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the feast of the goat 's major themes include political corruption machismo memory and writing and power olga lorenzo reviewer for the melbourne age suggests that overall vargas llosa 's aim is to reveal the irrational forces of latin tradition that give rise to despotism

= = = political corruption = = =

the structure of dominican society was hierarchical with strongly gendered roles rafael trujillo the ruler was a cruel dictator who haunts the people of santo domingo even 35 years after his death he is a true caudillo ruling with brutality and corruption he creates a personality cult in his capitalist society and encourages decadence within his regime prior to promotion to a position of responsibility an officer is required to pass a test of loyalty his people are to remain loyal to him all cost and are periodically tested by public humiliation and censure even though acts of disloyalty were rare trujillo violates women and children as an expression of political and sexual power and in some cases takes the wife or child of his lieutenants many of whom still remain blindly loyal even the church and military institutions are employed to give women to the tyrant for pleasure
many of the assassins had belonged to the trujillo regime or had at one point been its staunch supporters only to find their support for him eroded by the state 's crimes against its people imbert one of the assassins sums up this realization in a comment prompted by the murder of the mirabal sisters they kill our fathers our brothers our friends and now they 're killing our women and here we sit resigned waiting our turn in an interview vargas llosa describes the corruption and brutality of trujillo 's regime he had more or less all the common traits of a latin american dictator but pushed to the extreme in cruelty i think he went far far away from the rest and in corruption too

= = = <unk> = = =

according to literary scholar peter anthony <unk> the two important components of machismo are aggressive behaviour and hyper @@ sexuality aggressive behaviour is exhibited by displays of power and strength while hyper @@ sexuality is revealed through sexual activity with as many partners as possible these two components shape the portrayal of trujillo and his regime in the feast of the goat as lorenzo observes vargas llosa reveals traditions of machismo of abusive fathers and of child @@ rearing practices that repeat the shaming of children so that each generation bequeaths a withering of the soul to the subsequent one
in a display of both aspects of machismo trujillo demanded of his aides and cabinet that they provide him with sexual access to their wives and daughters mario vargas llosa wrote of trujillo 's machismo and treatment of women [ h ] e went to bed with his ministers ' wives not only because he liked these ladies but because it was a way to test his ministers he wanted to know if they were ready to accept this extreme humiliation mainly the ministers were prepared to play this grotesque role and they remained loyal to trujillo even after his death trujillo 's sexual conquests and public humiliations of his enemies also serve to affirm his political power and machismo in <unk> 's words the implication is that maximum virility equals political dominance
trujillo 's attempted sexual conquest of urania is an example of both political manipulation of agustín cabral and sexual power over young women however as trujillo 's penis remains flaccid throughout the encounter and he is humiliated in front of the young girl the encounter fails to satisfy his requirements for machismo

= = = memory = = =

all of the novel 's storylines concern memory in some sense or another the most apparent confrontation of memory is on the part of urania cabral who has returned to the dominican republic for the first time in 30 years and is forced to confront her father and the traumas that led her to leave the country at 14 she was the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of the dictator himself a sacrifice her father made to try to gain favor with the dictator again a fact to which she alludes throughout the book but which is only revealed at the very end the book concludes with her recounting the memory of that night to her aunt and cousins who never knew the true reason she left the country when her aunt is surprised that she remembers all these details she responds that while she forgets many things i remember everything about that night for urania forgetting the atrocities committed by the regime is unacceptable her father on the other hand is not capable of joining her in this process of remembering since he has suffered a stroke and is not capable of speaking however urania is angry that he chose to forget these things while he was still capable of acknowledging them
memory is also important in the sections of the novel that deal with the assassins each recalls the events that led him to take part in the assassination of trujillo these incidents included the 1956 <unk> kidnapping and murder the 1960 murder of the mirabal sisters and the 1961 split with the catholic church these historical events are used by vargas llosa to connect the assassins with specific moments that demonstrate the violence of trujillo 's regime trujillo too is shown reflecting on the past not least his own formation and training at the hands of the us marines
but above all mario vargas llosa uses the fictional urania to facilitate the novel 's attempt at remembering the regime the novel opens and closes with urania 's story effectively framing the narrative in the terms of remembering the past and understanding its legacy in the present in addition because of her academic study of the history of the trujillo regime urania is also confronting the memory of the regime for the country as a whole this is in keeping with one purpose of the book which is to ensure that the atrocities of the dictatorship and the dangers of absolute power will be remembered by a new generation

