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108th out of 1,226 books
—
3,008 voters
Bright Lights, Big Ass
Jen Lancaster hates to burst your happy little bubble, but life in the big city isn't all it's cracked up to be. Contrary to what you see on TV and in the movies, most urbanites aren't party-hopping in slinky dresses and strappy stilettos. But lucky for us, Lancaster knows how to make the life of the lower crust mercilessly funny and infinitely entertaining.
Whether she's...more
Whether she's...more
Paperback, 380 pages
Published
May 1st 2007
by NAL Trade
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Sep 06, 2007
Bonnie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone with a sense of humor.
Shelves:
comedicmemoir
I'm a little late to the Jen Lancaster party...I picked up this book from the "New in Paperback!" section of Barnes and Noble on a whim one night when I was bored and desperately searching for something to read that I hadn't already perused a million times.
I realized quickly (because it says so on the cover) that there was ANOTHER one of these books out there...a predecessor, if you will...but I decided to stick with what I had, and go grab the first book if I liked this one. Luckily, with these...more
I realized quickly (because it says so on the cover) that there was ANOTHER one of these books out there...a predecessor, if you will...but I decided to stick with what I had, and go grab the first book if I liked this one. Luckily, with these...more
Wow, I thought I liked Bitter is the New Black but it's got nothing on this book. I was laughing out loud in the first chapter. I have grown fond of Jen Lancaster and can see a bit of myself in her.
There are so many great one-liners in this book and I hope there are more books to follow.
There are so many great one-liners in this book and I hope there are more books to follow.
This book was so funny I hurt myself laughing in several places. Jen Lancaster really recounts parts of her life in a hilarious fashion.
She's one of those people that you love to laugh at, with and about. I'd almost want her to be my best friend, if not for her political leanings. Sorry, I can't trust anyone that enjoys reading Ann Coulter. It really makes me question her sanity. Same could be said about a certain lady that was in the running for VP, but I digress. After I got past all the littl...more
She's one of those people that you love to laugh at, with and about. I'd almost want her to be my best friend, if not for her political leanings. Sorry, I can't trust anyone that enjoys reading Ann Coulter. It really makes me question her sanity. Same could be said about a certain lady that was in the running for VP, but I digress. After I got past all the littl...more
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I allowed a humorous title and promising amazon blurb to build up my expectations for this dreary collection of essays.
OK, irritating point #1: In one of the first essays, there's this guy from Texas who refers to everybody, including people in the second person singular, as "y'all." I've lived in various parts of the Southeastern U.S. and have yet to meet anyone who does this (unless it's a southerner imitating a non-southerner attempting a southern dialect--a la "Steel Magnolias.")
Wait, I'll...more
OK, irritating point #1: In one of the first essays, there's this guy from Texas who refers to everybody, including people in the second person singular, as "y'all." I've lived in various parts of the Southeastern U.S. and have yet to meet anyone who does this (unless it's a southerner imitating a non-southerner attempting a southern dialect--a la "Steel Magnolias.")
Wait, I'll...more
10 likes · like · see review
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4 likes · like · see review
Jen Lancaster's sophomore effort, which, since this is a memoir, is about the period in her life after she sold and then wrote Bitter is the New Black.
Amazingly enough, as a published author, Jen still needs to make a living. The book opens with the funniest job interview ever recorded, and closes with her entering a book store and discovering a table full of copies of Bitter.
A fun, fast, read.
Amazingly enough, as a published author, Jen still needs to make a living. The book opens with the funniest job interview ever recorded, and closes with her entering a book store and discovering a table full of copies of Bitter.
A fun, fast, read.
I really hated this book. It is supposed to an accurate depiction of the author, so I suppose I can say, I hate Jen Lancaster. She is lazy, self absorbed, petty, jealous, rude, and worse, hypocritical. She is the worst kind of woman. She is educated, yet one would never know it considering how small her world view is. Yes, it is all about her.
14 likes · like · see review
Yep, another literary treasure from Jen Lancaster, who also wrote Bitter is the New Black, which hit the shelves at the tail end of when she was writing this book. I bought this at the end of August but apparently had never registered it. Whoops.
