A hilarious, honest memoir—combined with just the right amount of relationship advice—from the popular actress and host of the hit podcast Anna Faris is Unqualified.Anna Faris has advice for you. And it’s great advice, because she’s been through it all, and she wants to tell you what she’s learned. After surviving an awkward childhood (when she bribed the fastest boy in the third grade with ice … boy in the third grade with ice cream), navigating dating and marriage in Hollywood, and building a podcast around romantic advice, Anna has plenty of lessons to share: Advocate for yourself. Know that there are wonderful people out there and that a great relationship is possible. And, finally, don’t date magicians.
Her comic memoir, Unqualified, shares Anna’s candid, sympathetic, and entertaining stories of love lost and won. Part memoir—including stories about being “the short girl” in elementary school, finding and keeping female friends, and dealing with the pressures of the entertainment industry and parenthood—part humorous, unflinching advice from her hit podcast, Anna Faris Is Unqualified, the book will reveal Anna’s unique take on how to master the bizarre, chaotic, and ultimately rewarding world of love.
Hilarious, honest, and useful, Unqualified is the book Anna’s fans have been waiting for.
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Really like her on Mom but didn’t enjoy the book.
I really like Anna as an actress, not so much as a foul-mouthed, sensationalist writer. She over-shares and over-dramatizes so much personal, romantic and sexual history in the name of “giving advice.” Maybe it works better (and funnier) for her podcast, which I’ve never heard… and have no desire to now.
Refreshingly honest, uproariously funny, appropriately moving, overly self-deprecating and completely unapologetic! All hail Queen Faris!
Before the book I had not much idea about Anna Faris. I think she did a good ob with her story, the book is not bad and it kept me interested until the end. After this reading expierence, I think Anna is a great and interesting person, I even started to listen to her podcast.
I liked Anna Faris more before reading her book.
Then I realized, it was the characters she played that I liked, not her specifcally. I didn’t know her. I liked the ditzy, funny women she portrayed.
Reading her book, she is smart but also a very serious person. I felt like we were polar opposites in so many ways. She’s a little uptight and I’m so laid back. Still, I respect her and what I learned about her.
There was a couple of chapters I completely skipped by though.
I didn’t want to read other people’s thoughts and opinions from her podcast or Facebook. I just wanted to read what she had to say. When she was writing to the reader, she was brilliant! When she got sidetracked onto her audience, it was boring!!!
Glad I picked this up for a bargain. I might have been upset if I paid a small fortune.
Anna Faris’ memoir is based mainly on the premise of her podcast, also entitled Unqualified, in which she doles out advice to strangers whom she calls on her show. The idea is that Anna is, in fact, “unqualified” to give advice, but she’ll do so anyway based on her life experiences. If you actually listen to her podcast, though, you quickly learn that she’s pretty good at giving advice, and that she’s also a funny and enjoyable person. The book expands on this, allowing Anna to answer some of the questions posed on her podcast (e.g., Dealbreakers), talk about her childhood and experience breaking in acting, and, yes, of course, her various relationships.
Overall, the book feels pretty real and authentic. You quickly get an idea of the kind of person Anna seems to be–kind, funny, talented, and perhaps a little insecure. I’ll admit that since I started listening to Anna’s podcast, I’ve felt a kinship to her, and my review is obviously influenced by that. She’s so down-to-earth and really damn funny on her podcast. I also love the idea that she lived in her head for much of her childhood, making up stories (it sounds a little familiar, you see). If you like Anna’s podcast, it will be hard not to enjoy her book, although some of the chapters and stories will sound a bit familiar if you’re a faithful listener.
My love of Anna was only deepened by reading her book, which is quite readable and broken into simple, short chapters. We get glimpses into Anna’s childhood, her first big relationship, a little insight into her big break with “Scary Movie,” and more. I relate to her on so many levels. We’re both fascinated by other people’s lives; never had a big group of female friends; have no patience for small talk; are not wedding people; possess an emotional defense built up from our parents; and enjoy calling the numbers on vehicles to report about truck drivers’ good driving. She just happens to be a lovely, famous, wealthy actress, and I’m um, well, yes. Otherwise, we’re the same, right? 😉
Of course, the elephant in this review is Anna’s recent split from her husband, Chris Pratt, who wrote the foreword to the book, which was apparently revised somewhat for publication. It’s hard not to psychoanalyze Anna in light of her recent marriage breakup. You read about her self-admitted inability to admit failure and her tendency to jump from one relationship straight to the next. So much of the book is about Chris and their relationship, and it’s a shame that it’s a distraction from an enjoyable memoir about a really smart and talented woman, who should stand on her own merit, apart from her (soon-to-be-ex) husband. It’s also heartbreaking to read these chapters where it sounds like they truly love each other–and where they got through the premature birth of their son together–and know they are no longer married.
Overall, this is a fun, easy-to-read memoir. If you like Anna, her films, or her podcast, you’ll probably enjoy this one. It’s a quick read, full of lists, humorous moments, and short chapters, although there are definitely serious pieces, too. It really only made me like her more. 3.5+ stars.