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Book Review of Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me?

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Helpful Score: 4


I adore David Sedaris's earlier books (unfortunately, he seems to have gotten more maudlin & less funny with age) and loved this one for the same reason: that clever way of finding humor in the general stupidity of people. Like Sedaris, Jen Lancaster is laugh out loud funny in parts, thanks to a wickedly delish mix of being a smartass, saying the un politically-correct but funny thing, and poking endless fun at her own expense - and she's pretty merciless. But the fact she makes as much fun of herself as she does everyone else's foibles makes her that endearing, wacky, and outrageous best friend we all wish we had.