= = = writing and power = = =

in her treatment of the novel maría regina ruiz claims that power gives its wielder the ability to make prohibitions prohibitions that are reflected in history the study of which reveals what is and what is not told the government 's actions in the feast of the goat demonstrate the discourse of prohibition foreign newspapers and magazines were prohibited from entering trujillo 's country as they were seen as a threat to the government 's ideas mario vargas llosa takes part in this discourse by recounting what was prohibited
ruiz notes that writing also has the power to transform reality it brings the reader back to the past allowing the reader to comprehend myths or distorted stories told by historians ruiz contends that knowing the past is crucial to one 's understanding of the present that takes us to postmodernism and argues that the feast of the goat can thus be seen as a postmodern discourse that gives power to history recreation
the construction of fictions surrounding the events of trujillo 's regime allow a degree of freedom from the horrors that took places author julia alvarez contends that these events can only finally be understood by fiction only finally be redeemed by the imagination while richard patterson claims that vargas llosa <unk> and to a large degree <unk> trujillo and his brutal reign through use of narrative structure vargas llosa 's writing acts as a cathartic force for this period in history

= = fact and fiction = =

the novel is a combination of fact and fiction blending together these two elements is important in any historical novel but especially in the feast of the goat because vargas llosa chose to narrate an actual event through the minds of both real and fictional characters some characters are fictional and those that are non @@ fictional still have fictionalized aspects in the book the general details of the assassination are true and the assassins are all real people while they lie in wait for the dictator to arrive they recount actual crimes of the regime such as the murder of the mirabal sisters however other details are invented by vargas llosa such as amadito 's murder of the brother of the woman he loved
those within the regime are also a mix of fictional characters and real people president balaguer is real but the entire cabral family is completely fictional according to wolff vargas llosa uses history as a starting point in constructing a fictionalized account of trujillo 's spiritual colonization of the dominican republic as experienced by one dominican family the fictional cabral family allows vargas llosa to show two sides of the trujillo regime through agustin the reader sees ultimate dedication and sacrifice to the leader of the nation through urania the violence of the regime and the legacy of pain it left behind vargas llosa also fictionalized the internal thoughts of the characters who were non @@ fictional especially those of the goat himself according to literary scholar richard patterson vargas llosa 's expands all the way into the very dark area of trujillo 's consciousness ( as the storyteller dares to conceive it )
vargas llosa also built an image of the regime with the troubled historical events with regard to the historical accuracy of the book vargas llosa has said it 's a novel not a history book so i took many many liberties the only limitation i imposed on myself was that i was not going to invent anything that couldn 't have happened within the framework of life in the dominican republic i have respected the basic facts but i have changed and deformed many things in order to make the story more persuasive and i have not exaggerated

