The president and the pandit under the famous Lansdowne portrait of George Washington, who probably never thought a Diwali observance would happen there. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
Meeting NASCAR puppet Danny Hammerdropper, March 2012. (I blame Josh for all of this.) Jeff Dubinsky
Backstage at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Dan Spilo
With the president’s videographer Hope Hall and senior video producer Thomas Kelley en route to New Delhi on Air Force One support, 2015. (Though a guest on the India delegation, I was excited to be put to work, too.) Kalpen Modi
On the tarmac in Riyadh with one of my seatmates, Bartlett Jackson, on the way back to DC.
After separate campaign events for Secretary Clinton in Ohio on October 13, 2016. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
Shooting the Sunnyside pilot with director Oz Rodriguez, my cocreator Matt Murray, and actor Ana Villafa?e, Los Angeles, 2019. Romen Borsellino
Coach Zach (holding the baseball) and his Hawaii Pacific teammate Steven Camberos after practice. Half my shirt is soaked in sweat. Romen Borsellino
Sunnyside’s Thanksgiving episode! (From left, director Linda Mendoza, writer Ayo Edebiri, and cast Moses Storm, Samba Schutte, Kiran Deol, Sakina Jaffrey, Diana Maria Riva, Bernard White, me, Poppy Liu, and Joel Kim Booster.) Romen Borsellino
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book has consumed the last five years of my life and wouldn’t have been possible without continued support from family, friends, and a dedicated team of people who I’ve worked with on various stages of developing this baby. A deep, heartfelt thank-you to everyone.
Mom and Dad, who happily answered endless questions and without whom none of this book or story would have been possible.
Josh, who offered incredible insight and feedback and who had to deal with me essentially being absent and locked in the office for months and months on end, in my pajamas, at a desk, popping out every so often to ask, “Is this funny?”
Dan Spilo, my manager and friend, who for years encouraged me to tell my story and write a book in the first place (and without whom I probably never would have).
Bob Barnett, who is the best at what he does and offered irreplaceable guidance and insight through the entire process. Thank you!
The talented Aimée Bell and the team at Gallery Books: Max Meltzer, Jennifer Bergstrom, Jennifer Long, Sally Marvin, Sydney Morris, Abby Zidle, Elisa Rivlin, Michael Kwan, Ray Chokov, Caroline Pallotta, John Paul Jones, Jaime Putorti, and Jonathan Karp, and the audio team: Travis Tonn, Claire Tadokoro, David Turk, Katherine Cook, Don Hoffman, and David Weissman—thank you for helping me bring this to life!
Thank you to Jimmy Soni, Romen Borsellino, Doug Moe, Nick Campanelli, Chester Tam, and Kevin Ramlal.
The brilliant mind of my lawyer Michael Fuller, who I’ve worked with for nearly two decades, I appreciate you, Blake Zurbuchen, and the whole team.
Pulin, Christina, and Kripa, thanks for offering early feedback (especially Pulin, who told me it wasn’t funny at all).
Gary Lee, DLC, Stevie Numbers, Ronnie Cho, Miti Sathe, Sarah Friedman, and Peter Friedman, thank you for all the thorough notes, feedback, and conversations over the years. (Gary Lee, in addition to the above, thanks also for letting me bug you with chapters and jokes and sentence fragments via text and email at all hours of the day and night.)
Thanks to my friend Beulah Pollock (Garrick), who turned one hundred years old this year—what incredible friendship and advice. Thank you to Ernest Filart, Marc Milstein, Dennis Ebuen, Sang Kim, Zohran Mamdani, Sam Walker, lots of childhood friends, parents’ friends, Surekha Auntie, Ela Auntie, and frankly way too many incredible aunties and uncles to list.
From Obama world: So many people were kind enough to give me opportunities and encouragement, let me pick their brains on memories over the years, and offer anecdotes from the campaign and White House that made it into this book. President Obama, Mrs. Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Tina Tchen, Jon Carson, Ben Rhodes, Cody Keenan, Tommy Vietor, Jon Favreau, Pete Souza, Stephanie Valencia, Jenny Yeager Kaplan, Greg Nelson, Samantha Power, Secretary Clinton, President Clinton, Ryan Lynch, Rohan Patel, Liz Jarvis-Shean, Ben LaBolt, Michael O’Neil, James Schuelke, Courtney Hight, Matt Tranchin, Stephen Brokaw, Gary Lee again, Mitch Emerson, and Sadena Thevarajah.
My creative friends and coworkers in the entertainment industry who generously shared their stories with me over the years and let me fact-check memories: Matt Murray, John Cho, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, Sara Hess, Peter Jacobson, Olivia Wilde, David Shore, Barbara Fiorentino, Sonia Nikore, Lauren Grey, Barbara Cameron, Alexander Hall, Dan Harris, Dario Konjicija, Damir Konjicija, Allison Jones, David Alan White, Jenna von O?, Chasten Buttigieg. My team at UTA: Jason Heyman and Nancy Gates, Neil Bajaj, Geoff Suddleson, Andrew Lear, Peter Goldberg, Greg Iserson, Brett Duchon.
My speaking agent, Peter Jacobs, and his team at CAA.
All of the assistants and interns of anyone I’ve thanked here—we perhaps never met but you were probably on calls, Zooms, and emails, and likely worked tirelessly without accolades. I appreciate you and hope to meet in person to say thanks.
Our family and family friends—aunties, uncles, kids I grew up with—for unconditional love over the years, and always speaking your mind. That has made me a better person.
I have that feeling—like when you leave for a trip—that I forgot something. In this case, it’s to thank a few key people who were likely left off this list. You probably know exactly who you are. THANK YOU.
And of course thank you to Piggy, who cannot read but still kept me company daily, snoring loudly while I wrote.