I'm Kind of a Big Deal: And Other Delusions of Adequacy

by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor

Overview

WARNING TO READERS:

The Author of This Book is Kind of Crazy, Kind of Delusional, and All Kinds of Hilarious

Whether she’s driving a limo for former Family Ties star Justine Bateman, dancing in the dark for a rarely seen Bob Dylan music video, or stalking a bachelor reject from TV’s Love Connection, Stefanie Wilder-Taylor is kind of a big deal—at least in her own mind. Smart, screwy, and scathingly funny, her tell-all essays capture every cringe-worthy moment of her kind-of famous life. From bombing as a stand-up comic for born-again Christians, to winging it as a singing waitress in an Italian restaurant, to posting open letters to Angelina Jolie and David Hasselhoff, this unstoppable L.A. transplant refuses to give up on her dreams—no matter how ill-advised—and shows us a side of Hollywood better kept hidden. When it comes to funny women—unplugged and unleashed—they don’t get any wilder than Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439176979
Publisher:	Gallery Books
Publication date:	06/07/2011
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Stefanie Wilder-Taylor is an author, TV personality, and cohost of the popular podcast For Crying Out Loud. She cocreated and hosted the late-night comedy parenting show Parental Discretion with Stefanie Wilder-Taylor for NickMom on Nickelodeon. She’s the author of Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay; Naptime Is the New Happy Hour; It’s Not Me, It’s You; I’m Kind of a Big Deal; and Gummi Bears Should Not Be Organic. She’s appeared on Good Morning America, 20/20, The Dr. Oz Show, Dr. Phil, Larry King Live, and Today. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, her three delightful teenagers, and her dog, Penelope.

Table of Contents

The Sweaty Calzone 1

I Blame Bob Dylan 19

The Flying Handelmans 35

Two and Two 49

Studs 63

Driving Miss Bateman 79

How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb 97

California Fruit 113

The Big Date 129

If You Like It Then You Should've Put a Ring on It 145

Graceland 157

Hometown Buffet 167

Home Run 183

Hi, Angie 203

Thank You, That's My Time 217

Drink, Drank, Drunk 229

Dear Dave 243

Shooting Up 249

Acknowledgments 259

Editorial Reviews

Stefanie Wilder-Taylor is twisted and wrong and absolutely hysterical. But on top of impeccably timed punch-lines and sly social commentary, I’m Kind of a Big Deal contains the kind of heart and self-awareness that makes for a truly satisfying read. Unless you hate fun, buy this book.”
—New York Times bestselling author Jen Lancaster

"Bursting with hysterical, wildly perceptive musings about life, family, and some of the crazy choices we make along the way. The perfect blend of sassy and bittersweet."
—Amy Hatvany, author of Best Kept Secret

From the Publisher

A tell-too-much, say-too-little collection of autobiographical essays about one woman's B-grade brushes with stardom.

The latest from Hollywood writer and producer Wilder-Taylor falls well short of satisfying.The first two-thirds of the book deal with her many mishaps along the road to something like fame. After graduating from high school, she went to New York City with vague ambitions of becoming an actress. But her stage career began and ended in an Italian restaurant where, as a singing waitress, she demonstrated her total lack of vocal skills. In Los Angeles, she found her way as a dancing extra in a Bob Dylan-Dave Stewart music video that quickly "fell off into oblivion." Later, Wilder-Taylor auditioned for a dating show calledStuds, only to find herself paired with a man who "looked like a bisexual pirate." Ever in search of celebrity—or at least, of a way to be near it—the author briefly drove limos for the likes of such minor screen luminaries as Lolita Davidovich and Justine Bateman. The narrative, which moves rather disconnectedly between episodes, displays even more disjointedness in the final third of the book. Wilder-Taylor, now an established figure in the entertainment industry, struggled to cope not only with the demands of her career, but also motherhood, all while trying to deal with an drinking problem that had been present since her teens. In between snarky "letters" she writes to Angelina Jolie about the actress' too-perfect maternal image and to David Hasselhoff about their common "crazy love of booze," the author offers maddeningly brief glimpses of real emotional poignancy in her depiction of her alcohol and codeine-dependent father and their rocky relationship. Wilder-Taylor's often self-deprecating candor is the book's greatest strength, but also its greatest weakness. While she freely provides gossipy tidbits about her life and adventures, her capacity to move beyond the superficially funny and into the meaningfully humorous is lacking.

Kind of a waste of time.

Kirkus Reviews