As one of the few women and the only Asian American in the writers’ rooms, Patti Lin reveals how her relationship with her parents, a decade long boyfriend, and being a writer in Hollywood impacted her life. Patti’s words of wisdom and lessons learned are highlights throughout this memoir. The accurate descriptions of writing rooms with tedious, exhausting schedules certainly makes one wonder how or why she stuck with it so long. The LA partying, name dropping, and TV shows Patti worked on have a People magazine feel. Names like Adam Sandler, David Letterman, and Jerry Seinfeld, along with shows Freaks & Geeks, Friends, and Desperate Housewives will hold anxious readers’ attention while Patti waits for return calls from directors, her agent, and of course, her mom. Writing terms like “page-one rewrite,” “bible,” and “presentation vs. pilot” are scattered throughout. The progress in her parental relationship through hard work and painful conversations is rewarding and offers encouragement to readers. Patti Lin admits that “writing a memoir is like reliving all the worst parts of your life-voluntarily.” Like eyeing the weekly People and feeling the curiosity of “what’s the scoop?” - TV and Hollywood trivia fans will find End Credits-How I Broke up with Hollywood engaging and irresistible.

Fun and quick read with great insights into the screenwriting world. I thought it was particularly timely, given the current writer's strike, to help understand what goes into making our favorite shows. And the harm that happens to those in the industry.

Kudos to Patty Lin for sharing her experience and how she found the courage to leave what she thought was a dream job to find a life that made more sense for herself.

An honest and gripping insider look at the world of television writing. Patty Lin puts it all out there: the good, the bad, and the bullshit. Surviving in this industry takes creativity, grit and patience. During her time as a television writer, she was often the only woman and/or person of color in the room. So much of her story felt like she was talking directly to me.

Early on in her career, she struggles with being good enough:
“And thus began my lifelong dance with imposter syndrome, the feeling that no matter how much talent I appeared to have, I was a fraud.”
When leaving the industry, she struggles with her identity:
“My identity as an achiever had come to a crashing halt. I had to ask myself, “Without doing, who am I?”
Eventually, she finds herself in a place of peace:
“Realizing you’re not in control is an essential part of Buddhism and many other faiths, and it’s also the most freeing thing you can do for your art. The sooner you open that door, the better.”

I’m already looking forward to reading more things from this author!

“Writing a memoir is like reliving all the worst parts of your life - voluntarily.”

And boy did Patty Lin have to relive some bad parts! We all hear how hard it is to work in the TV and film industry, but reading about the behind the scenes writing life of a woman of color was brutal. She was often the only woman and only person of color in her workspaces and she was demeaned at every turn. The trauma she faced finally moved her to “break up with Hollywood”. I can’t even imagine the stress and pressure she faced from the environment in general and then also having to deal with the sexism and racism in addition.

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
Breaking Bad
Friends
Letterman
Behind the scenes of TV

Thank you Zibby Books for a #gifted copy.

Why would anyone want to leave a successful Hollywood career? Certainly there's no place more exciting to work than in Hollywood, right? After all, it's the entertainment capital of the world—synonymous with glamour, wealth, and a head-spinning amount of celebrities all in one area code (s).

Former TV writer, Patty Lin, chronicles her auspicious career working on various household name television shows (Friends, Desperate Housewives and Breaking Bad, to name a few). Like the industry itself, Lin reveals how the perceived glamour and excitement of a Hollywood career is pure illusion. She both recounts and reflects on her experience, what she endured, and sacrificed, in order to make it in Hollywood with candor and a critical eye. Patty writes intimately, as if she's having a private conversation with you. It was a fascinating read and I recommend it to anyone who works in the entertainment industry, enjoys consuming entertainment (learn how the sausage is made!), and for those questioning their career choice and ready to ask, "Is there something more out there for me?" Through Patty Lin's journey, she demonstrates it's never too late to leave a profession behind that doesn't serve you or your values. End Credits also shows reveals this is just the beginning for this talented writer.

Television is a fascinating world and we’re given a behind-the-scenes look into what it’s like to be a writer for some of TVs greatest hits, including Breaking Bad and the “F-word” Friends.

Patty Lin’s memoir is very eye-opening and shows the not-so-glamorous side of the entertainment industry. From the rejections to the grind of writing and re-writing scripts, this memoir was propulsive and engaging, and had me yearning for more.

Thank you to NetGalley, Patty Lin and Zibby Books for an early copy of this book for an honest review.

End Credits by Patty lin is the story of a TV writer who decides her happiness and mental health are more important than the fame and fortune of the industry. Lin gives you a very intimate look at the reality of a writers room on some of the most iconic TV shows of our time. While there are big names, and famous people involved, it becomes apparent that the rat race of her job is not much different than any other high stress occupation. It is refreshing to see someone at the top of their career take a step back and put herself first.
Lin's writing is sharp and witty, and the book moves along quickly. It is at times a "tell all", which personally can be cringy for me. In the end though, her message is one that we should all listen to- don't get caught up in the hype and lose yourself in the process.

Very interesting memoir by Patty Lin about her years writing for TV shows such as Friends and Breaking Bad.

Her memoir is an eye-opening look at the struggles of a TV writer. From the rejection to the unexpected firings to having to deal with the culture of TV writers this is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what really goes on in the writer’s rooms.

Thank you Netgalley and Zibby Books for the chance to read and review this book.

