Title: Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass Phase
Author: Jen Lancaster
Genre: Nonfiction Memoir/Essay; 384 pages
Publication Date: May 5, 2009
Publisher: National American Library (NAL)
Rating: 4 Bookmarks
If you’re anything like me, you have a Santa Claus-sized ledger in which you record book titles that other bloggers recommend. If this is the case, please add Jen Lancaster’s Pretty in Plaid to the top of the ‘Nice’ list.
Lancaster has been likened to “David Sedaris with pearls and a supercute handbag”, and her latest memoir weaves a hilarious retrospective highlighting fashion highs and lows over the last four decades. Entire essays are devoted to size-5 Jordache jeans, odious Brownie uniforms, and the edgier Girl Scout uniforms. (I donned both and can attest to the faux pas that was the Brownie Beanie.)
Lancaster takes the mundane and spins it into a giant, literary confection of equal parts humor, hubris, and habiliment. This book should come with a Surgeon General’s Warning printed on it–Reading this book should be done only in private and may induce:
- laughing until your mascara runs down your face in twin, black rivers
- laughing until you snort (Swine flu be damned!)
- laughing yourself into a wheezy, cartoonish fit
- laughing yourself into hyperventilation (as your husband frantically dials 9-1-1 for help)
Maybe you’re in need of a good laugh or you’ve been meaning to pick up some nonfiction for a reading challenge–either way, here’s the perfect vehicle!
Lest you think I’m being paid to write such a glowing review, I will say that the book starts off with a few missives I wasn’t barking mad about. Additionally, the footnotes may get a bit tedious for some readers–having to glance down two or three times on one page–but beyond those minor quibbles, this book has already become one of my favorites.
You can catch Jen on her nation-wide book tour, kicking off tomorrow. She’ll be in New York on Thursday and I hope to be there (with pearls on). Thanks to Kate and Melissa for the galley!
Book, Line, and Sinker 