= = critical reception = =

the realist style of the feast of the goat is recognized by some reviewers as being a break from a more allegorical approach to the dictator novel the novel received largely positive reviews most of which were willing to accept sacrifices of historical accuracy in favour of good storytelling
a common comment on the novel is the graphic nature of the many acts of torture and murder which are depicted in the novel vargas lets the reader see the realities of an oppressive regime with a degree of detail not often used by his compatriots in latin american literature as michael wood suggests in the london review of books vargas llosa tells us far more about the details of day @@ to @@ day intrigue and the sordid sadistic minutiae of torture and murder walter kirn of the new york times suggests that the grisly scenes of dungeon interrogations and torture sessions cast other aspects of the novel in a pale light draining them of their significance and impact similarly kirn implies that the narrative machinery mentioned by wood as being somewhat unwieldy also produces a largely superfluous storyline the plot line centered on urania cabral is described by sturrock as being an emotional centre that focuses the novel and wood agrees that her confrontations with past demons hold the readers attention in contrast kirn 's review states that urania 's segments are talky and atmospheric [ and ] seem to be on loan from another sort of book
most reviews of the feast of the goat make either indirect of direct reference to the relationship between sexuality and power salon reviewer laura miller writer for the observer jonathan heawood walter kirn and michael wood each detail the connection between trujillo 's gradual loss of ultimate control both over his body and his followers the means by which trujillo reinforces political power through sexual acts and begins to lose personal conviction as his body fails him are topics of frequent discussion among reviewers
in 2011 bernard diederich author of the 1978 non @@ fiction book trujillo the death of the goat accused vargas @@ llosa of plagiarism

= = adaptations = =

an english @@ language film adaptation of the novel was made in 2005 directed by luis llosa mario vargas llosa 's cousin it stars isabella rossellini as urania cabral paul freeman as her father agustin stephanie leonidas as <unk> and tomas milian as rafael leonidas trujillo it was filmed in both the dominican republic and in spain reviewing the film for the trade paper variety critic jonathan holland called it less a feast than a somewhat rushed but thoroughly enjoyable three @@ course meal commenting that the main difference from the source novel was the sacrifice of psychological nuance
the novel has also been adapted for the stage by jorge alí triana and his daughter veronica triana directed by jorge triana the play was put on ( in spanish but with simultaneous translation to english ) at <unk> español ( <unk> / chivo ) in new york in 2003 and the production moved to lima in 2007 a feature of the novel 's stage version is that the same actor plays both agustin cabral and rafael trujillo for reviewer bruce weber this makes the point that trujillo 's control of the nation depended on gutless collaborators


= charles eaton ( raaf officer ) =

charles eaton obe afc ( 21 december 1895 12 november 1979 ) was a senior officer and aviator in the royal australian air force ( raaf ) who later served as a diplomat born in london he joined the british army upon the outbreak of world war i and saw action on the western front before transferring to the royal flying corps in 1917 posted as a bomber pilot to no 206 squadron he was twice captured by german forces and twice escaped eaton left the military in 1920 and worked in india until moving to australia in 1923 two years later he joined the raaf serving initially as an instructor at no 1 flying training school between 1929 and 1931 he was chosen to lead three expeditions to search for lost aircraft in central australia gaining national attention and earning the air force cross for his zeal and devotion to duty
in 1939 on the eve of world war ii eaton became the inaugural commanding officer of no 12 ( general purpose ) squadron at the newly established raaf station darwin in northern australia promoted group captain the following year he was appointed an officer of the order of the british empire in 1942 he took command of no 79 wing at batchelor northern territory in 1943 and was mentioned in despatches during operations in the south west pacific retiring from the raaf in december 1945 eaton took up diplomatic posts in the dutch east indies heading a united nations commission as consul @@ general during the indonesian national revolution he returned to australia in 1950 and served in canberra for a further two years popularly known as moth eaton he was a farmer in later life and died in 1979 at the age of 83 he is commemorated by several memorials in the northern territory

= = early life and world war i = =

charles eaton was born on 21 december 1895 in lambeth london the son of william walpole eaton a butcher and his wife grace schooled in wandsworth charles worked in battersea town council from the age of fourteen before joining the london regiment upon the outbreak of world war i in august 1914 attached to a bicycle company in the 24th battalion of the 47th division he arrived at the western front in march 1915 he took part in trench bombing missions and attacks on enemy lines of communication seeing action in the battles of aubers ridge festubert loos and the somme
on 14 may 1915 eaton transferred to the royal flying corps ( rfc ) undergoing initial pilot training at oxford while he was landing his maurice farman shorthorn at the end of his first solo flight another student collided with him and was killed but eaton emerged uninjured he was commissioned in august and was awarded his wings in october ranked lieutenant he served with no 110 squadron which operated martinsyde g100 elephant fighters out of <unk> defending london against zeppelin airships transferred to the newly formed royal air force ( raf ) in april 1918 he was posted the following month to france flying airco dh9 single @@ engined bombers with no 206 squadron on 29 june he was shot down behind enemy lines and captured in the vicinity of <unk> incarcerated in holzminden prisoner @@ of @@ war camp germany eaton escaped but was recaptured and court @@ martialled after which he was kept in solitary confinement he later effected another escape and succeeded in rejoining his squadron in the final days of the war