Apart from? her annoying habit of random question marks (while at the same time railing on those who use LOL), this book was pretty good. Some interesting bits:
-very surprised she calls herself a republican. Politics don't play a huge part in the book b...more
Apart from? her annoying habit of random question marks (while at the same time railing on those who use LOL), this book was pretty good. Some interesting bits:
-very surprised she calls herself a republican. Politics don't play a huge part in the book b...more
1 like · like · see review
OK, I went back and forth on this one. Sometimes I found her mean spirited, shallow, and just a plain pain in the ass. (As well as way too conservative in her political leanings for me. An Ann Coulter fan????? OMG!...but that's beside the point.) Regardless, the good outweighs the bad in my opinion. This lady is freakin' hilarious! There are times when you cannot keep yourself from busting out laughing. If you are in a public place, people are bound to think that you are a nut! I think perhaps m...more
6 likes · like · see review
I LOVED "Bitter is the New Black," and this is Jen Lancaster's follow-up memoir. Also check out jennsylvania.com! Good for a great laugh every day!
Oh, Jen, thanks for making everyday things as well as ordinary things freakin' HILARIOUS!
Now, having finished it, I have to say it's a bit less satisfying than the first book. In that one, there was more of a "novel" feel to it, as we followed Jen's progress from 200K-plus VP job to extended unemployment, relocation, and new levels of self-awareness (...more
Oh, Jen, thanks for making everyday things as well as ordinary things freakin' HILARIOUS!
Now, having finished it, I have to say it's a bit less satisfying than the first book. In that one, there was more of a "novel" feel to it, as we followed Jen's progress from 200K-plus VP job to extended unemployment, relocation, and new levels of self-awareness (...more
2 likes · like · see review
I don't really like to use goodread's 5 star rating that often, because there aren't many books that I find "amazing." I was a little reluctant to use it for this book, because I don't want to imply that it's literary genius or anything - I just thought it was a really funny book that I was able to lose myself in for a few hours.
The book is basically a collection of essays about her life. She adds in her two cents to everything and includes witty footnotes. This will never be called great liter...more
The book is basically a collection of essays about her life. She adds in her two cents to everything and includes witty footnotes. This will never be called great liter...more
I liked this book SO much more than Bitter is the New Black. In fact, I was reading it in the lobby of a resort hotel (I was beginning to feel confined in my room and on my balcony) when I came to a particularly funny part and began to laugh uncontrollably. Of course, I didn't want people to know that I was laughing over a book, so I tried to restrain myself. The result was that now the patrons walking by probably thought that I was having a seizure. To their credit, no one stopped to see if I n...more
I just started this book and am loving it so far. I'm about 100 pages in and have been in tears 3-4 times already.
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After reading:
I gave this bok 5 stars b/c it was hilarious. There were multiple times I was in tears b/c of it. It wasn't amazing in an earth-shattering kind of way, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. It helps that I'm in Chicago, but I think lots of people will find it funny. My favorite scene is when she's in the doctor's office dealing w/ the paper robe.
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After reading:
I gave this bok 5 stars b/c it was hilarious. There were multiple times I was in tears b/c of it. It wasn't amazing in an earth-shattering kind of way, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. It helps that I'm in Chicago, but I think lots of people will find it funny. My favorite scene is when she's in the doctor's office dealing w/ the paper robe.
Originally Reviewed at Novel Escapes
I laughed my ass off throughout much of Jen Lancaster’s most recent book. It was the first we read by her and we’ve got another one already in the pile next to my bed to read! I wasn’t sure I would appreciate her style which can be sarcastic and occasionally condescending and completely narcissistic, which she fully admits, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is not a novel, but a compilation of short stories about her life. There are stories, letters and emails...more
I laughed my ass off throughout much of Jen Lancaster’s most recent book. It was the first we read by her and we’ve got another one already in the pile next to my bed to read! I wasn’t sure I would appreciate her style which can be sarcastic and occasionally condescending and completely narcissistic, which she fully admits, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is not a novel, but a compilation of short stories about her life. There are stories, letters and emails...more
I saw this on a conservative friend's reading list and the title intrigued me. I think I Googled just enough to see it was chick
lit. Also I succeeded in making my husband squirm when he picked it up from the library which is
always a bonus. You should have heard the rant from when we were dating and he found
Memories of the My Melancholy Whores under his name on the hold shelf. So I guess I
must have liked the book, because I subsequently read the next two books she has written
and I am conside...more
lit. Also I succeeded in making my husband squirm when he picked it up from the library which is
always a bonus. You should have heard the rant from when we were dating and he found
Memories of the My Melancholy Whores under his name on the hold shelf. So I guess I
must have liked the book, because I subsequently read the next two books she has written
and I am conside...more
When I finished this book, I thought, "How did this get published?" The book made me feel like I could just write down a bunch of my random thoughts and daily interactions, bind them together and call them a book. There were some funny moments but overall I felt like reading the book was a waste of time.
