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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
by
In Such a Pretty Fat, Jen Lancaster learned how to come to terms with her body. In My Fair Lazy, she expanded her mind. Now the New York Times bestselling author gives herself—and her generation—a kick in the X, by facing her greatest challenge to date: acting her age.
Jen is finally ready to put away childish things (except her Barbie Styling Head, of course) and embrace t ...more
Jen is finally ready to put away childish things (except her Barbie Styling Head, of course) and embrace t ...more
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Start your review of 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
This book received mixed reviews. Notably one snarky, verging on "personal vendetta" professional review.
And for the first time ever, I was moved to comment on that reviewer's site in defense of Jen Lancaster and thus join the fray.
This? Is the ONLY author I have bookmarked sections, or even an entire chapter, so I can share it with my husband. She makes me laugh out loud. Not LOL, but truly, loudly, snort and chortle. What's more, she makes my husband laugh too.
The negative review made us go ...more
And for the first time ever, I was moved to comment on that reviewer's site in defense of Jen Lancaster and thus join the fray.
This? Is the ONLY author I have bookmarked sections, or even an entire chapter, so I can share it with my husband. She makes me laugh out loud. Not LOL, but truly, loudly, snort and chortle. What's more, she makes my husband laugh too.
The negative review made us go ...more
So disappointed. Not only did the book feel like a tired retread, but I was fed-fucking-up with hearing how "entitled" my generation is. As someone who didn't take nearly a decade to finish college (Lancaster did), who has a Ph.D. (don't recall Lancaster having an advanced degree), who hasn't ran up a ton of debt from selfish and self- indulgent purchases (natch), whose parents didn't pay for a car and a wedding (you know where this is going), I'm just not entirely sure where it is that MY gener
...more
Based on the other comments on this book I am probably the outlier here...but I am REALLY disappointed with this book. The whole time I was reading I had the feeling of "been there done that". The biggest issue I had was that most of the material had already been posted to her blog or addressed in her column. I was really looking forward to this one after the disappointment of her novel, but this one is leading me to believe she might have lost her touch...which makes me sad.
...more
I really wanted to like this book. I was an early Jen Lancaster adopter, reading her books and snorting and laughing, even in public. The problem with this book? It's almost all recycled material. Many of the chapters are slight expansions of some of her blog posts, especially the stuff about buying a house and the dog training. And the rest of it was material she used in her fiction debut published last year. Add in that the chapters are disjointed and out of order -- hard to read a memoir wher
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Jen Lancaster and I were separated at birth...or at least we lived down the block from each other. How else would she know every freaking thing that has happened to me in my life? Seriously, I have never read an author that gave me such serious belly laughs that I had to put the book down because I was afraid I would lose my page.
I do believe I have a special affinity for Jen's writing (and yes, I call her Jen) because we live in the same area and I've been to many of the same places she's refer ...more
I do believe I have a special affinity for Jen's writing (and yes, I call her Jen) because we live in the same area and I've been to many of the same places she's refer ...more
I seriously think Jen lost her way. I no longer find her funny. I feel like she isn't even telling a story anymore its just a mish-mosh of random crap. This book does not even compare to the genius wit of her first three books. Her last book left me disappointed and unable to finish as is this one. Gone are her laugh-out-loud-so-funny-I-snorted writings and I'm left extremely underwhelmed. I'm really really struggling with finishing this book so much I've decided to put it down and move on to th
...more
I got 100 pages into it and just couldn't continue. I have read a couple of blog entries from this author that I found hilarious. However, I did not find this book funny. It seems that the author thinks very highly of herself, is self-involved, and strongly evokes an "I'm better than you" vibe. She even goes so far to describe a moment where she is thinking "do you know who I am?" She describes her monster SUV, her valet parking nightmares, her volunteer work that she doesn't want to do because
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Feb 26, 2021
Obsidian
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
cannonball-read-13
Yikes. This book felt and read as very unfinished to me. I felt like I was being dropped into the middle of a lot of stories that Lancaster acted as if I (the reader) should know. We find out that Jen had or still has a stalker. I literally went back to the other books to make sure that I had not skipped over that before. This memoir just felt like a loosely put together series of vignettes that really didn't tell us a story at all. Not going to lie, it felt a little like Lancaster realized she
...more
I felt like I was re-reading rejects from her blog. I also was on my toes waiting for the infamous Landsend bathing suit and bought used car debacle incidents (you can read about those on her blog, and actually respond to some of those topics - or you could at the time - on her FB page). I've gone from LOVING, ADORING this author to being weary after her thinly veiled "fictional" book about new home buyers.