= = between the wars = =

eaton remained in the raf following the cessation of hostilities he married beatrice godfrey in st thomas 's church at shepherd 's bush london on 11 january 1919 posted to no 1 squadron he was a pilot on the first regular passenger service between london and paris ferrying delegates to and from the peace conference at versailles eaton was sent to india in december to undertake aerial survey work including the first such survey of the himalayas he resigned from the raf in july 1920 remaining in india to take up employment with the imperial forest service after successfully applying for a position with the queensland forestry service he and his family migrated to australia in 1923 moving to south yarra victoria he enlisted as a flying officer in the royal australian air force ( raaf ) at laverton on 14 august 1925 he was posted to no 1 flying training school at raaf point cook as a flight instructor where he became known as a strict disciplinarian who trained his pilots well here eaton acquired his nickname of moth the air force 's basic trainer at this time being the de havilland dh60 moth promoted flight lieutenant in february 1928 he flew a moth in the 1929 east @@ west air race from sydney to perth as part of the celebrations for the western australia centenary he was the sixth competitor across the line after fellow rfc veteran jerry pentland
regarded as one of the raaf 's most skilful cross @@ country pilots and navigators eaton came to public attention as leader of three military expeditions to find lost aircraft in central australia between 1929 and 1931 in april 1929 he coordinated the air force 's part in the search for aviators keith anderson and bob hitchcock missing in their aircraft the kookaburra while themselves looking for charles kingsford smith and charles ulm who had force landed the southern cross in north western australia during a flight from sydney three of the raaf 's five ancient dh9 biplanes went down in the search though all crews escaped injury including eaton 's which experienced what he labelled a good crash on 21 april near tennant creek after the engine 's pistons melted the same day captain lester brain flying a qantas aircraft located the wreck of the kookaburra in the tanami desert approximately 130 kilometres ( 81 mi ) east @@ south @@ east of wave hill setting out from wave hill on 23 april eaton led a ground party across rough terrain that reached the crash site four days later and buried the crew who had perished of thirst and exposure not a particularly religious man he recalled that after the burial he saw a perfect cross formed by cirrus cloud in an otherwise clear blue sky above the kookaburra the air board described the raaf 's search as taking 240 hours flying time under the most trying conditions where a forced landing meant certain crash in november 1930 eaton was selected to lead another expedition for a missing aircraft near ayers rock but it was called off soon afterwards when the pilot showed up in alice springs the next month he was ordered to search for wl <unk> and sj hamre who had disappeared in the biplane golden quest 2 while attempting to discover lasseter 's reef employing a total of four dh60 moths the raaf team located the missing men near dashwood creek on 7 january 1931 and they were rescued four days later by a ground party accompanied by eaton staying in nearby alice springs he recommended a site for the town 's new airfield which was approved and has remained in use since its construction
