End Credits

What happens when you land your dream job and everything you've been working toward becomes a complete nightmare? This is Patty Lin's story. She climbed the ladder as an award-winning television writer (often the only Asian person in the room) only to be confronted by discouragement, burnout, and toxicity.

Ever since Patty Lin retired from television writing at the ripe age of thirty-eight, people have asked her: “Why would you quit such a cool career?” Especially when they find out she worked on some of the most successful shows in television history. But what if achieving your professional dreams comes at too high a personal cost? That’s what Patty Lin started to ask herself after years in the cutthroat TV industry. One minute she was a tourist, begging her way into the audience of Late Night with David Letterman. Just a few years later, she was an insider who―through relentless hard work and sacrifice―had earned a seat in the writers’ rooms of the hottest TV shows of all time.

While writing for Friends, Freaks and Geeks, Desperate Housewives and Breaking Bad, Patty steeled herself against the indignities of a chaotic, abusive, male-dominated work culture, not just as one of the few women in the room, but as the only Asian person.

Funny, eye-opening, and sobering, this inside-Hollywood story will resonate with anyone who has struggled with their work and on their life journey. And it will inspire others to listen to their inner voices and know when it’s time to get out.

These book club discussion questions were provided by Zibby Books.

Book club questions for End Credits by Patty Lin

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

In the first chapter, Patty talks about the television shows she loved as a child, like The Brady Bunch, The Muppet Show, The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island. Do you remember your favorite shows from childhood? What memories do they evoke for you?

When Patty and her family move to New Jersey, Patty turns to writing to help combat her loneliness. She takes the stories she’s seen on soap operas and turns them into stories about her future marriage to Boy George. Who was your first musical crush? Did they help you get through any rough patches in your life? What other coping mechanisms did you learn as a child or young adult?

Patty’s first internship is with Late Night with David Letterman. What do you think she learned from her internship? How do you think her internship influenced the rest of her career?

In Chapter 2, Patty starts dating Carl, who she originally met the first time she went to see Late Night with David Letterman. What did you think of Carl when you first met him, and was it a surprise to see him show up again? At this point in the book, did you think Carl will be an important relationship for Patty? Why or why not?

Patty often had a difficult time explaining her career to her parents, especially when she was writing spec scripts. How do you think Patty’s parents’ own upbringing influenced how they talked to Patty about her career? Have you ever had anyone express doubt about your job? How did you deal with it?

Patty’s first job in Los Angeles is as an assistant to the director of ATF. Initially it seemed great, but Patty had some hard lessons to learn. How do you think Patty could have handled her job differently? What do you think the job taught her? Have you ever had a job where you had to learn something the hard way?

When Patty writes her first script and it gets distributed, Carl takes her to a bed-and-breakfast to celebrate. While she’s there, she discovers that a lot of the script she wrote has been changed. What do you think that experience was like for Patty? How would you feel if you created something and it got altered without your knowledge? Would you have kept working in the industry if something like that happened to you?

Working on Freaks & Geeks was an empowering experience for Patty, both in the writer's room and as a producer. What do you think Patty learned from working on Freaks & Geeks? How did her time there influence her career overall?

After tough years at Friends and Citizen Baines, Patty realizes she’s burnt out and needs to take some time off. She takes a sabbatical for a year, focusing on self-care and rebuilding her relationship with herself and her art. Do you think Patty could have prevented the burnout she experienced? Have you ever experienced burnout? What did you do to recover?

Patty uses things like yoga, therapy, and The Artist’s Way to recover during her burnout. How do you think about self-care? How does self-care impact your ability to do your job?

While on her sabbatical, Patty starts pitching pilot ideas. If you were going to pitch a TV pilot, what would it be about?

At the end of Chapter 10, Patty and Carl break up after 10 years together. How did their relationship change over time? How did it stay the same? What did you think about Carl when their relationship ended versus when Patty first met Carl in New York?

In Chapter 12, Patty meets Mike through a mutual friend. How is Patty’s relationship with Mike different from her relationship with Carl? What did she learn from her relationship with Carl that allowed her to be in a relationship with Mike?

After Patty’s job with Breaking Bad, she talks with a Zen teacher about her career. Ultimately, she decides to quit the industry. Do you think Patty’s decision would have been different if her experience at Breaking Bad had been different? How do you think her entire career influenced her decision to leave the industry?

How did Patty’s relationship with her writing change over time? Where was she at the end of the book, and what do you think she learned about her writing from her experiences?

What did Patty’s book teach you?

End Credits Book Club Questions PDF

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