This book had me feeling all the feels. I only wish he would have kept writing. Excitedly waiting for the next book!

As someone who has watched the HBO series, Girls, in its entirety multiple times - it is no surprise that I enjoyed this one. The big personality and laugh out loud humor that is quintessential Rannells shines in just about every essay that touch on his foray into adulthood and the notion that although we may feel like we have “arrived” there is still the little kid parts of us that sometimes creep in. Super light and easy to consume; I legit cried real tears and was wheezing reading “Saigon in the Finger Lakes.” This one was a blast!

A delightful, humorous, and heartfelt collection of essays written about life by actor, Andrew Rannells. So interesting and entertaining. His views on happiness, aging, our image etc.

Andrew Rannells is an absolute gem, so his memoir was bound to be gem as well. I was laughing all along the way. His essays on topics such as dating, aging, mental health, and the challenges of a career in the spotlight are filled with honesty, wit, and wisdom.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Andrew Rannells is hysterical! Not only is he a tremendously talented actor, his droll wit was laugh out loud funny. Highly recommend!

Andrew Rannells is one of my favorite actors. He is beyond talented and so funny and this showed true in the pages of this book! This book is so entertaining. This would make a great Christmas gift!
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Thank you #crownpublishing and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

This was a nice short story collection by Andrew Rannells, an actor I love! I think he had a lot of really insightful things to say, and also told some funny stories! Some of these felt a little bit like page fillers, but for the stories I enjoyed, I very much enjoyed them!

I ended up listening to the audiobook of Uncle of the Year and I cannot recommend it more highly. Rannells is such a captivating narrator and I could listen to him all day. I deeply enjoyed the range of topics culminating in Uncle of the Year. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Crown for the Arc.

Uncle of the Year is witty and fun collection of essays by Andrew Rannells. The topics range from behind the scenes of Broadway and the Tonys to the crazy LA meeting scene and thoughts on having children (or not). He has a very interesting and entertaining writing style and it was a good read. I learned some fun things and loved his candor. I am going to search out his other book now because I want to know even more.

Thank you to Crown Publishing and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I have been a fan of Andrew Rannells for a while now, but didn't realize that he had written a book. This book is a sequel to that book. You can read them independently though ( I did with no problems). This book was just a fun read. He tells various stories from his life and career with a humorous slant to them.

I definitely reccomend this book to anyone who loves Broadway, Andrew Rannells, or anyone who just wants to read something humorous. This book would be a great gift as well.

I also listened to some of it as an audiobook. It was fun to listen to it in Andrew's own voice.

This was a a fun, personable read. I loved Rannells' first book and this book has that same friendly, honest appeal that I loved in the first memoir. This book has the Broadway and Hollywood stories that I expected in the first one, but it also has stories that are almost confessional and I found deeply comforting and touched to read. He balances honesty and humor to tell stories of his triumphs (and flaws) that keep the reader in his corner and furiously flipping though the book for more. I could read so many more books from Rannells - he is a gifted storyteller and I hope there are more stories from him in the future. My only wish is that I could have listened to this on audio (but his voice is strong enough I could definitely hear him while reading).

I've seen Andrew Rannells on the Girls TV show and enjoyed his performance as Hannah's (Lena Dunham's) ex-boyfriend Elijah, but I didn't know that he was the Uncle of the Year. In this book of essays, you'll get to know Andrew and what it's really like to be a successful actor who still bears the same insecurities as anyone else. You'll hear about his triumphs, his missteps, his relationships with family, friends, and love interests, and so much more.

I absolutely loved this book. I didn't really know what to expect when I clicked on this book to read it, but I'm so glad I did. Andrew Rannells doesn't need to be an actor because he's such an amazing memoirist and writer. I laughed out loud so many times, and, honestly, I think that the last time I did that was when I read a Jen Lancaster non-fiction book (and that was quite a long time ago).

Some stories cover his Broadway career, which I had no idea about. As a fan of South Park creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, I would love to see The Book of Mormon, but I didn't know that Rannells scored the lead role. He also talks about his other wins and losses on the theatrical stage, including a hysterical stint in the Finger Lakes, which he chronicles in hilarious letters to his friend Zuzanna. And you'll get star cameos from a host of actors and other luminaries sprinkled throughout the book.

I loved hearing about his Midwestern roots, his close knit family of four siblings, and two solid, Catholic, hardworking parents. Despite him detailing his anxieties as an adult, you can tell he had a very supportive upbringing. One essay covers his hopes for getting a Malibu Barbie for his birthday, That was both a charming and touching story.

My only complaint? I wanted more essays! And Rannells wasn't all about joking around, he gave other thoughtful and serious perspectives about living during the pandemic, having confidence in yourself, and being yourself. As I read this book, I felt like I was hearing a friend talk. Of course, I never met this actor, but he was so sincere and nice in the book with a sharp sense of humor that it made me become an instant fan.

