May 16, 2022
Movsesian debuts with a hilarious look at the past 13 years she’s spent “not great at my job” as comedian Conan O’Brien’s personal assistant. As O’Brien succinctly puts it in the book’s foreword, when the two began working together in 2009, “Sona had the capacity to be ‘terrible,’ but she needed... a boss so outrageous, childish, and nonsensical that together we could create an insane dynamic.” Oscillating between raunchy remarks and self-deprecating wit, Movsesian’s narrative brings that unique partnership to life on the page. Among entertaining tales of misadventures on golf carts, starstruck introductions to former presidents, incognito stalkings, and murder fantasies, her narrative offers a refreshing departure from the traditional assistant horror stories of pleasing a tyrant boss who, Movsesian writes, “won’t take kindly to your refusal to not eat shit.” Indeed, many of her recollections exemplify Conan’s good-natured capacity to find humor in train wreck scenarios—often caused by her knack for forgetting his requests (her mantra: “It’ll come to me eventually”). Movsesian also doesn’t hold back in disclosing embarrassing personal experiences (like the time she dated a guy “who forgot my name in the middle of the date”), acknowledging that, despite the discomfort they’ve brought her, they’ve provided great material for her boss. Brimming with heart and humor, this story of failing upward is a hoot.
June 1, 2022
Conan O'Brien's longtime personal assistant dishes on the career she never saw coming. Growing up, Movsesian couldn't get enough TV, from Sesame Street and Mister Rogers to TGIF programming on ABC. "I eventually made it to HBO," she writes, "and from there, any dreams of a more 'productive' hobby were over." After an adolescence spent egging houses and not doing homework, she decided her future was in TV. While a student at USC, Movsesian was hired as an alternative programming intern at NBC without knowing "what the fuck" the job entailed. That experience gave the author her first, most invaluable lesson about work: "Never ask questions and always pretend like you know what you're doing." She also learned that bosses mistreating their employees was the norm. "I've seen people mistreat others because they themselves were mistreated," she writes, "and think it's a rite of passage to treat someone like garbage." At age 26, when a random joke landed her a job as Conan O'Brien's personal assistant, everything changed, and their mutual "juvenile tendencies" began to feed off each other. As he made fun of her and her unadulterated lust for junk food, Movsesian struck back. O'Brien recalls that she retaliated with "ingenious time-sucking distractions"--like watching TV and napping at work--that revealed her "unquenchable thirst to stick it to The Man," which, in this case, was O'Brien himself. Nonetheless, as he reveals in the foreword, even though he calls Movsesian the "World's Worst Assistant," he also praises her as "one of the most honest and really caring people I know." This lighthearted, often amusing book, which also includes black-and-white line-drawn comics, will have greatest appeal to fans of Movsesian (who has appeared on several of Conan's shows, including a special filmed in her ancestral Armenia) and of Conan himself. Playfully surreal reading about the comedy of human foibles.
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June 1, 2022
Movsesian became Conan O'Brien's executive assistant when she was 26, extremely driven, and eager to manifest a fruitful career in the entertainment industry. She hit it off with Conan and shot for the moon. Somewhere along the way, though, Movsesian realized that life isn't all about the hustle and grind. She had a good job working for a boss whom she respected and genuinely enjoyed being around--so she stopped trying so hard all the time. In letting go, Movsesian discovered space for enjoyment and relaxation. By the time she reached her thirties, she was enthusiastically napping at work and confidently failing to complete tasks. But her fierce loyalty and kindness toward O'Brien never wavered. This book is a hilarious memoir of a Hollywood insider. It's also a galvanizing permission slip to stop sweating the small stuff, encouraging readers to approach work with abundant perspective. Movsesian and her boss share a droll rapport and their anecdotes are a gas to read, a testament to the success of the "world's worst assistant."
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Starred review from July 1, 2022
In this career memoir, Movsesian (the long-time assistant to comedian Conan O'Brien, and co-host of his podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend) wonders, "Am I the World's Worst Assistant because I'm terrible at my job, or do I hold that title because I chose to reject every preconceived notion of what it means to be someone's assistant?" "If you bought this book specifically for the foreword [written by O'Brien], I don't blame you," she tells readers. "Perhaps what has kept me employed all these years has been that I'm an endless well of material." That being said, Movsesian endearingly pulls her own comedic weight in this narrative, whether she's attempting to break Robert De Niro's assistant's record for the number of Friends episodes binge-watched in four days while at work (55), stalking Leonardo DiCaprio at a gala, or getting O'Brien's children stuck in a hole on a golf cart on the Warner Bros. backlot. But Movsesian truly shines when she discusses her Armenian heritage, her dating life, and winning a college national speech championship. VERDICT Conan O'Brien fans will find much to love here.--Denise Miller
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