In this essay collection, Mindy Kaling navigates preschool admissions, attends a Chanel sale in sweats, hunts down her stolen car, confronts reading glasses at forty-six, and discovers that even when you've built the life you want, you still text three friends, “Is this normal?”

Acceptance

In this hilarious essay, navigating Los Angeles’s cutthroat private school admissions becomes an unexpectedly personal education for New York Times bestselling author Mindy Kaling, where the parents are interviewed, everyone pretends to be relaxed, and nobody is fooling anyone.

As Mindy obsesses over getting her daughter into preschool—researching educational philosophies, curating the perfect interview outfit, and preparing harder than she ever has for a television pitch—she finds herself revisiting her own childhood as the daughter of Indian immigrants trying to break into Boston’s elite private school world. A funny, surprisingly moving look at ambition, belonging, and why hearing “you’re in” never really stops mattering.

From the Emmy-nominated writer, Tony Award–winning producer, director, actor, and #1 New York Times bestselling author comes I Did Everything Right, Right? In this new collection of essays, Mindy Kaling reflects on the unexpected turns, small indignities, and hard-won joys of adulthood with her signature humor, honesty, and warmth. Each essay can be read or listened to in one sitting.

The Devil Pulled Prada

Fashionable clothes and validation were great while they lasted. But what happens when acclaimed writer, actress, producer, and director Mindy Kaling can no longer fit into sample sizes? In this liberating essay, she learns that maybe there’s something more valuable.

Being romantically dumped is one thing. But being dumped by a celebrity stylist is particularly painful for Mindy. Middle-aged and a postpartum size 12, she got the message: Value in Hollywood depreciates. But the breakup also enlightens her. Real confidence comes from within, not from designer clothes or the people who dress you in them. Classic Mindy is better than vintage Versace anyway.

From the Emmy-nominated writer, Tony Award–winning producer, director, actor, and #1 New York Times bestselling author comes I Did Everything Right, Right? In this new collection of essays, Mindy Kaling reflects on the unexpected turns, small indignities, and hard-won joys of adulthood with her signature humor, honesty, and warmth. Each essay can be read or listened to in one sitting.

Grand Theft Auto

Is it the right choice for Mindy Kaling, one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People,” to track down the person who stole her ugly car? It’s not only right—it’s kind of exciting.

When someone drives off with her Cookie Monster–blue car, Mindy tracks it through South LA with nothing but a phone app, sheer determination, and the steel-eyed fury of Clint Eastwood—in ALO leggings. If the eight-hour adventure proves anything, it’s that sometimes being an adult just means sticking to your principles, no matter how terrified and underprepared you are.

From the Emmy-nominated writer, Tony Award–winning producer, director, actor, and #1 New York Times bestselling author comes I Did Everything Right, Right? In this new collection of essays, Mindy Kaling reflects on the unexpected turns, small indignities, and hard-won joys of adulthood with her signature humor, honesty, and warmth. Each essay can be read or listened to in one sitting.

Well, We All Hate Skiing

A fabulous vacation destination? A winter wonderland? That big fat lie is exposed once and for all in a bracing essay by Mindy Kaling.

Mindy takes her family to Vail for a privileged experience she never had as a child. Instead of a wholesome family memory, it’s a slushy, expensive, and painful humiliation where everyone—she’s sure of it—is secretly miserable. Against a backdrop more suitable to The Shining, Mindy boldly declares the truth: Skiing is an aspirational fantasy we pretend to love because we’ve invested too much to back out.

From the Emmy-nominated writer, Tony Award–winning producer, director, actor, and #1 New York Times bestselling author comes I Did Everything Right, Right? In this new collection of essays, Mindy Kaling reflects on the unexpected turns, small indignities, and hard-won joys of adulthood with her signature humor, honesty, and warmth. Each essay can be read or listened to in one sitting.

The Chanel Sale

How exhilarating is a sale? For Mindy Kaling, exhilarating enough to sprint to Rodeo Drive the moment she hears Chanel is offering the impossible—a discount.

Sporting a bandaged arm, a baseball cap, and unwashed hair, Mindy talks her way into one of fashion’s rarest shopping events, where determined bargain hunters treat tweed jackets and leather pants like Olympic medals. As she chases the thrill of finally owning pieces from the luxury brand that has never quite embraced her, Mindy discovers that nothing beats the satisfaction of getting Chanel on sale.

Plus, bonus content! Mindy shares her lessons on living her bicoastal dreams, buying real estate on a whim, and how becoming a mother can change your plans and your view.

From the Emmy-nominated writer, Tony Award–winning producer, director, actor, and #1 New York Times bestselling author comes I Did Everything Right, Right? In this new collection of essays, Mindy Kaling reflects on the unexpected turns, small indignities, and hard-won joys of adulthood with her signature humor, honesty, and warmth. Each essay can be read or listened to in one sitting.

An Update on My Eyes

There comes a moment in every woman’s life when she realizes the lighting isn’t getting worse—she is. Mindy Kaling has arrived.

When restaurant menus, receipts, and Instagram captions become mysteriously unreadable, Mindy embarks on an eye exam that leaves her with reading glasses, dry eyes, and the devastating realization that her body has begun assigning homework.

Plus, bonus content! After decades in the business, Mindy lets you in on the comforting, deserving, and inevitable nightly routines of a hardworking mother of three.

From the Emmy-nominated writer, Tony Award–winning producer, director, actor, and #1 New York Times bestselling author comes I Did Everything Right, Right? In this new collection of essays, Mindy Kaling reflects on the unexpected turns, small indignities, and hard-won joys of adulthood with her signature humor, honesty, and warmth. Each essay can be read or listened to in one sitting.