This was a funny quick read that made me feel like I was hanging out with Andrew Rannells, listening to him tell me stories about his life. I really liked that each chapter was a separate story rather than the entire thing being one overarching narrative. I also think there are lots of great cautionary tales in this book for young people aspiring to a career in show business and Broadway, specifically. I am an Andrew Rannells fan and will happily read any future publications of his.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of Uncle of the Year!
I’ve been anxiously awaiting a follow up memoir from Andrew Rannells from the second I was finished with Too Much is Not Enough. His storytelling is smart and hilarious, and as a Catholic midwesterner who moved to NYC, I relate to his story so much. During one of his essays just 20% into the book, I was crying happy tears while reading it on the subway. I got home and told my husband I was going to read the essay aloud to him, which is something I’ve never done. There is so much hope, enthusiasm and relatability in his stories, and I never get tired of them.
I adored hearing about the inner workings of originating a role on broadway, and taking it from first rehearsals all the way to the Tonys. There were so many broadway stories in this book that are perfect for any theater fan.
My only critique is that I found myself 85% into the book reading about a day in the life during Covid, and realized he still hadn’t mentioned the serious relationship he’s currently in. It makes me wonder if there were some throwaway essays, which were still fun nonetheless.
Upon finishing this book I immediately want to re-read his first memoir. I still laugh about the story of when his mom called to tell him about his Rent audition. I’m sure I will be listening to the audiobook version of Uncle of the Year soon!

My favorite parts of this were the gossipy, name-droppy parts. I love insider details on the personalities and machinations of Broadway and Hollywood, and there was a lot of that here. If he writes future books, and he has a nice voice for doing so, I’m sure he has more he could tell us.

I have been on a nonfiction kick recently and this one stood out for many reasons. I loved the honesty and emotion. I felt like I was in the moment with the author. Plus it's Andrew Rannells, who doesn't love him?

Impostor Syndrome played for laffs. And it got them from me! What I don't always understand is how the idea of this common mental illness is so undertreated in the world of psychology, except of course among women in whom it was first identified forty-five years ago. That makes sense because it's a subtle way of (in)validating women's power.

Actor Rannells is a gay man of a certain age writing about himself and his multivalent struggles to achieve success, find love, gain self-esteem and confidence, and then Own It. If Impostor Syndrome does nothing else, it weaponzes the "virtue" of modesty to create eternal insecurity and "unworthiness" in those not inoculated against those insidious underminers of personal satisfaction and empowerment by virtue of gendered, class- and race-specific messaging. Just look around at those whose self-esteem is most on public display to get the import of this effective means of social control.

Those reflections being delivered, the story itself is a laugh-out-loud collection of short essays, the precise proper length to be read while in down-time from tasks of ordinary living...waiting in waiting rooms, between required or assigned busy-work bursts...and they deliver not simply respite from these but quietly effective food for thought. Rannells has lived an active public-facing life. His reflections on how that's worked for him, what it's cost him, where it's led him, are both completely personal and universally applicable in their outlines. (Funny how often those things go hand-in-hand, isn't it?)

What I enjoyed most about the read was how much honesty Actor Rannells brings to his gayness. He denies, hides, celebrates, and ultimately integrates his sexual and romantic focus on his own gender in a social milieu, the theatre, where it's not exactly uncommon. The process isn't direct, and is never over...gay men never stop coming out...but it's a lot less time-consuming as he ascends the career ladder with candor and humor. Aging has its good points. He's in charge of his own life and future in ways he never thought he could be as a young gay man. But the eternal struggle to believe himself actually possessed of that power, and the deservedness of that success, that is the ongoing "gift" of Impostor Syndrome, is the quiet but inescapable burden of his humorously delivered anecdotes.

I'm older than Rannells, older even than his decade-plus older partner, and I still recognize and relate to all the struggles he underagoes. I found comfort, fellowship, and fun in this read. I hope you'll take it with you to the next doctor's office or bureaucratic waiting room you go into.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read an e-ARC of Uncle of the Year!

As a theatre artist, I greatly admire Andrew Rannells for his stunning singing voice, unforgettable characters, and authentic presence. It was a joy to read these essays about major adulthood milestones and figuring out which of them actually matter to us as individuals. This book is heartfelt, funny, and relatable as Andrew explores the constant cycle of facing ourselves through all of the anxieties this world has to offer. The book is very conversational, and I have no doubt the audiobook will be wonderful, too.

Uncle Of The Year was a really insightful book of essays. Some resonated more with me than others, but I think this author has a really beautiful way with words and I loved reading his personal stories. I particularly loved the essays about broadway and the award shows. It was really interesting to see that curtain pulled back a little and get an inside look of it all.

I confess to being barely aware of who Andrew Rannells is because I'm sadly lacking in Broadway knowledge. But the title pulled me in and Rannells' writing got me hooked.
He writes like he's talking to you face-to-face and it feels very genuine. You feel a connection to his experiences even when the only thing we seem to have in common on the surface is that we're humans who don't want children. His anxieties, worries, and concerns feel universal for our generation, which makes it a bit of a comfort to read about his misadventures and triumphs.
He also has a very pleasant and charming 'voice' that makes even the most mundane stories interesting. I mean, not many people can turn a trip to Trader Joe's into a memorable experience complete with a life lesson. And it's precisely the essays like that one that makes this such a great read. It's not just unrelatable famous person's adventures, it's the everyday things that anyone can relate to that make his musings feel universal. There are, of course, some very fun behind-the-scenes of Hollywood bits that add flair and extra fun to the book, yet it's the more personal essays that make you walk away from this book feeling like Rannells might just be a cool guy to really get to know.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the fun read!