Patty Lin

audio nonfiction/memoir (less than 10 hours, read by the author) - a TV writer relates her career in a notoriously cutthroat and stressful industry as a woman and a minority (whose immigrant parents had initially wanted their kids to be doctors), finally deciding to quit while also working through some unhealthy relationships before getting married, trying to conceive a child, and writing this book.

extremely readable with lots of relatable, funny moments, though after a while one job sort of show more blends into the next: stressing over a job, being fired/not renewed, getting another job to stress over, getting fired again, while on a sort of roller coaster ride that swung between partying with hollywood actors and being treated like crap by producers and directors--you can see how that can take a toll on a person after more than 10 years. Still, she's funny and skilled at storytelling, and with the writers' strike being in the news this year the subject is timely. show less

This does give a picture of life as a tv writer (I do NOT want the life described here). There is so much more, though, about Patty Lin's growth as a person. It's interesting for its account of growing up with Asian immigrant parents; trying to find one's way as a creative person, and two contrasting romantic relationships.

Curtis Sittenfeld's "Romantic Comedy," a fictional account of screenwriting, was so so much better than this non-fictional account! "End Credits" is filled with resentment: all the prestigious jobs she got, and then was fired from, were someone else's fault, or because she was the only "person of color" in the writing room. By the end I'm sorry to say I couldn't stand her, and her disparaging remarks about Vince Gilligan just confirmed my view that she needs to take a good hard look at herself.