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Bitter Is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, Or, Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office

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Bitter Is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, Or, Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office Cover

ISBN13: 9780451217608
ISBN10: 0451217608
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Jen Lancaster was living the sweet life — until real life kicked her to the curb.

She had the perfect man, the perfect job — hell, she had the perfect life — and there was no reason to think it wouldn't last. Or maybe there was, but Jen Lancaster was too busy being manicured, pedicured, highlighted, and generally adored to notice.

This is the smart-mouthed, soul-searching story of a woman trying to figure out what happens next when she's gone from six figures to unemployment checks and she stops to reconsider some of the less-than-rosy attitudes and values she thought she'd never have to answer for when times were good.

Filled with caustic wit and unusual insight, it's a rollicking read as speedy and unpredictable as the trajectory of a burst balloon.

Review:

"It doesn't take Lancaster long to live up to her lengthy subtitle ('Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office'): in just one chapter, she gloats over cheating a homeless man, is rude to a waitress and passes judgment on all of her co-workers (including her 'whore' best friend). She's almost gleeful about lacking 'the internal firewall that keeps us from saying almost everything we think,' but she doesn't come off as straightforward, just malicious. (Of course, it's possible she's making up much of her dialogue, which is a little too clever to be believable.) Lancaster expects sympathy for her downward slide after getting fired from her high-paying finance job in the post-9/11 recession, and chick lit fans may be entertained watching life imitate fiction, but just when you start to feel sorry for her, the snotty attitude returns. In later chapters, Lancaster increasingly relies on entries from her blog (www.jennsylvania. com) and caustic replies to criticisms, and though things start looking up — her husband finds a job, she lands a book deal — it's not clear that she's been as chastised by her experiences as she claims." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"Carrie Bradshaw meets Barbara Ehrenreich in this memoir about white-collar unemployment after the dot-com bubble burst....Alternately appalling, aggravating and amusing." Kirkus Reviews

Synopsis:

From a popular blogger comes a hilarious memoir that takes readers from sorority house to penthouse to poorhouse.

Synopsis:

The second novel from the New York Times bestselling author of If You Were Here takes us back to the hair metal 80's.

Twenty years after ruling the halls of her suburban Chicago high school, Lissy Ryder doesn’t understand why her glory days ended. Back then, she was worshipped...beloved...feared. Present day, not so much. She’s been pink-slipped from her high-paying job, dumped by her husband and kicked out of her condo. Now, at thirty-seven, she’s struggling to start a business out of her parents’ garage and sleeping under the hair-band posters in her old bedroom.

Lissy finally realizes karma is the only bitch bigger than she was. Her present is miserable because of her past. But it’s not like she can go back in time and change who she was...or can she?

Synopsis:

The second novel from the New York Times bestselling author of If You Were Here takes us back to the hair metal 80's.

Twenty years after ruling the halls of her suburban Chicago high school, Lissy Ryder doesn’t understand why her glory days ended. Back then, she was worshipped...beloved...feared. Present day, not so much. She’s been pink-slipped from her high-paying job, dumped by her husband and kicked out of her condo. Now, at thirty-seven, she’s struggling to start a business out of her parents’ garage and sleeping under the hair-band posters in her old bedroom.

Lissy finally realizes karma is the only bitch bigger than she was. Her present is miserable because of her past. But it’s not like she can go back in time and change who she was...or can she?

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About the Author

Jen Lancaster, a former associate vice president at an investment research firm, is now the proprietor of the popular blog jennsylvania.com.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 4 comments:
Terri Hurley, June 11, 2010 (view all comments by Terri Hurley)
If you've been laid off recently, or even if you haven't this book really says it all. I thought I was all alone, but it's nice to know I have company in being BITTER, really BITTER. Enjoyable book, I would highly recommend. The author is funny, the reading is easy and good for some laughs.
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FNORDinc, May 11, 2010 (view all comments by FNORDinc)
First, i should mention that discussing two Jenn's (Jenn and Jen) in one post is really rough.. excuse me if i come across a bit more grammar-retarded than normal.

Lets begin with the title:

Bitter is the new black: Confessions of a condescending, ego-maniacal, self-centered smart ass or Why you should never carry a Prada bag to the Unemployment Office

how could you NOT want to read this book?

before we get started, to the male readers out there, no worries, you will likely enjoy this. Jen Lancaster is like the sarcastic best friend you had in high-school that loved her fashion but doesn't make you feel like a fool for not knowing the difference between Prada, Coach, and Juicy Couture handbags, she would just roll her eyes then school you with something heavy, and likely blunt ended.. she would be the friend that drank you under the table, mocked you, stole the bacon from your burger, and in the end, you were pleased to let her do it all.

that said, this is NOT a chick book, it is a golden humorous godsend.

I was turned onto Jen Lancaster's brand of kickassery by my wife (also a Jenn) just over a year ago. I thought now would be the appropriate time to finally put up my review, it languished in my drafts folder for a long time. i kep t meaning to finish it, but life gets in the way sometimes.. oh yeah, and i am lazy, that should be mentioned for sure...

Why post it now you ask? Because Lancaster just released a new book titled "My Fair Lazy" and though i have only read the first of her five books, i know based on the laughter coming from Jenn's person and my enjoyment of book 1 that i need to get off my ass and get caught up :). the reading list just gets so long that sometimes knowing it is already in the house is enough to make it a lower priority.. it will still bet there when i get to it after all, right? well, enough excuses, time to get to reading the rest of them.

