Published in 2001
212 pages
Angela Nissel is author of the national best-selling comedic memoirs The Broke Diaries and Mixed. In addition to books, she was a co-executive producer and writer for NBC’s medical sitcom Scrubs and other TV shows.
Angela was born a lower-middle class light-brown child in Philadelphia. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in medical anthropology. That degree led to a stellar career as a temp for the IRS, a “melter” in a metalworking shop, and as a “sleep apnea auditor” working the 12AM to 8AM shift at a local hospital.
She later started a website, OkayPlayer.com, which is still alive and well, but she left it permanently to the care of its co-founder after The Broke Diaries was published. She decided to pursue writing full-time and finally ventured out of Philadelphia to Hollywood.
Upon arriving in Hollywood, she learned that just because someone’s vanity plates read “PRDCR”, doesn’t mean he has the connections to make your book into a screenplay or even help you get a writing job.
Barely paying her rent through freelancing, she put a few possessions on eBay for extra cash—the winning bidder of one item was a television executive who had read The Broke Diaries. She introduced Nissel to a television literary agent. This agent sent copies of The Broke Diaries to everyone hiring comedy writers and soon, Nissel had numerous job offers. She accepted a position as a staff writer on Scrubs and was there for seven seasons. It was the only job she had where her medical anthropology degree came in handy.
What is this book about?
“People always say I’m going to look back on these days and laugh —why put it off?”
When Angela Nissel found herself struggling financially while in college, instead of sulking, she decided to entertain herself by creating an online journal that chronicled her day-to-day trials and tribulations. Written with humor and intelligence, her “Broke Diary” quickly found an audience as people wrote to Angela to empathize with, console, and laugh with her about her experiences and even share their own. The Broke Diaries is the first complete compilation of her experiences, written in a voice that is funny, unique, and dead-on.
On buying ramen noodles: I am sooooooo embarassed. I only have 33 cents. I (please don’t laugh) put the money on the counter and quickly attempt to dash out with my Chicken Flavored Salt Noodles. The guy calls me back! I look up instinctively, I should have run . . . Why didn’t I run !! He tells me the noodles are 35 cents. I try to apologize sincerely. I thought the sign said 33 cents yesterday, so that’s all I brought with me. Could he wait while I ran home and get the 2 cents? I show him my student I.D. to let him know I am not a thief. He shakes his head and motions either for me to get the hell out of his store and never come back again or get the money as do come back. I don’t know. He said something like “Nyeh” and swiped his hand in my direction.
I can’t translate hand motions well.
The noodles: tasty!!!
