I Was Told There'd Be Cake

Sloane Crosley

Edition	Paperback
List Price	$14.00
	$11.20 (Save 20%)

Published by	Riverhead Trade
Release date	2008-04-01
ISBN	159448306X
Availability	Usually ships in 24 hours

Wry, hilarious, and profoundly genuine, this debut collection of literary essays is a celebration of fallibility and haplessness in all their glory. From despoiling an exhibit at the Natural History Museum to provoking the ire of her first boss to siccing the cops on her mysterious neighbor, Crosley can do no right despite the best of intentions-or perhaps because of them. Together, these essays create a startlingly funny and revealing portrait of a complex and utterly recognizable character that's aiming for the stars but hits the ceiling, and the inimitable city that has helped shape who she is. I Was Told There'd Be Cake introduces a strikingly original voice, chronicling the struggles and unexpected beauty of modern urban life.

Customer Reviews - courtesy of Amazon.com ( Marked4Sale.com is not responsible for review content )

She's Crafty

I found this book to be laugh out loud funny. The humor is satirical, uplifting, and unique. For me, this is a favorite read.

mean

I hope the story about her being asked to be a bridesmaid, and then maid of honor, is not true. If it's a fictional account, fine (even though it's not funny). But if it's true, then I feel really sorry for the poor bride who did not deserve to have a "friend" write about her in this way. I found it distasteful.

Book for mindless

I couldn't believe this book was actually published commercially. Unbearable, could not read past page 4.

Fails to be funny

It is hard to pinpoint what the writer does wrong - she follows all the standard ways of creating funny prose: unusual situations or embarrassing hobbies or behaviours (the first chapter is about collecting toy ponies), using unexpected adjectives (it is not just a pony, it is a chronically dehydrated pony) and everyday situations described in a hilarious way. Except that the result is not funny and the descriptions are not hilarious- they are boring. It is sad - you can feel that she so much wanted to be the new David Sedaris, but alas, this book is a waste of time.

some are better than others

I kind of love this book. Crosley is not quite funny enough, and not quite neurotic enough, but there's a happy balance in there somewhere and this was a comfortable, entertaining, quick read. The first few stories almost put me off, the first one being particularly ridiculous and a serious stretch of patience, but halfway into the book and I couldn't put it down. She has a long way to go if she's aspiring to be David Sedaris or Augusten Burroughs, because her book is definitely mapped out in an identical way - it's a collection of short, humorous 'autobiographical' stories, but there wasn't anything that absolutely made me laugh out loud, even though I know the attempt was plainly there. Regardless, Crosley definitely has a handle on the clever metaphor, and there are a lot of quotable lines in this book, and in the end I think she and I are a lot alike. Maybe that's why I kind of love it.