Bitter is a series of memoirs in pseudo-essay format. They detail Lancaster's demise in the corporate world as she loses her job when the dot-com "bubble" bursts. she is left with a crap ton of bills and not a whole lot to do with herself.

Lancaster wallows in her own panic for a while and then starts looking for a job... which doesn't go very well as she has very high expectations of what is appropriate for her. The book follows her as she over spends, panics, sells all things of worth in her home, moves to a smaller place, panics, pesters her husband Fletch (yes, just like the Chevy Chase character), panics, gets a dog, panics, remodels her new house, panics, and eventually gets a new job.

she does this all while wearing a string of pearls, because real women ALWAYS wear pearls.

~~

To Jen Lancaster: my wife, forgives you for being a Republican and really wants to be your BFF. you should give her a call :)

To the publisher, New American Library:

fantastic work all the way around. love the cover art (on all her books), format is spot on. keep up the good job and give the person who finalized the layout a big fat raise.

* Paperback: 416 pages
* Publisher: NAL Trade (March 7, 2006)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0451217608

Check out Jen's blog on her website - http://www.jennsylvania.com
it is a great place to go for some daily (or near daily) humor :)

Her RSS feed is absent from her site for some reason, but no fear! i will post it here for all to enjoy.. no no, seriously, you are welcome. no need for further praising..

http://www.jennsylvania.com
/jennsylvania/rss.xml

-- FNORDinc.com
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Hyphenanie, January 23, 2010 (view all comments by Hyphenanie)
Never before have I read a book that made me laugh out loud as much as this one. Everyone on the plane might have been looking at me, but I kept reading and laughing until I was done.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780451217608
Author:
Lancaster, Jen
Publisher:
New American Library
Subject:
General
Subject:
Women
Subject:
Humorous
Subject:
Job Hunting
Subject:
Unemployed women workers.
Subject:
Personal Memoirs
Subject:
Humorous fiction
Subject:
Biography-Women
Copyright:
2006
Edition Description:
Hardback
Publication Date:
20060331
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
from 12
Language:
English
Pages:
320
Dimensions:
7.98x5.34x.91 in. .74 lbs.
Age Level:
from 18
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Related Subjects

» Arts and Entertainment » Humor » General
» Arts and Entertainment » Humor » Narrative
» Biography » General
» Biography » Women
» Business » Biographies
» Business » Featured Titles
» Business » History and Biographies
» Featured Titles » General
» Health and Self-Help » Self-Help » Female Specific

Bitter Is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, Or, Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$1.95 In Stock
Product details 320 pages New American Library - English 9780451217608 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "It doesn't take Lancaster long to live up to her lengthy subtitle ('Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office'): in just one chapter, she gloats over cheating a homeless man, is rude to a waitress and passes judgment on all of her co-workers (including her 'whore' best friend). She's almost gleeful about lacking 'the internal firewall that keeps us from saying almost everything we think,' but she doesn't come off as straightforward, just malicious. (Of course, it's possible she's making up much of her dialogue, which is a little too clever to be believable.) Lancaster expects sympathy for her downward slide after getting fired from her high-paying finance job in the post-9/11 recession, and chick lit fans may be entertained watching life imitate fiction, but just when you start to feel sorry for her, the snotty attitude returns. In later chapters, Lancaster increasingly relies on entries from her blog (www.jennsylvania. com) and caustic replies to criticisms, and though things start looking up — her husband finds a job, she lands a book deal — it's not clear that she's been as chastised by her experiences as she claims." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Review" by , "Carrie Bradshaw meets Barbara Ehrenreich in this memoir about white-collar unemployment after the dot-com bubble burst....Alternately appalling, aggravating and amusing."
"Synopsis" by , From a popular blogger comes a hilarious memoir that takes readers from sorority house to penthouse to poorhouse.
"Synopsis" by ,
The second novel from the New York Times bestselling author of If You Were Here takes us back to the hair metal 80's.

Twenty years after ruling the halls of her suburban Chicago high school, Lissy Ryder doesn’t understand why her glory days ended. Back then, she was worshipped...beloved...feared. Present day, not so much. She’s been pink-slipped from her high-paying job, dumped by her husband and kicked out of her condo. Now, at thirty-seven, she’s struggling to start a business out of her parents’ garage and sleeping under the hair-band posters in her old bedroom.

Lissy finally realizes karma is the only bitch bigger than she was. Her present is miserable because of her past. But it’s not like she can go back in time and change who she was...or can she?
"Synopsis" by ,
The second novel from the New York Times bestselling author of If You Were Here takes us back to the hair metal 80's.

Twenty years after ruling the halls of her suburban Chicago high school, Lissy Ryder doesn’t understand why her glory days ended. Back then, she was worshipped...beloved...feared. Present day, not so much. She’s been pink-slipped from her high-paying job, dumped by her husband and kicked out of her condo. Now, at thirty-seven, she’s struggling to start a business out of her parents’ garage and sleeping under the hair-band posters in her old bedroom.

Lissy finally realizes karma is the only bitch bigger than she was. Her present is miserable because of her past. But it’s not like she can go back in time and change who she was...or can she?
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