Patty Lin's memoir is beautifully written and will make you care about the film & tv industry even if you know nothing about it. It's coming out at such a right time with all the strikes going on right now, and even though her experiences in the industry were almost 20 years ago, they are still relevant today to discuss how workers are often exploited, burn out, and eventually have their souls crushed by the industry. Patty's journey of finding herself and her joys again after a long dead-end relationship and years of chasing success in the industry is a touching and hopeful one.

While I have absolutely no experience in show business, this memoir captured my attention and my heart. How do you leave the only true relationships you’ve ever known, even if it isn’t good for you? How do you walk away from a career that never really served you well? These universal questions may have been explored within Patty Lin’s Hollywood frame of reference, but are applicable to all kinds of relationships, family bonds and career paths. Her descriptive language and artful storytelling had me riveted to the page and I felt like she was cheering for the positive changes we could all make for ourselves right alongside her own. This is a fantastic memoir and I’m even more intrigued by what is still to come for Patty.

I really enjoyed learning about Patty’s experience and what Hollywood truly is like for writers. Hearing about the shows she’s written for was incredibly entertaining, along with reading about who she’s met and worked with. I appreciated how Patty incorporated her upbringing and relationship especially with her mom and how that played a role her career. It’s definitely obvious from Patty’s writing why she was able to write for such large shows…she’s definitely gifted!

Patty Lin is someone I’d love to meet in real life. Not to ask her how she overcame the trauma of writing for television in a cutthroat world because she expertly covers that experience in her memoir End Credits. But instead, to thank her for demonstrating how I can do it too, in my own life, in my own way. The best memoirs allow us to contemplate life events and lessons as they play out for the author while, at the same time, they churn in the background as we consider our own struggles.

In the memoir, Lin is quirky and funny, but above all, honest about her traumatic experience writing for television for ten years. What seems like a charmed life meeting big-time producers and actors, partying at an estate in the Dominican Republic, and getting hired to write some of the most defining TV series, Lin actually shares what’s behind the facade of the Hollywood life and what’s going on behind the scenes in her own head. Tackling her story head-on, Lin deals with denial, openly sharing her fears of failure, not fitting in, not making something of her life, and pursuing a creative life in a family that did not understand creative jobs.

The memoir eases into the author’s backstory with the familiarity of domestic life in the 1970s. From Bob Ross to the Brady Bunch, it begins with a focus on the nostalgia of TV shows while also beginning to hint at the author’s desperate need for approval.
From the full transparency about puberty to her transition into high school and later adult relationships, the story is complete with a romp through American television culture in the 1990s.

Lin’s memoir kept me turning pages to find out her next writing gig and also if she’d make it out alive amid the soul-crushing, backstabbing, sexist, and racist world of her work. The job was like an abusive relationship where she’d get beat up, blame herself, and then crawl back to it. Overall, her story follows the waves of finding dream jobs by hacking her way through, but then it switches to her facing that her work may be a genuine nightmare.

Late in the book, she gets this sage advice from a Zen guru: “But the real project is how to care for this person who has all the creativity inside of her. There’s a part of you who wants to be nurtured, who’s looking to the job to meet that need where it will never be met.”

For memoir readers, fans of American culture, and those who appreciate an honest inside look at the mind of a writer, End Credits is an inspiration.

Thank you to Zibby Books and NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars! My goal is to read more memoirs in 2023 and this was another good one. I enjoyed getting a behind-the-scenes look at the TV world and industry. I definitely found myself rooting for Patty throughout. Thanks to Zibby Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

When I was 9 or 10 I wrote a piece of creative writing and my teacher told me that “humungous” wasn’t a real word. I knew it was though - I had read the word in countless books! Patty Lin recalls a similar experience but the word aged. Lin spent decades having her writing for television criticized to the point that she learned to question her evident and objective talent for writing comedy and dramedic TV scripts. Basically the business broke her. To say nothing of the racism and sexism she experienced as the only female and Asian in the writing room. If the constant and unfounded criticism didn’t destroy her, the treatment at the hands of decidedly “unwoke” bosses would have. This is the story of how Lin learns to recognize her professional and personal worth; we are lucky she lived to tell the tale and import her beard earned wisdom in this compelling memoir. You’ll never watch an episode of Friends the same way again once you see how the proverbial sausage got made. Thank you to NetGalley and Zibby books for this terrific ARC.

End Credits prompted hours of conversation with my partner. I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I typically seek out more florid language in my memoirs, but Lin's efficient prose and storytelling left me curious about her experience and decision-making. It opened questions for me about how we, as a society, should deal with "bad actors" in any industry and how to make sense of traumatic experiences in the context of concurrent marginalized identities.

I appreciate Lin sharing her story.

Patty Lin has written a wonderful intimate memoir.She brings us into her world writing for tv series classic series such as freaks and geeks and friends.she brings us into the writers room introduces us to the famous actors we watch.She also shares her personal life relationships and her search for happiness.I really enjoyed getting to know her in this entertainG memoir.

Memoirs are my very favorite genre. I absolutely loved reading Patty Lin’s memoir End Credits. I’ll be recommending it to all my friends, for sure. Her decade of working in the stressful world of television writing was riveting. Once she found happiness in her personal life I felt like standing up and cheering. The very best memoirs make you feel like you know the author. It takes a skilled author to give a reader such an intimate look at their life experiences.

End Credits by Patty Lin is as entertaining as the tv shows she has written for! I devoured this memoir at a rapid pace. Lin's writing is straight to the point and descriptive. She writes openly about her desires and interests and I was hooked from the first couple of pages. I studied communications in college and had an interest in writing for tv like Lin. It was a good book for me to read to see what the industry was like when Lin was in it. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Five stars!