My biggest problem with the book was I feel like it was exaggerated. I live in Chicago so I've had my share of run-ins with crazy people on the bus, inappropriate PDA and eccentric neighbors. I u...more
My biggest problem with the book was I feel like it was exaggerated. I live in Chicago so I've had my share of run-ins with crazy people on the bus, inappropriate PDA and eccentric neighbors. I u...more
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it had been a while since i read a book by jen lancaster. i kind of OD'ed on her books last years & grew to find them absolutely insufferable, but i think some time & distance enabled me to appreciate this for what it is. which is 400 pages of pretty effective, sometimes unbearable humor. she breaks up her chapters with reprints of weird e-mails she sends to her friends & letters to her aldermen that i really hope she doesn't actually send. i could have lived without those bits, whic...more
This was a fun book; I laughed out loud many times as she described the comedy of errors in her every day life i.e., losing a heel, missing a bus, bursting a button on a suit during an interview; it was more of a diary than a story; she's out of the 80's generation and I am too, so I could relate to her committed period wardrobe of pastel argyle sweaters, isode polo shirts, etc.;I liked how she described her loyal, doting husband and her sweet pets; I liked her self mockery, clever sarcasim and...more
My mother is the one who introduced Jen Lancaster into my life, and I must admit it was a very good recommendation. Jen Lancaster is the snarky alter-ego that I sometimes let loose, although much less than I used to. This is her second book, and while I haven’t read the first one, I could probably guess that it’s just as funny as this one.
We start this book of stories out with a brief synopsis of Jen’s past life – a CEO who has lost her top-tier job and is now temping while she writes her memoir...more
We start this book of stories out with a brief synopsis of Jen’s past life – a CEO who has lost her top-tier job and is now temping while she writes her memoir...more
Loved this book! It's the follow up to Bitter is the New Balck. Jen Lancaster is a riot. She is a total smart ass, and I guess I can use that word, since it is in the title. She is laugh out loud funny. Whenever I try to read something back to my husband,so he'll understand why I laughed so hard I snorted, I find I have to start back at the begining of the paragraph, not just at the beginning of the sentence. Sometimes I want to re-read him the whole page. She is the funny kid from Junior High (...more
Absolutely no plot, intrigue, or anything else that typically defines a good book, but wow- snappily witty as h-e-double-hockey-sticks clever dialogue for days! The kind of stuff you want to say and think of in retort but it only occurs to you way too late, and is never really as good as Lancaster's. Jealous.
*(Warning: Lancaster's descriptions of the numerous and heart-stopping foods/drinks of which she partakes and dreams will have you running to the kitchen every 10 minutes.)
**(Second warnin...more
*(Warning: Lancaster's descriptions of the numerous and heart-stopping foods/drinks of which she partakes and dreams will have you running to the kitchen every 10 minutes.)
**(Second warnin...more
This is my second Jen Lancaster book, and I enjoyed it even more than the first one (Bitter Is the New Black). A rollicking memoir by a very funny but bitchy lady, Bright Lights, Big Ass is a bit more free-wheeling than her first memoir, and I think it suits her material and style better. And what style is that? Smart-assessedness mixed with lots of footnotes combined with superiority and leavened with a smidge of humility. It amazes me that someone who was born in the same year as me (1967) has...more
A fun, fluffy read. As someone who generally loathes the myth of glamour perpetuated by Sex and the City, I was looking forward to this as a remedy to the all-single-women-wear-Manolos-and-have-dates-every-Saturday books. While this book was funny at times, I'm not sure it lived up to my expectations. It seems less about life in the big city and more just about Jen Lancaster's life. First of all, she's married, and a lot of her adventures seem to revolve around annoying her husband. Not exactly...more
Dec 01, 2011
Katelin
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
women
Recommended to Katelin by:
co-worker
I enjoyed this book so much more than "Bitter". I think the difference between this book and the first is that while reading "Bitter" I was inclined to dislike Jen (Sorry Jen!) The first few pages I couldn't help to think "What a rich BITCH!" By the end of the book however, I grew to accept the fact that I found the "Rich Bitch" to be entertaining and oddly enough I related to her on many levels (not so much the rich parts, but I sure can be a bitch as well!)
