Year of Yes (Rhimes)

The Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person
Shonda Rhimes, 2015
Simon & Schuster
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781476777122


Summary
From the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away With Murder shares how saying YES changed her life.

She’s the creator and producer of some of the most groundbreaking and audacious shows on television today. Her iconic characters live boldly and speak their minds.

So who would suspect that Shonda Rhimes is an introvert? That she hired a publicist so she could avoid public appearances? That she suffered panic attacks before media interviews?

With three children at home and three hit television shows, it was easy for Shonda to say she was simply too busy. But in truth, she was also afraid. And then, over Thanksgiving dinner, her sister muttered something that was both a wake up and a call to arms: You never say yes to anything.

Shonda knew she had to embrace the challenge: for one year, she would say YES to everything that scared her.

This poignant, intimate, and hilarious memoir explores Shonda’s life before her Year of Yes—from her nerdy, book-loving childhood to her devotion to creating television characters who reflected the world she saw around her.

The book chronicles her life after her Year of Yes had begun—when Shonda forced herself out of the house and onto the stage; when she learned to explore, empower, applaud, and love her truest self. Yes.  (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—January 13, 1970
• Where— Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Education—B.A., Dartmouth College; M.F.A., University of Southern California
• Currently—lives in Los Angeles, California


Shonda Lynn Rhimes is a television producer and writer. Rhimes is the creator, head writer, executive producer, and showrunner of the medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, its spin-off Private Practice and the political thriller series Scandal.

She is  also executive producer of ABC's legal series How to Get Away with Murder, which debuted in September, 2014, and The Catch which debuted in March, 2016. In May 2007, Rhimes was named one of Time magazine's 100 People Who Help Shape The World. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her three daughters.

Early life
Rhimes was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Vera P. Cain, a university administrator, and Ilee Rhimes, Jr., a college professor. Her mother attended college while raising six children and earned a PhD in educational administration in 1991; her father, who holds an MBA, was the chief information officer at the University of Southern California until 2013.

Rhimes lived in Park Forest South (now University Park, Illinois), with two older brothers and three older sisters. She has said she exhibited an early affinity for storytelling and that her time spent as a hospital volunteer while in high school sparked an interest in hospital environments.

Rhimes attended Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois, before enrolling at Dartmouth College, where she majored in English and film studies and earned her bachelor's degree in 1991. At Dartmouth, she joined the Black Underground Theater Association and divided her time between directing and performing in student productions and fiction. She also wrote for the college newspaper.

After college, Rhimes relocated to San Francisco with an older sibling and worked in advertising at McCann Erickson. She subsequently relocated to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California (USC) to study screenwriting, winninf a Gary Rosenberg Writing Fellowship. She obtained her M.F.A from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, ranking at the topof her class.

While at USC Rhimes was hired by Debra Martin Chase as an intern. Rhimes credits her early success in part to mentors like a prominent African-American producer, who hired her as an intern at Denzel Washington's production company Mundy Lane Entertainment. Chase would later serve as a mentor to Rhimes and they would work together on The Princess Diaries 2.

Career: 1995–2004
After graduation, Rhimes found herself an unemployed scriptwriter in Hollywood. To make ends meet, Rhimes worked at a variety of day jobs, including an office administrator, and then a counselor at a job center that taught mentally ill and homeless people job skills. During this period, Rhimes worked as research director on the 1995 Peabody Award-winning documentary, Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream (1995).

In 1998 Rhimes made a short film, Blossoms and Veils, starring Jada Pinkett-Smith and Jeffrey Wright—her only credit as director. A feature script she wrote was purchased by New Line Cinema, which was soon followed by an assignment to co-write the acclaimed 1999 HBO movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. The film earned numerous awards for its star, Halle Berry.

In 2001, Rhimes wrote Crossroads, the debut film of pop singer Britney Spears. Although panned by critics, the film grossed over $60 million worldwide. Rhimes then moved on to Disney’s sequel to its popular 2001 movie The Princess Diaries. While the 2004 sequel—The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement—was not the box office hit of the original, Rhimes later said later she treasured the experience for the opportunity of working with Julie Andrews.

Career: 2005–present
Rhimes is the creator and currently executive producer and head writer of Grey's Anatomy. The series debuted as a midseason replacement in March, 2005. The series focuses on the surgical staff at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital (later to be named Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital), in Seattle, Washington. The series features an ensemble cast with Ellen Pompeo serving as titular character Meredith Grey, who provides narration for a majority of the series' episodes. On May 16, 2006, ABC announced plans to relocate Grey's Anatomy from Sunday evenings to Thursdays to anchor the network's Thursday evening programming, by airing Thursdays at 9 p.m.

Rhimes created and produced the Grey's Anatomy spin-off series Private Practice, which debuted in September, 2007, on ABC. The show chronicled the life of Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) as she left Seattle Grace Hospital for Los Angeles to join a private practice. The series featured an ensemble cast, including Tim Daly, Amy Brenneman, Audra McDonald and Taye Diggs among others. The first season was shortened because of a writers' strike and consists of only nine episodes. In May 2012, ABC picked up Private Practice for the 2012-13 television season with 13 episodes. The series finale was aired January 22, 2013.

In 2011, Rhimes served as executive producer for the medical drama, Off the Map, which was created by Grey's Anatomy writer, Jenna Bans. It focused on a group of doctors who practice medicine at a remote clinic in the Amazon. The series was officially cancelled by the ABC network on in May, 2011.

