About this title: Wry, hilarious, and profoundly genuine, this debut collection of literary essays is a celebration of fallibility and haplessness in all their glory. Crosby's strikingly original voice chronicles the struggles and unexpected beauty of modern urban life.
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Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. 159448306X top right corner slightly dog-eared / light shelf wear / edge wear cover / pages very good condition//"Buy with Confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Customer Service Makes All the Difference. " read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Riverhead Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2008
Description: Ben Gibson (Cover Design) Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Wraps; 230 pages; Textblock is tight with no internal markings; Bright pictorial cover with no tears, no creasing to the spine and modest shelf and edge wear; ...(In a sharp, original storytelling style that confounds expectations at every turn, Crosley recounts her victories and catastrophes with an irresistable voice that is all her own, finding insights in the most unpredictable places. The essays are charming, wise, funny and ... read more
Edition: Later Printing
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Riverhead Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594483066ISBN:159448306X
Description: Very Good + 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Bright, unmarked and unread! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Date Published: 2008-04-01
ISBN-13:9781594483066ISBN:159448306X
Description: New. New paperback book with publisher's inventory mark. We ship 6 days a week, generally within 24 hours; single CDs and DVDs upgraded to 1st class! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Date Published: 2008-04-01
ISBN-13:9781594483066ISBN:159448306X
Description: New in None as issued. jacket. New, unread copy with publishers inventory markWe ship 6 days a week, generally within 24 hours; single CDs and DVDs upgraded to 1st class! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Portobello Books Ltd
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781846271854ISBN:1846271851
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594483066ISBN:159448306X
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 230 p. Audience: General/trade. Multiple copies available, excellent customer service, now and after, tracking number provided read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594483066ISBN:159448306X
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 230 p. Audience: General/trade. Multiple copies available, excellent customer service, now and after, tracking number provided read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: PORTOBELLO BOOKS LTD Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781846271854ISBN:1846271851
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 240 pages. From getting locked out of her flat twice on the same day and being fired for baking a giant cookie in the shape of her boss's head, to playing bridesmaid for a friend she'd long forgotten, sloane crosley can do no right, despite the best of intentions. with sharp, original and irresistible storytelling that confounds expectations at every turn, crosley recounts her victories and catastrophes, finding uproarious comedy and genuine insights in the most ... read more
"First, I have to be fair-I only read about 3/4 of this book because it was all I could stand. Maybe the last 1/4 was amazing.
I found it rambling, uninspired, boring and not very funny. It sounded like the stories you tell your friends-your friends think the stories are funny because they know you. Maybe they even tell you that you're really funny and you should write all these stories down and publish them because you are so funny and your stories are so unique. But you know better. You know that only your friends will think your stories are funny and that they're not really all that different from any other creative type's silly family antics. This lady doesn't seem to catch on to that and she's not my friend so I just don't care about what happens in her fairly tepid life.
I don't know her personally. She's probably fun to hang out with. Or not. But the long winded, self-centered rambling is just too much in this writing. She wants the reader to know her, but I find there wasn't much to know or care about. Stick with Laurie Notaro."
"I learned nothing from this book. Except, had I thought to compile my blog posts and everyday suburban thoughts into a book of essays, I could have been published by age 30.
Sloane would be the spokeswoman of my generation if she had anything moderately interesting to say about us. However, after reading her book about our shared lives of relative privilege I feel as though I was raised in Wonder Bread world with not so much as a dash of Arby's sauce. I have no idea why any of the stories about her life are bookworthy.
Most her essays left me shrugging, "Who cares?" In the past, I have enjoyed reading essayist with backgrounds similar to my own. I take comfort in familiar themes and chuckle over clever turns of phrase. Usually, I learn a word or two. Usually, I feel enlightened. Barring enlightenment, I usually at least have a chuckle.
Sadly, this book is too poorly written, far too lazy in its themes, and fails humor. Reading it was the equivalent of verbal masturbation -there was no anticipation, and there were no surprises."
"This book is so awful, so awful I couldn't bring myself to finish it. Maybe I just missed the punch lines (I think these essays were meant to be humorous), but my overwhelming response to these essays was "So what?" Apparently, they are based upon Ms. Crosley's life--I hate to break it to her, but I just don't think her life has been that interesting. The final affront was an apparent joke in her less-than-humorous essay about a possible move to Australia (thank goodness for us Australians she never made it there)...after the teenage Ms. Crosley's plans for moving to Australia are dashed, she observes that "My Australian dreams had disappeared into the night like a baby in a dingo's jaw (72)." I'm sorry. She can make offensive comments about Australians all she likes--we probably deserve it. But offensive comments about Lindy Chamberlain and her daughter Azaria is another thing--hasn't Lindy Chamberlain already suffered enough? Just give it a rest people. Give the woman the peace she deserves. Wasn't it enough that the Australian media, the Australian public, and the so-called justice system destroyed her life? No, apparently some dim-witted twenty-something year-old in New York City still thinks it's funny to make jokes about the case."
"If someone wants to read this book, I am willing to swap.
Sloane Crosley writes essays about herself. She has a smooth, polished writing style. Her titles are great - standouts include "The Pony Problem," "Bring-Your-Machete-to-Work-Day" and of course "I Was Told There'd Be Cake." Some of her essays are funny and insightful. I particularly liked "The Ursula Cookie" and "Sign Language for Infidels."
Memoir writing is popular now, but there are pitfalls. The first has to do with staging. Basically, this amounts to an author doing something just so that he/she can blog or write about it later. After awhile, friends and families catch on to this sort of thing and become annoyed at being used as props. It's like going on vacation and asking the locals to dress up and pose for you. Ms. Crosley does this in "The Pony Problem," and a few of her other essays feel a bit forced.
The second pitfall has to do with identification. Ms. Crosley affects a hip, breezy, slightly wacky persona that I couldn't identify with. I started feeling sorry for some of the characters in her essays, and wondering what their side of the story was. I thought she was quite mean in "You on a Stick," but maybe that's because I've never been (nor will I ever be) a maid of honor. Whatever; by the end of "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" I was surprised to find that I slightly disliked the author.
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