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 by Jen Lancaster

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(Paperback)

Average Customer Rating: Customer Rating for this product is 4.5 out of 5 (80 ratings)

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  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
  • Pub. Date: March 2006
  • ISBN-13: 9780451217608
  • Sales Rank: 2,338
  • 416pp
 
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Synopsis

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.

Publishers Weekly

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. (Mar. 7) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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Biography

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

Customer Reviews

Number of Reviews: 80
Average Rating: Customer Rating for this product is 4.5 out of 5
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Customer Rating for this product is 5 out of 5 Fantasic book
A reviewer, A reviewer, 08/17/2008

I'm so jealous of anyone who hasn't yet read this book and gets to experience it for the first time. Jen Lancaster is the funniest writer and I enjoyed every ounce of this book. Warning: don't pick up this book unless you've got a few hours. You won't want to put it down!!

Also recommended: Such a Pretty Fat - Jen Lancaster

Customer Rating for this product is 5 out of 5 I heart Jen Lancaster!!!!
Beth (santatiggr@aol.com) , A reviewer, 07/11/2008

Not everyone will get Jen, but those of us who do (I have named us Jenophiles) will laugh ourselves silly and wish we could invite her over for margaritas! Kudos to you for the weight loss and your success--I can't wait for your next book! JEN, YOU RULE!

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