eaton was awarded the air force cross on 10 march 1931 in recognition of his zeal and devotion to duty in conducting flights to central australia in search of missing aviators the media called him the ' knight errant ' of the desert skies aside from his crash landing in the desert while searching for the kookaburra eaton had another narrow escape in 1929 when he was test flying the wackett warrigal i with sergeant eric douglas having purposely put the biplane trainer into a spin and finding no response in the controls when he tried to recover eaton called on douglas to bail out when douglas stood up to do so the spin stopped apparently due to his torso changing the airflow over the tail plane eaton then managed to land the aeroplane he and his passenger both badly shaken by the experience in december 1931 he was posted to no 1 aircraft depot at laverton where he continued to fly as well as performing administrative work promoted squadron leader in 1936 he undertook a clandestine mission around the new year to scout for suitable landing grounds in the dutch east indies primarily timor and ambon wearing civilian clothes he and his companion were arrested and held for three days by local authorities in koepang dutch timor eaton was appointed commanding officer ( co ) of no 21 squadron in may 1937 one of his first tasks being to undertake another aerial search in central australia this time for prospector sir herbert gepp who was subsequently discovered alive and well later that year eaton presided over the court of inquiry into the crash of a hawker demon biplane in victoria recommending a gallantry award for aircraftman william mcaloney who had leapt into the demon 's burning wreckage in an effort to rescue its pilot mcaloney subsequently received the albert medal for his heroism
following a 1937 decision to establish the first north australian raaf base in april 1938 eaton now on the headquarters staff of raaf station laverton and wing commander george jones director of personnel services at raaf headquarters began developing plans for the new station to be commanded by jones and a new squadron that would be based there led by eaton the next month they flew an avro anson on an inspection tour of darwin northern territory site of the proposed base delays meant that no 12 ( general purpose ) squadron was not formed until 6 february 1939 at laverton jones had by now moved on to another posting but eaton took up the squadron 's command as planned promoted to wing commander on 1 march he and his equipment officer flying officer hocking were ordered to build up the unit as quickly as possible and established an initial complement of fourteen officers and 120 airmen plus four ansons and four demons within a week an advance party of thirty ncos and airmen under hocking began moving to darwin on 1 july staff were initially accommodated in a former <unk> built during world war i and life at the newly established air base had a distinctly raw pioneering feel about it according to historian chris coulthard @@ clark morale though was high on 31 august no 12 squadron launched its first patrol over the darwin area flown by one of seven ansons that had so far been delivered these were augmented by a flight of four cac wirraways ( replacing the originally planned force of demons ) that took off from laverton on 2 september the day before australia declared war and arrived in darwin four days later a fifth wirraway in the flight crashed on landing at darwin killing both crewmen

