Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Bitter is the New Black

Just finished Bitter Is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered, Smart-Ass, or, Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office : A Memoir by Jen Lancaster.

Funny, funny, funny! Loved it so much, in fact, that I bought one to add to The Michael's (quite late) Christmas gift.

It's either very popular here or there aren't many copies available in the library system, as it took me nearly three months to get my copy. Truly, the title says it all. The tone is egomaniacal and self-centered and smart-assy. And wonderful.

There were moments where I laughed out loud. That doesn't happen often while I'm reading. I'll smile while reading, but seldom more than that. (Unless it's Celia Rivenbark. Then it's a full-out laughfest.)

Memoirs are one of my favorite genres, probably for the same reason that I read blogs -- it's a real person, revealing his or her real life. While the overall tone is snarky, the reader can see a shift later in the book, when Jen contemplates what she did with her money when she had it. And one of the things I most admired in the book was how, despite it all, Jen and her boyfriend (then husband) Fletch stuck by and encouraged each other when they needed it.

An excellent read!

(Oh, and Jen Lancaster is a blogger too, although I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't know that until after I'd gotten the book!)

1 comment:

Vanessa said...

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Jen Lancaster. I am dying for her new book, Such a Pretty Fat to come out. The day it does, I'm locking myself in the bedroom until its finished. Wanna have a Jen Lancaster and see if she'll come?