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36th out of 83 books
—
400 voters
People Are Unappealing: Even Me
by
Sara Barron (Goodreads Author)
Born the child of a homo and a hypochondriac (Okay, okay. Her dad’s not really a homosexual. He just acts like it. Her mom, however, really is a hypochondriac), Sara Barron never stood a chance of being normal. At age eleven, she starts writing porn (“He humped me wildly with his wiener”). At twelve, she gets mistaken for a trannie. The pre-op sort, no less. By seventeen,...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
March 10th 2009
by Three Rivers Press
(first published March 10th 2008)
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now we are cooking with gas... this is what i thought that sloane crosley book would be like. and that's a fine book, i just felt that there was a tendency she had to hold back a little - to be cautious and careful and remain dignified. and no one wants to read that. don't pretend to splatter your embarrassing secrets in a humor-memoir and still try to look pretty. it ends up being like a wb version of david sedaris. this book however, is a very funny, unselfconscious book. i don't know that if...more
This book is not intelligent, it isn't horribly witty, and it doesn't make me rethink the social situation of the world.
It is base, in your face humor, and I like that in a book. I actually think I like it more in a self aware book about how the writer is basically a complete failure as a human being and isn't even particularly funny, at least not in a way that anyone who is horribly drunk at a bachelor party would recognize.
Sara Barron congratulations you have succeeded.
Does anyone else thin...more
It is base, in your face humor, and I like that in a book. I actually think I like it more in a self aware book about how the writer is basically a complete failure as a human being and isn't even particularly funny, at least not in a way that anyone who is horribly drunk at a bachelor party would recognize.
Sara Barron congratulations you have succeeded.
Does anyone else thin...more
I had higher expectations for this book based from the reviews I had read of it. I thought it would be more humorous and less about the author tearing everything around her to pieces. I understand that from a book titled "People are unappealing" the humor isn't going to be light, fluffy and happy. However, it seems to me that the stories Barron tells don't show people being half as unappealing as she believes them to be. If she can find something the least bit distasteful about something or some...more
Stumbled across this book on Amazon. It was recommended to me because I read Mindy Kaling's book. Sometimes I found it overly self-deprecating and painfully awkward, but overall the book was very funny. Sara Barron is an extremely entertaining writer, although I have to wonder if any of her stories or characterizations are a bit exaggerated. I also thought the ending of the book was a little off - I wasn't expecting it to end on such a down note. It felt unfinished to me. Sara doesn't paint a ve...more
A fast read is a very good thing for my life right now, and this was definitely that. It was engaging enough to keep me going, though I wouldn't say it had any laugh out loud moments.
With that said, I can't stop thinking about the last story in the book--it chronicles the author's stint as a waitress in a "famous celebrity chef's" restaurant and an episode in which a famous musician came in and acted like a complete and utter... well, there's nothing but a bad word that fits here. A quick google...more
With that said, I can't stop thinking about the last story in the book--it chronicles the author's stint as a waitress in a "famous celebrity chef's" restaurant and an episode in which a famous musician came in and acted like a complete and utter... well, there's nothing but a bad word that fits here. A quick google...more
Dec 01, 2009
Jennifer
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Leah, Jill
Recommended to Jennifer by:
found it in the humor section
I needed a pick-me-up book and I found it in this. Barron has a great style, although the self-deprecating becomes obviously exaggerated. I wouldn't call it a memoir, but a collection of situations in her life that are just too damn weird to have been invented.
She is pretty high and mighty in parts, but I agree with most of what she says. And it was laugh out loud funny. HIghlights were her trip to a Jerry Springer taping, anything about her family, and her college experience.
Some of my favorite...more
She is pretty high and mighty in parts, but I agree with most of what she says. And it was laugh out loud funny. HIghlights were her trip to a Jerry Springer taping, anything about her family, and her college experience.
