Stacey's Reviews > Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius

I just finished Miss Day does not exist by Carrie Courogen - The life and work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s hidden genius.

Hands up, who had any idea who Elaine May is….. I had zero clues. When I received this book as a gift from @stmartinspress I was intrigued so I went to youtube and watched Elaine May in action…. She…is….HILARIOUS!!!! I was watching her skits from the 60s…. I laughed so hard my sides split. Elaine May is an actor, comedian, director and writer and she was a total smoke show back in her day and she aged so gracefully to boot. After I got my Elaine May education, I settled down to read her autobiography.

Firstly the book is so well written. Carrie Courogen is a master of her craft and I was drawn right into this precise and casual delve into the life of a woman who is very very private but has such a rich on screen persona. Elaine was a force to be reckoned with. She wasn’t managed, she controlled every aspect of her craft and she wasn’t going to give that up. I cannot believe I had no idea who this woman was until recently. Do I live under a rock? No but it does seem like it.

I wished the book was a bit more jazzy. The book was almost clinical in its writing and I would have loved it written in an edgier way. It almost had the feel of a biography/memoir, there seemed to be a lot of Elaine's influence in the book and it felt a little forced in areas. I don’t know if it's just me but I also felt like Elaine was a bit of a tyrant on set. The fact that she demanded perfection and there is a lot about that in the book that she comes across as over the top and I didn’t find anything like that about Elaine online so I don’t know if that's because she isn’t like that or it was so well hidden that Carrie uncovers this.

I know she is reclusive from what I could unearth and I really enjoyed reading about her in this book.

4 stars