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Biography & Autobiography. Essays. Nonfiction. Humor (Nonfiction.) HTML:NATIONAL BESTSELLER The star of the Harold and Kumar franchise, House, and Designated Survivor recounts why he rejected the advice of his aunties and guidance counselors and, instead of becoming a doctor or "something practical," embarked on a surprising journey that has included confronting racism in Hollywood, meeting his future husband, and working in the Obama administration, in this entertaining and refreshingly candid memoir. You Can't Be Serious is a series of funny, consequential, awkward, and ridiculous stories from Kal Penn's idiosyncratic life. It's about being the grandson of Gandhian freedom fighters, and the son of immigrant parents: people who came to this country with very little and went very farâ??and whose vision of the American dream probably never included their son sliding off an oiled-up naked woman in the raunchy Ryan Reynolds movie Van Wilder...or getting a phone call from Air Force One as Kal flew with the country's first Black president. With intelligence, humor, and charm on every page, Kal reflects on the most exasperating and rewarding moments from his journey so far. He pulls back the curtain on the nuances of opportunity and racism in the entertainment industry and recounts how he built allies, found encouragement, and dealt with early reminders that he might never fit in. He describes his initially unpromising first date with his now-fiancĂ© Josh, involving an 18-pack of Coors Light and an afternoon of watching NASCAR. And of course, he reveals how, after a decade and a half of fighting for and enjoying successes in Hollywood, he made the terrifying but rewarding decision to take a sabbatical from a fulfilling acting career for an opportunity to serve his country as an Obama White House aide. Above all, You Can't Be Serious shows that everyone can have more than one life story. Kal demonstrates by example that no matter who you are and where you come from, you have many more choices than those presented to you. It's a story about struggle, triumph, and learning how to keep your head up. And okay, yes, it's also about how he accidentally (and very stupidly) accepted an invitation to take the entire White House Office of Public Engagement to a strip clubâ??because, let's be honest, that's the kind of stuff you really want to hea… (more)
User reviews
The first part of the book is
The next part of the book was about Kal’s time in the Obama administration, which totally makes sense to me now. He was taking an international studies course through Stanford at the time. He was a surrogate for Obama during the campaign and learned a lot so when Obama was elected, he applied for a job. He truly did get it on merit, not because he’s a movie star. His role was not symbolic, he actually made important decisions.
One thing that I thought was odd was that he didn’t talk about being gay at all, other than to briefly mention his first few dates with his finance Josh. Apparently, this book was the first time he publically stated that he’s gay. Since he wrote about his parents struggling with his decision to pursue a career in the arts instead of medicine or engineering like most Indian children, I thought he would also write about how they felt about his sexuality. I mean, it’s none of my business but I just thought it was a pretty big part of his life to leave out since he writes about other personal stuff.
He reads You Can’t Be Serious himself and I think that made it extra funny. He has a conversational style that was really engaging. Highly recommended.