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 - Book for mindlessI couldn't believe this book was actually published commercially. Unbearable, could not read past page 4. Rating:  - Fails to be funnyIt is hard to pinpoint what the writer does wrong - she follows all the standard ways of creating funny prose: unusual situations or embarrassing hobbies or behaviours (the first chapter is about collecting toy ponies), using unexpected adjectives (it is not just a pony, it is a chronically dehydrated pony) and everyday situations described in a hilarious way. Except that the result is not funny and the descriptions are not hilarious- they are boring. It is sad - you can feel that she so much wanted to be the new David Sedaris, but alas, this book is a waste of time. Rating:  - some are better than othersI kind of love this book. Crosley is not quite funny enough, and not quite neurotic enough, but there's a happy balance in there somewhere and this was a comfortable, entertaining, quick read. The first few stories almost put me off, the first one being particularly ridiculous and a serious stretch of patience, but halfway into the book and I couldn't put it down. She has a long way to go if she's aspiring to be David Sedaris or Augusten Burroughs, because her book is definitely mapped out in an identical way - it's a collection of short, humorous 'autobiographical' stories, but there wasn't anything that absolutely made me laugh out loud, even though I know the attempt was plainly there. Regardless, Crosley definitely has a handle on the clever metaphor, and there are a lot of quotable lines in this book, and in the end I think she and I are a lot alike. Maybe that's why I kind of love it. Rating:  - Taking Back The Personal EssayQuite frankly I don't want to read about how someone was abused by their father, or feels there mother doesn't love them, or who got thirty thousand Ph.D's and spent the better years of their life somewhere in the Amazon getting malaria. Really, I don't. Mostly because I love my daddy, my mom might just be the coolest lady ever, and the fact is I'm still trying to figure out how to work my toaster, much less get a Ph.D. It's nice to read things you can relate to, and I can certainly relate to Sloane Crosley. I bought this book in an effort not to read my Geography textbook, and immediately fell in love with Crosley's quirky sense of humor, self-deprecating remarks, and all around human approach to essay writing. I worry about some of the same things she does, because after all if I die tomorrow I do not want people finding those awful peasant skirts in my closet. Lately it seems the personal essay has become something depressing. Who wants to read something depressing? This collection of essays is exactly the kind of essay I would want to write, so it's certainly one I loved to read. I will admit that this book is, quite frankly, not for the male, over forty, humorless, or uptight. Still, for a college girl who still wishes she could be Wonder Woman, this book tells me I'm not alone, and I'm not nearly as weird as I thought I was. Rating: - Tomato TomaatoIt would be interesting to find out the demographics of the people giving this book bad to moderate reviews. I'm guessing that most of them are not from the same generation as Sloane Crosley. So it's understandable if they cannot relate to her and the life experiences described in her essays. But just because THEY can't relate, doesn't mean this is a bad book or that Ms. Crosley is a bad writer, and it certainly doesn't mean that people should be leaving bad reviews. Ms. Crosley is not writing to that audience anyway. If you DO happen to come from the same generation and background as the author (like myself), or just happen to have an appreciation for intelligent and witty writing, then I think you will find this book to be an incredibly engaging and interesting read far above the usual chick-lit fare. While I do agree that there were parts of the book I was expecting to be funnier, the chapters that did have me laughing outloud more than made up for it (The Ursula Cookie, You On A Stick, and Smell This -- to name a few). This book is definitely worth your time.
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