Overview

Acerbic, wisecracking and hilarious, this is the definitive essay collection from New York legend and satirist, Fran Lebowitz, star of Martin Scorsese's hit Netflix series, Pretend It's a City. 'The gold standard for intelligence, efficiency and humour. Now and forever' DAVID SEDARIS 'She's inexhaustible - her personality, her knowledge, her brilliance, most of all her humour' MARTIN SCORSESE 'The rare example of a legend living up to her own mythology. She really is THAT funny' HADLEY FREEMAN Lebowitz turns her trademark caustic wit to the vicissitudes of life - from children ('rarely in the position to lend one a truly interesting sum of money') to landlords ('it is the solemn duty of every landlord to maintain an adequate supply of roaches'). And her attitude to work is the perfect antidote to our exhausting culture of self-betterment ('3.40pm. I consider getting out of bed. I reject the notion as being unduly vigorous. I read and smoke a bit more'). 'Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things and small people talk about wine' 'Think before you speak. Read before you think' 'All God's children are not beautiful. Most of God's children are, in fact, barely presentable' 'There is no such thing as inner peace. There is only nervousness and death' 'The opposite of talking isn't listening. The opposite of talking is waiting'

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Reviews

The gold standard for intelligence, efficiency and humour. Now and forever -- David Sedaris She's inexhaustible - her personality, her knowledge, her brilliance, most of all her humour -- Martin Scorsese Fran Lebowitz is the rare example of a legend living up to her own mythology. She really is THAT funny -- Hadley Freeman In a world of humming, hawing, couching and obfuscating, there's nothing more refreshing than a dose of Fran Lebowitz -- Caroline O’Donoghue Unique .... Lebowitz offers vocational guides for aspiring heiresses, popes, empresses; manuals for landlords; guidance to the rich who wish to meet the poor * Vogue * The funniest woman in America * Washington Post * Despite now being over 40 years old, the essays still glitter, every bone-dry sentence pared down and packed with her unmistakeable personality -- Hadley Freeman * Guardian * A forcefield of comic self-certainty in a world of anxious uncertainty * Guardian * Right on the mark ... Among the things she hates ... baggage-claim areas, high tech, after-shave lotion, adults who roller skate, children who speak French, or anyone who is unduly tan * Newsweek * Hilarious ... an unlikely and perhaps alarming combination of Mary Hartman and Mary McCarthy.... To a dose of Huck Finn add some Lenny Bruce, Oscar Wilde and Alexis de Tocqueville, a dash of cabdriver, an assortment of puns, minced jargon, and top it off with smarty pants * The New York Times * 'the most well-connected iconoclast since Dorothy Parker' -- Jane Mulkerrins * The Times *

The gold standard for intelligence, efficiency and humour. Now and forever -- David Sedaris She's inexhaustible - her personality, her knowledge, her brilliance, most of all her humour -- Martin Scorsese Fran Lebowitz is the rare example of a legend living up to her own mythology. She really is THAT funny -- Hadley Freeman Unique .... Lebowitz offers vocational guides for aspiring heiresses, popes, empresses; manuals for landlords; guidance to the rich who wish to meet the poor * Vogue * The funniest woman in America * Washington Post * Despite now being over 40 years old, the essays still glitter, every bone-dry sentence pared down and packed with her unmistakeable personality -- Hadley Freeman * Guardian * A forcefield of comic self-certainty in a world of anxious uncertainty * Guardian * Right on the mark ... Among the things she hates ... baggage-claim areas, high tech, after-shave lotion, adults who roller skate, children who speak French, or anyone who is unduly tan * Newsweek * Hilarious ... an unlikely and perhaps alarming combination of Mary Hartman and Mary McCarthy.... To a dose of Huck Finn add some Lenny Bruce, Oscar Wilde and Alexis de Tocqueville, a dash of cabdriver, an assortment of puns, minced jargon, and top it off with smarty pants * The New York Times *

Hilarious ... an unlikely and perhaps alarming combination of Mary Hartman and Mary McCarthy.... To a dose of Huck Finn add some Lenny Bruce, Oscar Wilde and Alexis de Tocqueville, a dash of cabdriver, an assortment of puns, minced jargon, and top it off with smarty pants * The New York Times * Right on the mark ... Among the things she hates ... baggage-claim areas, high tech, after-shave lotion, adults who roller skate, children who speak French, or anyone who is unduly tan * Newsweek * Unique .... Lebowitz offers vocational guides for aspiring heiresses, popes, empresses; manuals for landlords; guidance to the rich who wish to meet the poor * Vogue * The funniest woman in America * Washington Post * A forcefield of comic self-certainty in a world of anxious uncertainty * Guardian *

Author Information

Arriving in New York over fifty years ago, Fran Lebowitz made her name as a columnist on Andy Warhol's Interview magazine, before publishing two bestselling volumes of essays, Metropolitan Life and Social Studies, which are collected in The Fran Lebowitz Reader. She is one of America's most insightful social commentators, a sought-after public speaker, style icon, wit and flaneur. Fran Lebowitz has collaborated with Martin Scorsese on two documentaries: the film Public Speaking in 2010, and the limited series, Pretend It's a City in 2021. Lebowitz lives in New York City, as she does not believe that she would be allowed to live anywhere else.

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