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 enlarge | Author: Sloane Crosley
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $7.24
You Save: $6.76 (48%)
New (49) from $7.24
Avg. Customer Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 590
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5
ISBN: 159448306X
Dewey Decimal Number: 814.6
EAN: 9781594483066
ASIN: 159448306X
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! NEW Book! May have remainder mark. Most orders ship within 1 BUSINESS DAY with ORDER CONFIRMATION.
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| Customer Reviews:
 My new favorite author April 19, 2008
17 out of 29 found this review helpful
I Was Told There'd Be Cake is a series of essays by sometimes-contributor to the Village Voice Sloane Crosley. There are fifteen essays total, and they cover typical twenty-something subjects, such as moving into a new walkup apartment in New York City (not as easy as it would appear), attending the wedding of every girl you knew in high school that you'd forgotten about (been there, done that), a semidysfunctional family (her family IS my family), and a satanic first boss.
Sloane Crosley tells these stories with humor and insight and she has a truly unique voice. But there were also times where I found myself thinking, "I think the same way!" Or, "I wish I'd thought of that!" It's a completely honest, open kind of storytelling, one that you don't see in many writers of today. Being a twenty-something myself, I could completely empathize with this book--made even better if you understand the cultural references (Oregon Trail, anyone?) This book is a complete gem. I'm going to recommend it to every twenty-something I know.
A Must April 19, 2008
3 out of 10 found this review helpful
I picked this up for my wife at the store, and I think I read the whole thing in the cashiers line! I love it. I also read and liked Mr Instability and Jack Handey's martians also very similar to this and just as funny! I have way to much time on my hands! isnt retirement great!
brilliantly funny writing! April 19, 2008
4 out of 9 found this review helpful
I thought this book was just fantastic. These essays are loosley woven together but what unites them is one of the strongest narrative voices I've ever encountered. And what's truly facinating here is that the humor and refrences are in no way tempered down -- it's funny and tender and frighteningly smart for the author's years, just as it is sometimes edgy and biting. And with this extremely relatable and brilliant personality escorting us through everyday events, it's actually amazing to discover that we're not alone with our weirdest thoughts. This reminds me of some British writers, funnier than more well-known essayists who know the drill and recycle essay themes and smarter than many female writers of her generation I've encountered. Her spin on The Devil Wears Prada theme makes you wish this one came first...
 Black comedy in print April 17, 2008
4 out of 9 found this review helpful
Based on the review I read (and others' opinions) I was ready for a wildy hilarious chronicle of misadventures a la "The Broke Diaries." And whereas "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" is indeed funny, it has a very dark humor, laced with painful underpinnings of someone who kind of hates their life. There's definitely a laugh-to-avoid-death-by-overdose type of feel.
Made me laugh-and that's good April 12, 2008
10 out of 23 found this review helpful
Reading Sloane Crosley's essays titled I Was Told There'd Be Cake disrupted my family on more than one evening. After continually disturbing my husband by laughing out loud and for long periods of time, he asked me to read in my office. When I finished the book, he picked it up and now I've requested that he read it elsewhere as his guffaws are disturbing my peace and quiet.
Crosley has a sharp eye, is a wonderful writer with the wit and wisdom to take the absurd, mundane or any other experience for that matter and write about it in such a way that you are carried off and travel (willingly) down the quirky road she builds.
It's difficult to choose a favorite essay, but my laugh meter launched into the stratosphere while reading "Christmas in July". Just thinking about a young Jewish girl being sent to a Christian camp (where she plays Mary in the Christmas play) started me off giggling, and then it deteriorated into raucous laughter. It's probably my favorite, if forced to choose.
But the "Ursula Cookie" comes close to being my favorite. The visuals of the `boss from hell' and newly hired, Crosley is priceless. "Lay like Broccoli" and "Fever Faker" brought loud snickers, and "Sign Language for Infidels" was the essay where I was sent to my office due to loud laughing. I could see Crosley releasing the butterfly and feel her lack of enthusiasm about volunteering-for anything.
You may not regularly read essays, but if you miss I Was Told There'd Be Cake you'll be missing out on a gem of a read. Remember, laughing keeps us younger.
Armchair Interviews says: A must read from a new and unique voice.
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