March 27, 2008
Let Them Eat Cake
The word "essay" can make us uneasy, conjuring up memories of "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" and college applications. But Sloane Crosley's debut essay collection, I Was Told There'd Be Cake (out April 1), reminds us just how palatable the genre can be.
At once acerbic and endearing, Crosley writes like the love child of Sarah Vowell and David Sedaris. Whether coming clean about her toy pony collection in "The Pony Problem," investigating which of her friends left a turd on her bathroom floor in “Smell This,” or detailing locking herself out of two apartments in one day in "F*** You, Columbus," Crosley's hilarious essays reveal personal quirks and experiences we might be loathe to publicly admit, but voyeuristically enjoy someone else confessing.
Crosley's greatest gift is for seamlessly guiding us from cocktail party anecdote to a deeper exploration of universal themes — love, friendship, self-identity. And in her poignant epiphanies about herself, what we often discover is a version of ourselves. To that, we say, serve us up another slice!
I Was Told There'd Be Cake will be available April 1 from Riverhead Trade.
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