, but that didn't deter her from writing another wildly entertaining and completely relatable book, Why Not Me?

Her first memoir, 2011's charming Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), spent time on several bestseller lists. Why Not Me? looks certain to follow in its footsteps.

Kaling has a gift for storytelling. Her self-deprecating essays depicting a young Mindy in the throes of adolescence all revolve around an anxious Indian girl with a desperate need for people to like her. Should she continue bribing classmates with Skittles? Will joining a sorority be the key?

Kaling is able to take a memory from years ago and transport the reader into that moment with ease. And that moment will inevitably be smothered in laughter.

Not only does Kaling share her views on weddings, dinner parties and how to look spectacular in a photo shoot, she also allows readers to peek inside her dating life.

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