I knew about this book when I went to see JL speak at B&N after her Pretty in Plaid memoir ...more
I knew about this book when I went to see JL speak at B&N after her Pretty in Plaid memoir ...more
Jen Lancaster. People either love her books or hate them. OK. I'm just gonna say it. I love Jen , and if we knew each other I know we'd be friends. LOL. But really, I do feel as if I know her. I've read all of her other books except My Fair Lazy, which I hope to get a hold of soon.
If you've read her other books you can see how much she's matured in this latest memoir, both in her life and in her writing style. And, that's is why I love it even more. Jen can be judgmental, rude, crude and social ...more
If you've read her other books you can see how much she's matured in this latest memoir, both in her life and in her writing style. And, that's is why I love it even more. Jen can be judgmental, rude, crude and social ...more
3.5 stars
Incredibly enjoyable and had me busting a gut, but...
I could have done without the constant feeling of déjà vu since I read about half the stories on her blog already. She did expand on the stories in her book, but still, needed more new stories.
Incredibly enjoyable and had me busting a gut, but...
I could have done without the constant feeling of déjà vu since I read about half the stories on her blog already. She did expand on the stories in her book, but still, needed more new stories.
This was so disappointing. As a Gen X, I can say with complete honesty, I worked for everything I have today. My parents did not pay my tuition to college or grad school. I did. I paid my way through Europe. I bought my own house. I am not entitled. I graduated college during the George Bush recession. Many of my college educated friends ended up in crappy jobs that paid minimum wage. It took me almost a decade to begin earning real money and that was after a Masters Degree and then years of pay
...more
Unlike many of the other reviewers, I'd never heard of Jen Lancaster before I picked up this book in the public library (no disappointed, "That was already on her blog" from me). The cover looked interesting, so I sat down to take a look while the kids were finishing up their bookhunts. A half hour later I was rocking from side to side in my chair, holding my belly while tears of laughter ran down my cheeks; my completely embarrassed thirteen year old tugged the book out of my hands and hurried
...more
I picked this book up off the library ‘new books’ shelf on a whim. I don’t often read humor books, but the description sounded fun- a late coming of age story. I figured I’d read the book a little at a time, in between bouts with a history of China book. Instead, I found myself addicted, ignored the serious book, and read this straight through.
Each of the 27 chapters describes events – some pivotal, some simply ludicrous- as the author is dragged, kicking and screaming, into late onset adulthoo ...more
Each of the 27 chapters describes events – some pivotal, some simply ludicrous- as the author is dragged, kicking and screaming, into late onset adulthoo ...more
this lady's books are really starting to grow on me. every now & again, she drops in a little tidbit that makes it difficult to overlook the fact that she is a gun-toting republican former sorority girl, but if you can just get past that, she really can be pretty funny. maybe as she becomes more invested in her career as a serial memoirist, her authorial voice is maturing a bit? becoming a little more accessible or something? she's still snarky as all get out, which i like, but the bitter edge t
...more
Jen Lancaster is almost always going to get 5 stars with me. Almost. I couldn't get into My Fair Lazy and I didn't attempt the fiction book she did last year(maybe that's next). This is full of trying to grow up wisdom. How to move out of the apartment you've been in with your hubby for many years, how to "boycott" Thanksgiving with your insane family(My favorite chapter, I think-and yes, I will be putting that into practice this year) and have a Thanksgiving with your friends instead, how to tr
...more
May 01, 2012
Deb
added it
I'm on page 137 - nearly halfway through this book on the first night. First, I'll say I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I'm not "braying like a jackass," but I'm certainly entertained. However, I'm not thrilled to report that so far 4 chapters contain material recycled from the author's blog. Now, I do thoroughly enjoy her blog, and don't mind re-visiting some stories, but when previous books have been more strongly original, I have to say I'm disappointed. I'm just not sure if I should be disappoin
...more
So I realized something sad when I started to read Jeneration X, Jen Lancaster’s 2012 “chapter” of her non-fiction series: I think I’ve outgrown it. This is equal parts sad and odd because a) I used to love her non fiction titles and b) I’m at least a decade younger than she is. At some point between My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover If Not Being A Dumb Ass Is t he New Black, or, a Culture-Up Manifesto and the latest chapter in her “I’m a fancy author and now so i
...more
May 14, 2012
Rebecca McPhedran
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction
I am a huge fan of the written word, and I mean on actual pages. I have never been a fan of audio books, and I have been leery of e-readers, because I am a person who interacts with her books. I write in the margins, bend the pages and crease the bindings. I got an e-reader as my first mothers day present and this was my first Kindle book. I flew through it much faster than I thought I would. The set up was not annoying at all, and I found it to be quite easy to navigate. This, however, is not a
...more
This was seriously painful to read. I read Bitter is the New Black years ago and was entertained. This time, not so much. I wanted to poke my eyes out when she continuously plugged her previous books AND her friends book. No, I did not want to read a commercial. I don't watch them on TV and most certainly don't want them in a book. I also think once you have multiple books out at some point you'd progress a little and your writing would improve beyond being a self important blogger.
