CBR bingo entry 3 leads me to my “Birthday” space for Sloane Crosley, who turned 40 August 3rd this year. (And yeah, she was gonna be my “so shiny!” entry but Ken Jennings was born in May and I don’t get that many books hot off the presses because I’m cheap, AND her debut was I Was Told There’d Be Cake, for pete’s sake, so I had to change her to my birthday square. But I still liked how the title works with her tone; […]
Not the Goonies, Not by a Long-shot
The Clasp is about three insufferable college friends who reconnect at a friend’s wedding in Miami. Nathaniel’s career in LA has stalled, Kezia’s work for an unhinged jeweler is slowly killing her and Victor was recently fired from a search engine less popular than Bing. After a conversation with the groom’s dying mother Victor is inspired to embark on a journey to track down a literal literary treasure. If I remember Sloane Crosley’s previous non-fiction works correctly then it is not a surprise that she would create such […]
How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley
This collection of essays by Sloane Crosley begins with a spur-of-the-moment trip she takes to Portugal, and how incredibly lonely she was there (until she meets some clowns, of course). From there, we move on to her life in New York City and bad relationships and other trials in her life (a bear-infested wedding, for one). It’s well written, but just a couple of days later I really can’t recall much of it. It made a very slight impression on me. I did like this line, however: “Time grabs you […]
I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
Well, this was sweet and cute and ultimately, I probably won’t remember a word of it in six months. But it was a fun book to read in the bathtub. Sloane Crosley’s collection of essays, I Was Told There’d Be Cake, touches on all sorts of important topics: the mall, weird parents, bad bosses, shitty boyfriends, etc. She has a good, self-deprecating sense of humor (important for a collection of memoirs) and an interesting take on a variety of subjects in life. Her brutal story about […]