by Louise Hilton
Need a break from holiday preparations? Curl up with one of Jen Lancaster’s books for a good laugh. Covering everything to adjusting to life in the big bad city (Chicago, for the record) to her hilarious year-long attempt to introduce culture into her life (think a little less Real Housewives and a few more nights at the opera), her memoirs are not to be missed.
Try Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office, her cringe-inducing true-life account of how she went from earning a six-figure salary to being evicted from a low-rent apartment in a span of two years.
Her other books include Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly Ex-Sorority Girl’s Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who Are All These Idiots and Why Do They Live Next Door to Me? and My Fair Lazy; One Reality Television Addict’s Attempt to Discover If Not Being A Dumb Ass Is the New Black; Or, A Culture-Up Manifesto, as well as a novel called If You Were Here.
Her latest memoir, Jeneration X; One Reluctant Adult’s Attempt to Unarrest Her Arrested Development; Or, Why It’s Never Too Late for Her Dumb Ass to Learn Why Froot Loops Are Not for Dinner, is another hit. She also has a new novel, Here I Go Again, coming out in January, so be sure to check your local library for it.
I recommend Jen Lancaster for fans of Celia Rivenbark, Jenny Lawson, and Laurie Notaro.
For more on Lancaster, visit her at http://www.jennsylvania.com/.