Some of my favorite...more
I found this book in a thrift store and after reading lines on the back cover like, "Born the child of a homo and a hypochondriac . . ." and "At age eleven, she starts writing porn . . ." I knew this did not belong next to children's coloring books that were already colored in and romance novels that featured Fabio on the front.
People Are Unappealing: Even Me is a book by Sara Barron which is 222 pages long. The book shows a price of $13.95 though I got it for $0.50. (Sorry, Sara!) It's a non-fi...more
People Are Unappealing: Even Me is a book by Sara Barron which is 222 pages long. The book shows a price of $13.95 though I got it for $0.50. (Sorry, Sara!) It's a non-fi...more
Sara Barron is hilarious. Which makes me sorry that I didn't know her better when we grew up in the same town; she would have made it much more bearable.
I had to take off a half point for making me relive our junior high production of Guys and Dolls, and a half point for making me relive online dating.
The voice of this collection reminded me of two authors I really loved- Chelsea Handler (because she, too, doesn't edit her stories for the squeamish and tells it like it is) and Cintra Wilson (for...more
I had to take off a half point for making me relive our junior high production of Guys and Dolls, and a half point for making me relive online dating.
The voice of this collection reminded me of two authors I really loved- Chelsea Handler (because she, too, doesn't edit her stories for the squeamish and tells it like it is) and Cintra Wilson (for...more
I think that Sara Barron has a fresh voice and tells a good story. I found myself laughing out loud many times during the reading of this book, but there were many times I admittedly skipped ahead because I got bored. In the world of memoirs, nothing all that exciting happens here, but that's how I like them. I am a sucker for a book that is like peak into someone's every day life, and in reality, peoples every day lives DO have boring parts. I guess that makes this book very realistic. I do thi...more
This was a nice, short read. Barron is nothing if not honest - and ruthless at that. The book is actually a collection of essays that loosely spans Barron's life. There's no plot to speak of, just a series of painfully amusing observations and experiences. She covers everything from growing up as the child of a show-tune-loving father and a hypochondriac/psychotherapist mother to being mistaken for a pre-op transsexual to waiting tables in a restaurant frequented by celebrities to constantly str...more
Barron is hilarious and brutally honest about everyone she knows - including herself. Some folks get treated with a kind honesty (her best friend, her parents, certain ex-boyfriends, most of them gay), but others, not so much.
The final essay, about Barron's encounter with a certain hotel heiress, offers a twist on what you'd expect (this collection is no simple snarkfest), and another essay about her experience with an unnamed (a**hole) '90s rock icon had me Googling and (I think) confirming hi...more
The final essay, about Barron's encounter with a certain hotel heiress, offers a twist on what you'd expect (this collection is no simple snarkfest), and another essay about her experience with an unnamed (a**hole) '90s rock icon had me Googling and (I think) confirming hi...more
A great deal of fun, sometimes crass, but just as often sharply insightful and with a nicely wicked turn-of-phrase.
Barron often hosts the Moth, and while the stories she tells while hosting are frequently very funny, I was not prepared for how much I really loved her first collection of essays. It has moments of true hilarity. Unlike the overrated and frankly dull Sloane Crossley, Barron actually delivers the goods—laugh-out-loud stories and ruminations about life and how horrible people can be...more
Barron often hosts the Moth, and while the stories she tells while hosting are frequently very funny, I was not prepared for how much I really loved her first collection of essays. It has moments of true hilarity. Unlike the overrated and frankly dull Sloane Crossley, Barron actually delivers the goods—laugh-out-loud stories and ruminations about life and how horrible people can be...more
Thanks to 'karen' for reminding me I had this lingering on ye olde Kindle; 'tis WAY more entertaining/noteworthy when not stoned on one's own sorrow. Also, always good to be reminded of the source of that fantastic "Twat Waffle" anecdote (which was apparently the only chapter of this memoir to truly penetrate the haze; go figure).