= = world war ii = =

once war was declared darwin began to receive more attention from military planners in june 1940 no 12 squadron was cannibalised to form two additional units headquarters raaf station darwin and no 13 squadron no 12 squadron retained its wirraway flight while its two flights of ansons went to the new squadron these were replaced later that month by more capable lockheed hudsons eaton was appointed co of the base gaining promotion to temporary group captain in september his squadrons were employed in escort maritime reconnaissance and coastal patrol duties the overworked aircraft having to be sent to raaf station richmond new south wales after every 240 hours flying time with a consequent three @@ week loss from darwin 's strength as deep maintenance was not yet possible in the northern territory soon after the establishment of headquarters raaf station darwin minister for air james fairbairn visited the base piloting his own light plane he was greeted by four wirraways that proceeded to escort him into landing the minister subsequently complimented eaton on the keen @@ ness and efficiency of all ranks particularly considering the challenging environment when fairbairn died in the canberra air disaster shortly afterwards his pilot was flight lieutenant robert hitchcock son of bob hitchcock of the kookaburra and also a former member of eaton 's no 21 squadron
as senior air commander in the region eaton sat on the darwin defence co @@ ordination committee he was occasionally at loggerheads with his naval counterpart captain ep thomas and also incurred the ire of trade unionists when he used raaf staff to unload ships in port darwin during industrial action eaton himself took part in the work shovelling coal alongside his men on 25 february 1941 he made a flight north to reconnoitre timor ambon and babo in dutch new guinea for potential use by the raaf in any pacific conflict by april the total strength based at raaf station darwin had increased to almost 700 officers and airmen by the following month it had been augmented by satellite airfields at bathurst island groote eylandt batchelor and katherine handing over command of darwin to group captain frederick scherger in october eaton took charge of no 2 service flying training school near wagga wagga new south wales his marked success untiring energy and tact in handling men while in the northern territory were recognised in the new year with his appointment as an officer of the order of the british empire eaton became co of no 1 engineering school and its base raaf station ascot vale victoria in april 1942 twelve months later in townsville queensland he formed no 72 wing which subsequently deployed to merauke in dutch new guinea comprising no 84 squadron ( flying cac boomerang fighters ) no 86 squadron ( p @@ 40 kittyhawk fighters ) and no 12 squadron ( a @@ 31 vengeance dive bombers ) his relations with north @@ eastern area command in townsville were strained mountains were made out of molehills in his opinion and he was reassigned that july to lead no 2 bombing and gunnery school in port pirie south australia
on 30 november 1943 eaton returned to the northern territory to establish no 79 wing at batchelor comprising no 1 and no 2 squadrons ( flying bristol beaufort light reconnaissance bombers ) no 31 squadron ( bristol beaufighter long @@ range fighters ) and no 18 ( netherlands east indies ) squadron ( b @@ 25 mitchell medium bombers ) he developed a good relationship with his dutch personnel who called him oom charles ( uncle charles ) operating under the auspices of north @@ western area command ( nwa ) darwin eaton 's forces participated in the new guinea and north @@ western area campaigns during 1944 in which he regularly flew on missions himself through march april his beaufighters attacked enemy shipping while the mitchells and beauforts bombed timor on a daily basis as a prelude to operations reckless and persecution the invasions of hollandia and aitape on 19 april he organised a large raid against su dutch timor employing thirty @@ five mitchells beauforts and beaufighters to destroy the town 's barracks and fuel dumps the results earning him the personal congratulations of the air officer commanding nwa air vice marshal king cole for his splendid effort on the day of the allied landings 22 april the mitchells and beaufighters made a daylight raid on dili portuguese timor the ground assault met little opposition credited in part to the air bombardment in the days leading up to it in june july no 79 wing supported the allied attack on noemfoor eaton was recommended to be mentioned in despatches on 28 october 1944 for his gallant and distinguished service in nwa this was promulgated in the london gazette on 9 march 1945
completing his tour with no 79 wing eaton was appointed air officer commanding southern area melbourne in january 1945 the german submarine u @@ 862 operated off southern australia during the first months of 1945 and the few combat units in eaton 's command were heavily engaged in anti @@ submarine patrols which sought to locate this and any other u @@ boats in the area the air officer commanding raaf command air vice marshal bill bostock considered the sporadic attacks to be partly nuisance value designed to draw allied resources away from the front line of the south west pacific war in april eaton complained to bostock that intelligence from british pacific fleet concerning its ships ' movements eastwards out of western area was hours out of date by the time it was received at southern area command leading to raaf aircraft missing their rendezvous and wasting valuable flying hours searching empty ocean there had been no u @@ boat strikes since february and by june the naval authorities indicated that there was no pressing need for air cover except for the most important vessels