I started to read the second book exp...more
I started to read the second book exp...more
Jen Lancaster is a spoiled, racist, elitist, immature, bratty, Republican leaning, foul mouthed narcissistic arsehole, who is completely in love with herself. Worse, she thinks a) everyone else is too and b) if they're not, something is clearly wrong with them. That said, she is funny as hell.
But she? Writes like this. Even though? She complains when someone else does. So she? Apparently believes that she is allowed to do things that others are not. And that? Kind of proves my point about how mu...more
But she? Writes like this. Even though? She complains when someone else does. So she? Apparently believes that she is allowed to do things that others are not. And that? Kind of proves my point about how mu...more
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After a bad-book hangover, I needed the literary equivalent of Ibuprofen. Jen Lancaster's second novel fit the bill nicely (actually it was more like literary lortab- all the laughing made me a little lightheaded and dizzy).
I loved this book. The chapter describing her gyno visit caused me to laugh so hard, I ended up making high pitched dolphin-like squeals. Two days later I still giggle madly when I think about it. Likewise, Lancaster's diatribe of Rachael Ray was incredibly entertaining. I d...more
I loved this book. The chapter describing her gyno visit caused me to laugh so hard, I ended up making high pitched dolphin-like squeals. Two days later I still giggle madly when I think about it. Likewise, Lancaster's diatribe of Rachael Ray was incredibly entertaining. I d...more
Lancaster is a different kind of author - she is a witty and light-hearted chick-lit author, yet makes fun of herself in her memoirs, which is beautiful. I almost wish more authors made fun of themselves from time to time! I didn't really like Jen's writing style - it was too elementary for me, but then again, this was a memoir, so I can't be too critical of her for her use of it! I found I could relate to Jen on some levels- her love of Target (ahem.. I LOVE that store!), Trader Joes, and Ikea....more
This was the first book I've read by Jen Lancaster - and it was hilarious. Warning - there is significant language and her sarcastic wit is not for everyone. She skewers just about everything imaginable, and she says the things most people think but are too afraid to say themselves. Parents, her husband and especially her neighbors - nobody is safe. Unfortunately, her parents are similar to mine - her DH is similar to mine - and there are many aspects of her personality with which I identify (DH...more
Hooray for chic lit!
Jen Lancaster's books are like Jerry Seinfeld's sit-com episodes -- they're about nothing at all but you don't care because you laugh yourself silly.
**Of special note: Fluff writer Jen Lancaster uses the word "myraid" correctly in the book. Interestingly, Pulitzer prize winner Cormac McCarthy did not. As a wise rapper/talk-show host once said, "Things that make you go hmmmmm." (MP would be so proud!)**
Jen Lancaster's books are like Jerry Seinfeld's sit-com episodes -- they're about nothing at all but you don't care because you laugh yourself silly.
**Of special note: Fluff writer Jen Lancaster uses the word "myraid" correctly in the book. Interestingly, Pulitzer prize winner Cormac McCarthy did not. As a wise rapper/talk-show host once said, "Things that make you go hmmmmm." (MP would be so proud!)**
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Very disappointing follow-up to the book "Bitter is the New Black"
I couldn't even finish this book since I just got so sick of the main character's incessant ranting about nothing important. In the first book, there was actually a plot and the ranting was hilarious, but by the 2nd book, it's clear that she's basically just trying to make more money and writing another book even though there's no real substance.
I couldn't even finish this book since I just got so sick of the main character's incessant ranting about nothing important. In the first book, there was actually a plot and the ranting was hilarious, but by the 2nd book, it's clear that she's basically just trying to make more money and writing another book even though there's no real substance.
3 likes · like · see review
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Favorite Jen Lancaster Book | 12 | 45 | Jun 05, 2012 04:19am |
Jen Lancaster is the author of her own memoirs including: as Bitter is the New Black, Bright Lights, Big Ass, Such A Pretty Fat, Pretty in Plaid, My Fair Lazy, and the newest: Jeneration X.
She has also dabbled with fiction in her first book, If You Were Here.
More about Jen Lancaster...
She has also dabbled with fiction in her first book, If You Were Here.
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“I yearn to be a woman of more depth, but I'm not so fond of the path I'd need to follow to get there.”
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37 people liked it
“Really? If I could hate my trainer? That would be ideal. I'd prefer to despise this person with the fire of ten thousand suns. So when I walk - nay, crawl - out of here at the end of my workouts, I want to lull myself to sleep by picturing my very talented and inspirational trainer getting hit by a bus. A bus that I am driving.”
—
7 people liked it
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