...more
Oh, maaaan. I really wanted to like this book. I LOVED her first few books and inhaled them each in 1 to 2 days. This one fell so short for me. Perhaps I'm over her whining and don't find it as funny now. :(
...more
I love her books and she reads them so well. This was a great one. Highly recommend!
Dear Jen,
Thank goodness! This is the penultimate (so far) book of memoirs written by Jen Lancaster and, since I've already read the final memoir (so far), The Tao of Martha: My Year of LIVING; Or, Why I'm Never Getting All That Glitter Off of the Dog, I am celebrating a Jen-less future! I feel absolutely no obligation to read your fiction. I have only continued reading your memoirs because, despite the fact that I have come to despise you as a person, you still can (occasionally) make me laugh u ...more
Thank goodness! This is the penultimate (so far) book of memoirs written by Jen Lancaster and, since I've already read the final memoir (so far), The Tao of Martha: My Year of LIVING; Or, Why I'm Never Getting All That Glitter Off of the Dog, I am celebrating a Jen-less future! I feel absolutely no obligation to read your fiction. I have only continued reading your memoirs because, despite the fact that I have come to despise you as a person, you still can (occasionally) make me laugh u ...more
This is Jen Lancaster's fifth memoir. In this book she has focused the content around "Reluctant Adult Lessons Learned," which is really just a way for her tell her stories and add a moral at the end of it. Jen writes about her life, obviously as it's a memoir, but recently, she moved from being a renter in the city of Chicago to buying a home in the North Suburbs. Logically, many of her stories deal with this transition in her life as well as the humorous capers her pets have committed since he
...more
Reader beware that if you read this book (or any of Jen Lancaster's books for that matter), be prepared to put on notice any friends, family, co-workers and others in your life that when you're reading this, you will be laughing out loud, snorting, giggling and often than not, stifling your laughter (so as to not appear completely like you've lost your mind), to the point where you seem to be wheezing from a form of an asthma attack.
In other words?
This crazy chica is HILARIOUS.
Jeneration X, w ...more
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 by Jen Lancaster
368 pages
★★★★
Oh Jen Lancaster, how I love you and your humor. Seriously. I love this author. She has never disappointed me in her many memoirs and luckily, this one was no different. What was different for me was that instead of reading this book, I listened to the audio version – narrated by the author herself ...more
368 pages
★★★★
Oh Jen Lancaster, how I love you and your humor. Seriously. I love this author. She has never disappointed me in her many memoirs and luckily, this one was no different. What was different for me was that instead of reading this book, I listened to the audio version – narrated by the author herself ...more
The fact that there are so many one-star reviews by Millennials, angry with her for snarkily disparaging their entire generation out of hand, makes me pretty certain that Jen Lancaster has absolutely pegged Generation X perfectly. I shall now excitedly read her entire back catalog forthwith… right after I eat my dinner of chocolate ("Made With Real Cocoa!") Cherios.
...more
I know this goes against pretty much every review out there, but I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. It was ok, and I will admit that Jen Lancaster is funny at times (she uses some hilarious slang, I’ll give her that), but the book didn’t make me laugh as much as I thought it would. The only other Lancaster book I’ve (tried) reading was her fiction If You Were Here and I couldn’t get over the footnotes enough to finish reading. While I didn’t mind them as much in here (I kind of expect it with non
...more
http://charlotteswebofbooks.blogspot....
In her typical hysterical fashion Jen (my imaginary BFF) uses the self deprecating humor that she has perfected to tell us some stories that have helped her realize that she is becoming an adult. Like buying her first home in the suburbs of Chicago. Or hosting her first holiday dinner. Or when she returned to her Alma Mater to receive a distinguished award. (I nearly wet myself laughing so hard at her adventures after the fancy shin-dig). She teaches us so ...more
In her typical hysterical fashion Jen (my imaginary BFF) uses the self deprecating humor that she has perfected to tell us some stories that have helped her realize that she is becoming an adult. Like buying her first home in the suburbs of Chicago. Or hosting her first holiday dinner. Or when she returned to her Alma Mater to receive a distinguished award. (I nearly wet myself laughing so hard at her adventures after the fancy shin-dig). She teaches us so ...more
Another great Jen book! I truly love her witty style. It's actually frightening how much we are alike. Then it's frightening to read her books and hear about all the people (psycho) who think the same thing I do - we would totally be friends! haha! Wait, did I just call myself a psycho? oops. Actually, we would probably repel, like 2 very like magnets...but I digress from my review. I continue to enjoy anything by Lancaster as we are relatively the same age demographic and experience many of the
...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hilarious excerpt! | 2 | 29 | May 15, 2012 02:20PM |
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