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 enlarge | Author: Sloane Crosley
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $7.48
You Save: $6.52 (47%)
New (48) Used (24) from $6.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  60 reviews
Sales Rank: 1038
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:
 Taking Back The Personal Essay August 2, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Quite frankly I don't want to read about how someone was abused by their father, or feels there mother doesn't love them, or who got thirty thousand Ph.D's and spent the better years of their life somewhere in the Amazon getting malaria. Really, I don't. Mostly because I love my daddy, my mom might just be the coolest lady ever, and the fact is I'm still trying to figure out how to work my toaster, much less get a Ph.D. It's nice to read things you can relate to, and I can certainly relate to Sloane Crosley.
I bought this book in an effort not to read my Geography textbook, and immediately fell in love with Crosley's quirky sense of humor, self-deprecating remarks, and all around human approach to essay writing. I worry about some of the same things she does, because after all if I die tomorrow I do not want people finding those awful peasant skirts in my closet.
Lately it seems the personal essay has become something depressing. Who wants to read something depressing? This collection of essays is exactly the kind of essay I would want to write, so it's certainly one I loved to read.
I will admit that this book is, quite frankly, not for the male, over forty, humorless, or uptight. Still, for a college girl who still wishes she could be Wonder Woman, this book tells me I'm not alone, and I'm not nearly as weird as I thought I was.
 Tomato Tomaato July 27, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
It would be interesting to find out the demographics of the people giving this book bad to moderate reviews. I'm guessing that most of them are not from the same generation as Sloane Crosley. So it's understandable if they cannot relate to her and the life experiences described in her essays. But just because THEY can't relate, doesn't mean this is a bad book or that Ms. Crosley is a bad writer, and it certainly doesn't mean that people should be leaving bad reviews. Ms. Crosley is not writing to that audience anyway.
If you DO happen to come from the same generation and background as the author (like myself), or just happen to have an appreciation for intelligent and witty writing, then I think you will find this book to be an incredibly engaging and interesting read far above the usual chick-lit fare. While I do agree that there were parts of the book I was expecting to be funnier, the chapters that did have me laughing outloud more than made up for it (The Ursula Cookie, You On A Stick, and Smell This -- to name a few). This book is definitely worth your time.
 Not impressed July 23, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
While I felt that Crosley's quirky topics were mildly entertaining, I have to say I disagree with other reviewers that she has promise and talent. In my opinion, she is quite simply not a very good writer. I didn't even finish the book. She certainly doesn't belong among the ranks of great humorists like David Sedaris (the comparison being the reason I bought this book in the first place).
 Petulance, perhaps? July 19, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
"... if a soup kitchen is set up in a forest and no news crews are around to see it because they all saw THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and they'll be damned if they're setting one foot in the woods for some stinkin' homeless people, does it count? Somehow I don't think so." - Author Sloane Crosley
I've been considering the title of Sloane Crosley's book, I WAS TOLD THERE'D BE CAKE, trying to perceive the message it sends to the potential reader. I can't quite put my finger on it. It's catchy, though; I like it.
The volume itself is a series of essays on the author's reactions to the minor injustices, unmet expectations, petty annoyances, imponderables, absurdities, and anxieties of her young life. As of today, she's still in her late twenties.
Perhaps the best chapter is the one entitled "You on a Stick", wherein she describes the experience of being chosen as the maid-of-honor by an engaged, former high school "friend" that she barely remembers. A deer caught in headlights is less inconvenienced, apparently.
Perhaps my favorite essayist that ruminates on life and the human condition is Barbara Holland (Endangered Pleasures: In Defense of Naps, Bacon, Martinis, Profanity, and Other Indulgences, When All the World Was Young: A Memoir, Wasn't the Grass Greener?: Thirty-three Reasons Why Life Isn't as Good as It Used to Be). Her view of the world incorporates a certain wisdom and common sense that have evolved from several decades of living beyond what Crosley has experienced. The point I'm trying to make is that Sloane's musings, while certainly diverting and engaging, might perhaps only be taken seriously and thought profound by someone no more than thirty. She has a flair for expression, however, that, seasoned by the years to come, should result in a perception and literary talent that rivals Holland's. Thus, and perhaps unfairly, I'm awarding I WAS TOLD THERE'S BE CAKE only three stars not for what it is now but rather in comparison to the book it could become in 30-40 years.
Of course, somebody age 90, or thirty years older than I am now, may comment that this review is nonsense and I should give credit where credit is due. As a matter of fact, you're welcome to say that no matter what your age.
Returning to the mood conveyed by the title. Petulance, perhaps, or a growing sense of disappointment? I really do like it for its cleverness.
 Not funny July 16, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book was fine but no where in the class of the worst book of Sedaris. Chelsea Handler books are funnier. Chelsea Handler? Yes totally. She's hilarious - Sloan is just whiney.
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