That same month ABC ordered Rhimes's pilot script Scandal to series. Kerry Washington stars as Olivia Pope, a political crisis management expert who is partially based on former Bush administration press aide Judy Smith. The series debut aired in April, 2012.

In December 2013, it was announced that ABC had ordered to pilot the ShondaLand production How to Get Away with Murder. Actress Viola Davis joined the cast as the lead character in February, 2014. It was officially picked up to series in May, 2014. Rhimes appeared as herself in the 5th episode of Season 3 of The Mindy Project, which aired October 14, 2014.

In 2015, Rhimes developed a pilot called The Catch, based on the Kate Atkinson novel, which columnist Cindy Elavsky described as a "thriller...about a woman who is about to get married...and about to get conned. Mireille Enos stars. The show got picked up by ABC and premiered Thursday March 24, 2016, at 10 pm, taking over How to Get Away with Murder's time-slot after the show ended its second season.

In March 2016, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder. and Grey's Anatomy were respectively picked up for their sixth, third and thirteenth seasons, and will air during the 2016-2017 season.

ShondaLand
ShondaLand is the name of Rhimes's production company. ShondaLand and its logo also refer to the shows that Rhimes has created, and to Rhimes herself. Shows which are included in ShondaLand are

    Grey's Anatomy (2005–present)
    Private Practice (2007–2013)
    Off the Map (2011)
    Scandal (2012–present)
    How to Get Away with Murder (2014–present)
    The Catch (2016–present)

Personal life
Rhimes adopted her first daughter in June 2002 and adopted another girl in February 2012. In September 2013, Rhimes welcomed her third daughter via gestational surrogacy.

In 2014, Rhimes spoke at her alma mater Dartmouth College's commencement and received an honorary doctorate.

In September 2015, Rhimes revealed she had lost 117 pounds via exercise and dieting. She is an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 7/22/2016 .)

Book Reviews
Rhimes's style is comfortingly congenial, like spending a lazy afternoon chatting with an old friend. Even though the author comes across as more of a no-nonsense hard charger than a hand-holder, she slows down and takes our hand in hers anyway. She makes her battles our own by daring to be as honest as possible. As anyone who has watched her shows already knows, Rhimes is a natural storyteller. The tiniest epiphanies feel like revelations in her hands, yet she pulls it off without ever losing herself in a haze of sentimentality or cliches.... Folksy first-person books aren't usually so edgy or so hilariously self-effacing. But somehow, through her esoteric cadence and her delightfully self-indulgent digressions, Rhimes brings the full force of her personality to every page.
Heather Havrilesky - New York Times Book Review


Can help motivate even the most determined homebody to get out and try something new in the New Year.
Chicago Tribune


Instead of writing passionate narratives for her TV characters, Rhimes adopted their pluck and bold attitudes and attacked life with a new sense of purpose.... Who knew that such a small word could have such a life-changing impact? By saying "yes," she learned to dance it out and stand in the sun. Dr. Cristina Yang would be so proud.
Associated Press


[A]s fun to read as Rhimes' TV series are to watch. Her authorial voice is fresh and strong.
Los Angeles Times


If you enjoy the rapid-fire dialogue of her characters, reading this book will feel like home. Rhimes opens up, and inspires, discussing her personal experiences as a sister, daughter, mother, friend and boss tempered with biting insights on societal expectations of women…[a] blend of biography and badassery.
Ebony


A book that is fun, dishy and inspirational all at the same time…a powerful book, a great gift for a friend or yourself, whether you’re a fan of the Shondaland lineup or not.
Mother Load/New York Times.com


Shamelessly entertaining…an antic, funny and surprisingly funky portrait of what it’s like to be one of the most fascinating forces in contemporary network television.
Buffalo News (Editor's Choice Review)


This memoir/call to arms from the one-woman force behind Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder is basically a New Year’s resolution between two covers. Wherever you’re going, bring it with you.
Bloomberg Businessweek


Rhimes is, unsurprisingly, a fantastic memoirist: Her writing is conversational and witty and lyrical, inflected with the supple human breathiness you might expect from a person who spends her days writing dialogue. It features lots of great punchlines.... It features occasional, chatty, second-person asides.... [It] is also in many ways a side-door self-help book…[with] pieces of advice that concern not just Rhimes’s readers, but everyone.... Year of Yes is a book about the shifts taking place in Hollywood right now,and in the world right now, in the guise of a friendly memoir. It is, like Shondaland itself, making a statement. It is insisting that it is time for the people who used to be invisible to come forward and be seen.
Atlantic.com


Brilliant…a peek into Rhimes' wise, funny, surprisingly candid brain, which contains opinions on everything from accepting compliments and balancing show-running with single motherhood to, yes, the recent weight loss that's been (unfairly) making the most headlines. By the end of journey in The Year of Yes, you'll feel like you've gained a new best friend.
Women & Hollywood/ Indiewire.com


You’ll want to standup and cheer when she takes control, remakes her life, and learns to love herself.
Buzzfeed.com


(Starred review.) [A] powerful memoir and self-help book.... [Rhimes] shares some of the key beliefs and events behind this transformation, all with good humor and vivid prose. Rhimes comes across as inspiring and real.
Publishers Weekly


A sincere and inspiring account of saying yes to life…Rhimes tells us all about it in the speedy, smart style of her much-loved TV shows.... Following her may not land you on the cover of a magazine, but you'll be glad you did.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
We'll add the publisher's questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use these LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for Year of Yes...then take off on your own...

1. Name five characteristics of Shonda that mirror your own. How did her growth change your behavior from now until forever more?

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