Also, I think if I truly had my druthers, I'd give it 3.5 stars. Starts much stronger than it finishes, also is pretty bawdy (and no, I am not a hankie-clutching old la...more
Also, I think if I truly had my druthers, I'd give it 3.5 stars. Starts much stronger than it finishes, also is pretty bawdy (and no, I am not a hankie-clutching old la...more
People may be unappealing but this book was anything but. These short chapters are funny and so close to my experiences. Sara Barron is hilarious, honest and someone I would like to know. Her mother is a hypochondriac therapist with her own copy of Merck's Manual, her father is a man who loves musicals. Sara describes them as Bea Arthur (mom) and Estelle Getty (dad) of the Golden Girls. Sara grows up with a love of the theater (actually, it is the attention she craves). She goes to a downtown Ma...more
I enjoyed every essay in this book, laughed at many moments but kind of felt a little "oh brother-ish" when she was, once again, being self deprecating. I'm not sure why it got to me. Usually I'm all in favor of deprecation, possibly it was sour grapes (someone that can deprecate better than me?!) but I found it a bit tiresome. at points and I had to question her negative assertions of herself when she would in the next paragraph take on the suggestion that she should sleep with her friends frie...more
4 likes · like · see review
Jun 16, 2009
Susie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
sarcastic folk who aren't easily offended
Shelves:
i-commented
So this is the second really awesome book i've read written by someone i went to high school with, and i'm kind of stunned that any talent emerged from my wasteland of a hometown in the first place, but there you have it: Sara is hilarious AND a good writer!
my two favorite excerpts:
1. on girls who say they're "guy's girls" (ie not friends with any girls)
"This common rumination disgusts me everytime I hear it. Disguised as some pathetic attempt at an independent streak, what someone really ought...more
my two favorite excerpts:
1. on girls who say they're "guy's girls" (ie not friends with any girls)
"This common rumination disgusts me everytime I hear it. Disguised as some pathetic attempt at an independent streak, what someone really ought...more
This book is NOT boring, but it wasn't the barrel full of laughs that I thought it would be. I scrolled through the ratings and it appears that it is generally rated higher by women, and I think that is because perhaps the author's humor is more appealing to women.
The book also is a little crass, so don't read it if you are not comfortable with things like sex-related humor. None of it bothered me much, but it's not the kind of book that I can discuss with my Mom, that's for sure.
I would recom...more
The book also is a little crass, so don't read it if you are not comfortable with things like sex-related humor. None of it bothered me much, but it's not the kind of book that I can discuss with my Mom, that's for sure.
I would recom...more
I didn't enjoy the author's sense of humor and the subject matter often became strange and vulgar. I really don't mind sexual references in novels but the ones here often bordered on disturbing. In short, this book was bad. I'm a little mad about having read it, it was so bad. If I hadn't been doing pharmacy school interviews, trapped on an airplane/stuck in a hotel room in a strange town without my own transportation that weekend, there is no way I would've finished it.
Apr 17, 2010
JennJ
added it
The funniest was People Are Unappealing by Sara Barron, the type of laugh-out-loud book that would have me stifling giggles on the bus to and from New York City. In one story, she writes about being a waitress at a Mario Batali restaurant, and describes "Twat Waffle", a particularly arrogant celebrity guest - - this was the anecdote that had prompted me to add this book to my wishlist, and I was psyched that the whole book was really good. Dec 26, 2009
This book was good fun, and I enjoyed reading it in the Denver Airport and on the plane. I was so into it, I nearly left my carry-on luggage under a table in the airport!
Barron's funny life anecdotes should find fans among those who like Sloane Crosley and David Sedaris, among other memoir-based humourists. Although not as outrageous as Chelsea Handler, some of Barron's tales are definitely cringe-worthy.
I now have to look up who Twat Waffle is.
Barron's funny life anecdotes should find fans among those who like Sloane Crosley and David Sedaris, among other memoir-based humourists. Although not as outrageous as Chelsea Handler, some of Barron's tales are definitely cringe-worthy.
I now have to look up who Twat Waffle is.