= = post @@ war career and legacy = =

eaton retired from the raaf on 31 december 1945 in recognition of his war service he was appointed a commander of the order of orange @@ nassau with swords by the dutch government on 17 january 1946 the same month he became australian consul in dili he had seen an advertisement for the position and was the only applicant with experience of the area while based there he accompanied the provincial governor on visits to townships damaged in allied raids during the war taking care to be circumspect about the part played by his own forces from no 79 wing in july 1947 dutch forces launched a police action against territory held by the fledgling indonesian republic which had been declared shortly after the end of the war following a ceasefire the united nations set up a commission chaired by eaton as consul @@ general to monitor progress eaton and his fellow commissioners believed that the ceasefire was serving the dutch as a cover for further penetration of republican enclaves his requests to the australian government for military observers led to deployment of the first peacekeeping force to the region the australians were soon followed by british and us observers and enabled eaton to display a more realistic impression of the situation to the outside world the dutch administration strongly opposed the presence of un forces and accused eaton of impropriety but the australian government refused to recall him following the transfer of sovereignty in december 1949 he became australia 's first secretary and chargé d 'affaires to the republic of the united states of indonesia in 1950 he returned to australia to serve with the department of external affairs in canberra after retiring from public service in 1951 he and his wife farmed at <unk> victoria and cultivated orchids they later moved to frankston where eaton was involved in promotional work
charles eaton died in frankston on 12 november 1979 survived by his wife and two sons he was cremated in accordance with his wishes his ashes were scattered near tennant creek site of his 1929 forced landing during the search for the kookaburra from an raaf caribou on 15 april 1981 his name figures prominently in the northern territory commemorated by lake eaton in central australia eaton place in the darwin suburb of karama charles eaton drive on the approach to darwin international airport and the charles moth eaton saloon bar in the tennant creek goldfields hotel he is also honoured with a display at the northern territory parliament and a national trust memorial at tennant creek airport at the raaf 's 2003 history conference air commodore mark lax recalling eaton 's search @@ and @@ rescue missions between the wars commented today we might think of eaton perhaps as the pioneer of our contribution to assistance to the civil community a tradition that continues today perhaps i might jog your memory to a more recent series of rescues no less hazardous for all concerned the amazing location of missing yachtsmen thierry dubois isabelle <unk> and tony <unk> by our p @@ 3s that guided the navy to their eventual rescue my observation is that such activities remain vital for our relevance in that we must remain connected supportive and responsive to the wants and needs of the australian community


= tina fey =

elizabeth <unk> tina fey ( / <unk> / born may 18 1970 ) is an american actress comedian writer and producer she is best known for her work on the nbc sketch comedy series saturday night live ( 1998 @@ 2006 ) for her impression of former alaska governor and 2008 vice @@ presidential candidate sarah palin and for creating acclaimed series 30 rock ( 2006 2013 ) and unbreakable kimmy schmidt ( 2015 present ) she is also well known for appearing in films such as mean girls ( 2004 ) baby mama ( 2008 ) date night ( 2010 ) muppets most wanted ( 2014 ) and sisters ( 2015 )
fey broke into comedy as a featured player in the chicago @@ based improvisational comedy group the second city she then joined snl as a writer later becoming head writer and a performer known for her position as co @@ anchor in the weekend update segment in 2004 she co @@ starred in and wrote the screenplay for mean girls which was adapted from the 2002 self @@ help book queen bees and wannabes after leaving snl in 2006 she created the television series 30 rock for broadway video a situation comedy loosely based on her experiences at snl in the series fey portrays the head writer of a fictional sketch comedy series in 2008 she starred in the comedy film baby mama alongside former snl co @@ star amy poehler fey next appeared in the 2010 comedy film date night and the animated film megamind in 2015 she created and produced the television series unbreakable kimmy schmidt originally for nbc and eventually for netflix her recent films include sisters and whiskey tango foxtrot
fey has received eight emmy awards two golden globe awards five screen actors guild awards and four writers guild of america awards and was nominated for a grammy award for her autobiographical book bossypants which topped the new york times best seller list for five weeks in 2008 the associated press gave fey the ap entertainer of the year award for her satirical portrayal of republican vice presidential candidate sarah palin in a guest appearance on snl in 2010 fey was awarded the mark twain prize for american humor becoming the youngest @@ ever recipient of the award on january 13 2013 fey hosted the 70th golden globe awards with her long @@ time friend and fellow comedian amy poehler to critical acclaim the duo hosted again the following two years generating the highest ratings for the annual ceremony in a decade and receiving similar acclaim

