“‘Yes Please’ is an attempt to present an open scrapbook that includes a sense of what I am thinking and feeling right now. But mostly, let’s call this book what it really is: an obvious money grab to support my notorious online shopping addiction. I have already spent the advance on fancy washcloths from Amazon.”

Opening in classic Amy Poehler fashion, the “Saturday Night Live” alum and “Parks and Recreation” star brings everything you would expect to her first book, “Yes Please.”

If you aren’t already in love with Amy Poehler, you will finish this book having fallen for her completely. She’s funny, she’s sad and she’s honest. Leaving nothing untouched, she speaks about everything from her humbler beginnings in a lower-middle class family outside of Boston and living paycheck-to-paycheck to hosting the Golden Globes with fellow queen of comedy, Tina Fey.

She keeps the entire book incredibly down to earth, talking about her awkward high school years, her college years, her early odd-jobs, her struggles as a working mother and her insecurities about her looks — she even tells us about her sleep apnea, a disruptive sleeping disorder characterized by irregular breathing. In this way, it reminds us that although she’s a funny and positive celebrity, she still faces the same life struggles that her readers must deal with on a daily basis.

Poehler’s discussions about her career path elicit a respect for the sheer amount of work that she has dedicated to attain the incredible life she has today.
She traces the beginning of her comedy career, mentioning her early performances in college at The Second City improv theater in Chicago and her involvement in the comedy troupe Upright Citizen’s Brigade — a troupe that received its own television show for a few years and eventually opened its own improv theater in New York City.

Fans of “SNL” will especially enjoy the chapter titled “Humping Justin Timberlake,” in which Poehler indulges us with her experience with the show in short snippets of memories.

“Molly Shannon, Kristen Wiig and I all had that office at some point in our ‘SNL’ careers. Each one of us carved her name in the desk,” she remembers.
The celebrated relationship between Poehler and Tina Fey is given its own chapter. Basically, their friendship is everything that everyone imagines it to be, and this chapter serves to make her readers simultaneously jealous of these two but so happy that they found each other 20 years ago.

“Tina reminds me of how far I have come. She knew me when. When we are together I feel strong and powerful,” Poehler shares.

Because of this famous association of Poehler with Fey, however, many don’t realize that Poehler and fellow “SNL” vet Seth Meyers have just as beautiful of a relationship.

“When I left ‘SNL,’ I gave Seth a badge of courage, like Dorothy gives to the Cowardly Lion,” she writes. “He kept it in his pocket during ‘Update’ until he didn’t need it anymore. Now it sits in a box on his desk at ‘Late Night.’”

Meyers even writes a contributing short chapter in the book, telling us the story of how they met; Poehler was performing an improv skit that needed a volunteer, and she chose Meyers from the audience. The rest is history. He recounts his favorite skit by a pregnant Poehler — the infamous Sarah Palin rap during “Weekend Update” in the midst of the 2008 presidential elections — and how when he needs to smile, he remembers this skit.

Although this book has its laugh-out-loud moments, it’s not excessive — Poehler carefully mixes jokes and lighter anecdotes with heavier moments, like when she speaks about the relationships she has with her family and close friends.

The way Poehler tells her life story makes it evident that she’s still in awe of her own experiences. She recalls that she and Fey “would look at each other before ‘Update’ and also laugh at our crazy lives. We would whisper, ‘We fooled them!’”

With “Yes Please,” we get a glimpse into the mind of a suburban-Boston girl finding her passion who, through extreme dedication and hard work, made herself one of the queens of comedy that television loves today. And when this life leads to sitting on George Clooney’s lap while hosting an awards show with your best friend of 20 years, we all would be in awe of ourselves as well.