I see that the other reviewers have already mentioned the essay about how she rediscovered the totally clueless porn she wrote at 12. That chapter may be the single funniest thing I've read in...forever. It made me laugh in a really unattractive way -- you know, where you're spitting and crying and sort of barking? The whole book was hilarious. Yay for the recent outbreak of dorky/snarky women publishing these occasionally gross but wonderful books!
i am so honored that the author of this hilaaaaaaaarious book is my writing teacher, SARA BARRON. its so enjoyable, and you'll want to hang out with sara immediately when you read it. although, i must warn you: she is hotter and less retarded sounding than the self-deprecating narrator would lead you to believe. please buy the book, and if you spill something on it, buy another one because i have been told sara does not have health insurance so we gotta help a sister out.
i read this while flying across the country, and while waiting to board a flight read a particularly hilarious chapter which caused me to restrain myself from bursting out in laughter (loling to the kids). i'm pretty sure the people around me thought i was crazy. i love any book which result in this kind of laughter. Also, reading this makes me want to be friends with sara so she can complain about me.
Normally I love humor essays and breeze through reading them. I haven't found myself wanting to pick this back up to finish it. Although there are some funny moments for sure, the humor feels a little juvenile and obvious at times. Don't think it lives up to the caliber of similar writers in this category (Mindy Kaling, David Sedaris, Michael Ian Black and even hit-or-miss Sloane Crosley).
This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I was also drawn to it by it's hilariously cynical title (not to mention its cover). I found the book to be pretty funny in parts, but mostly kind of tedious. Only when Sara starts ragging on celebrity douchebags does the book make me raise an eyebrow in curiosity (her account serving Michael Stipe at a fancy New York restaurant is the best part, which makes sense, being that the chapter is the namesake of the book). It's just quick enough of a re...more
Consumed this at the airport yesterday. There is some funny stuff in this book - at one point, I was laughing so hard, the woman next to me in the airport wanted to know what I was reading. She is not quite as good as David Sedaris, but close. I especially enjoyed the essays about her relationship with her grandmother, and her online dating experiences. Very fun read.
An entertaining array of characters and scenarios portrayed by Sara Barron in a selection of highly amusing self-revelatory tales mostly set in New York City (think Girls rather than SATC). There's a bite of Sedaris family satire, a nosegay of Fey self-deprecation set off beautifully by a whole heap of FUPA and a couple of fabulous celebrity indiscretions (although sadly I had to Google the victim of the best one).
The FUPA references have cracked my sh*t up for a few days now. I look down at my own FUPA, a part of my body that's never occurred to me to name but now am pleased as punch to refer to, and laugh and laugh. At the beach buffering me from the waves, at work bloated as a 24-week pregnant woman, it doesn't matter because it makes me laugh. Thanks, Sara Barron, for calling it.
A well written and hilarious collection of stories of Sara Barron's growing up. It's a little raunchy in places, but that is part of what makes it endearing and fun to read. Her forthright style, and honesty about her faults, and what she finds annoying in herself and others is at times laugh out loud funny. I recommend it solely for the lightness of it and the notion that we're all a little annoying and we just have to accept it about ourselves and others, and be content with who we are.
This book is definitely not for everyone, as there is a high quotient of profanity, sexual situations, gross bodily functions, and the like, but I laughed more at this than anything else I have read in a long time. Sara Barron has no shame or self-consciousness about sharing her embarrassing experiences which makes them all the more hilarious. A very enjoyable, fast-paced read and a good way to kick off 2013.
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Sara Barron is a writer and comedian whose first book, People Are Unappealing: Even Me (Random House) will be out in the Spring of '09. Her writing has also appeared in the anthologies Mortified: The Big Book of Angst (Simon & Schuster), Have I Got A Guy For You (Adams Media, Spring '08) and Rock and Roll Cage-match: Music's Greatest Rivalries Decided (Random House, Summer '08). She's written...more
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“Namely, when asked to pee on a person, shouldn't you make absolutely sure you've heard correctly?”
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Feb 07, 2012 07:45pm
MAUREEN!
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