= = early life = =

fey was born on may 18 1970 in upper darby pennsylvania a suburb of philadelphia her mother zenobia jeanne ( née <unk> ) is a brokerage employee her father donald henry fey ( died 2015 age 82 ) was a university grant proposal writer she has a brother peter who is eight years older fey 's mother who was born in piraeus greece is the daughter of greek immigrants <unk> <unk> fey 's maternal grandmother left petrina laconia greece on her own arriving in the united states in february 1921
fey 's father had english german and northern irish ancestry one of fey 's paternal great @@ great @@ great @@ great @@ great @@ grandfathers was john hewson ( 1744 1821 ) a textile manufacturer who immigrated to america with the support of benjamin franklin enabling hewson to quickly open a quilting factory in the kensington neighborhood of philadelphia pennsylvania according to a genealogical dna test arranged by the television series finding your roots fey 's ancestry is 94 european 3 middle eastern and 3 from the caucasus
fey was exposed to comedy early
at age 11 fey read joe franklin 's seventy years of great film comedians for a school project about comedy she grew up watching second city television and has cited catherine o 'hara as a role model
fey attended cardington @@ stonehurst elementary school and beverly hills middle school in upper darby by middle school she knew she was interested in comedy fey attended upper darby high school where she was an honors student a member of the choir drama club and tennis team and co @@ editor of the school 's newspaper the acorn she also anonymously wrote the newspaper 's satirical column the colonel following her graduation in 1988 fey enrolled at the university of virginia where she studied play @@ writing and acting and was awarded the pettway prize she graduated in 1992 with a bachelor of arts degree in drama
after college she worked as a receptionist during the day at the evanston ymca and took classes at second city at night

= = career = =


= = = saturday night live ( 1997 2006 ) = = =

while performing shows with the second city in 1997 fey submitted several scripts to nbc 's variety show saturday night live ( snl ) at the request of its head writer adam mckay a former performer at second city she was hired as a writer for snl following a meeting with snl creator lorne michaels and moved to new york from chicago fey told the new yorker i 'd had my eye on the show forever the way other kids have their eye on derek jeter originally fey struggled at snl her first sketch to air starred chris farley in a sally jessy raphael satire fey went on to write a series of parodies including one of abc 's morning talk show the view she co @@ wrote the sully and denise sketches with rachel dratch who plays one of the teens
fey was an extra in a 1998 episode and after watching herself decided to diet and lost 30 pounds she told the new york times i was a completely normal weight but i was here in new york city i had money and i couldn 't buy any clothes after i lost weight there was interest in putting me on camera in 1999 mckay stepped down as head writer which led michaels to approach fey for the position she became snl 's first female head writer that year
in 2000 fey began performing in sketches and she and jimmy fallon became co @@ anchors of snl 's weekend update segment fey said she did not ask to audition but that michaels approached her michaels explained that there was chemistry between fey and fallon though the decision was kind of risky at the time her role in weekend update was well received by critics ken tucker of entertainment weekly wrote fey delivers such blow darts poison filled jokes written in long precisely parsed sentences unprecedented in update history with such a bright sunny countenance makes her all the more devilishly delightful dennis miller a former cast member of snl and anchor of weekend update was pleased with fey as one of the anchors for the segment fey might be the best weekend update anchor who ever did it she writes the funniest jokes robert bianco of usa today however commented that he was not enamored of the pairing
in 2001 fey and the rest of the writing staff won a writers guild of america award for snl 's 25th anniversary special the following year at the 2002 emmy awards ceremony they won the emmy for outstanding writing for a variety music or comedy program
when fallon left the show in may 2004 he was replaced on weekend update by amy poehler it was the first time that two women co @@ anchored weekend update fey revealed that she hired poehler as her co @@ host for the segment the reception was positive with rachel sklar of the chicago tribune noting that the pairing has been a hilarious pitch @@ perfect success as they play @@ off each other with quick one @@ liners and deadpan delivery
the 2005 2006 season was her last she departed to develop 30 rock for broadway video at the time she left the 117 episodes she co @@ hosted made her snl 's longest @@ serving weekend update anchor a mark that would later be passed by her replacement seth meyers in rolling stone magazine 's february 2015 appraisal of all 141 snl cast members to date fey was ranked third in importance ( behind john belushi and eddie murphy ) they credited her with salvaging ' update ' from a decade @@ long losing streak and slapping snl out of its late @@ nineties coma

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