Synopses & Reviews
Writer, actress, and gorgeous stand up comedian: Introducing the Mormon Tina Fey!
It's lonely being a Mormon in New York City. So once again, Elna Baker attends the New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance — a virgin in a room full of virgins doing the Macarena. Her Queen Bee costume, which involves a black funnel stuck to her butt for a stinger, isn't attracting the attention she'd anticipated. So once again, Elna is alone at the punch bowl, stocking up on generic Oreos, exactly where you'd expect to find a single Mormon who's also a Big Girl. But loneliness is nothing compared to what happens when she loses eighty pounds...and falls in love with an atheist.
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance is the memoir of a girl who distresses her family when she chooses NYU over BYU. A girl who's cultivating an oxymoronic identity as a bold, educated, modern, funny, proper, abstinent, religious stand-up comic, equal parts wholesome and hot. As Elna test-drives her identity, she finds herself in the strangest scenarios, including selling creepy, overpriced dolls to petulant children at FAO Schwarz and dressing a head wound with a maxi pad while on a date.
Review
"Baker spins a witty girly-girl story, a romantic caper for ladies about trying to find a job, a boyfriend and, ultimately, herself. A sexy, lubricious outing by a formerly zaftig comic." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Baker — writer, actress, and stand-up comedian — finds herself at the New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance, a virgin in a room full of virgins. Cultivating an oxymoronic identity as a bold, modern, abstinent, religious comic, Baker test-drives her identity and finds herself in the strangest of scenarios.
Synopsis
"A wickedly funny debut. Baker is both self-absorbed and generous, whip-smart and naandiuml;ve; she apologizes for none of it." -People
It's lonely being a Mormon in New York City. Every year, Elna Baker attends the New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance. This year, her Queen Bee costume (which involves a funnel stinger stuck to her butt) isn't attracting the attention she'd anticipated. So once again, Elna finds herself alone, standing at the punch bowl, stocking up on Oreos, a virgin in a room full of thirty-year-old virgins doing the Funky Chicken. But loneliness is nothing compared to what Elna feels when she loses eighty pounds, finds herself suddenly beautiful...and in love with an atheist.
Brazenly honest, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance is Elna Baker's hilarious and heartfelt chronicle of her attempt to find love in a city full of strangers and see if she can steer clear of temptation and just get by on God.
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About the Author
Elna Baker is a Mormon stand-up comedian and writer. She has performed in many of New York City's hottest venues, including Caroline's and the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theatre, as well as on NPR's This American Life, and received grants for her work from Yaddo and Breadloaf.