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| 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 | 
 enlarge | Author: Jen Lancaster
Publisher: NAL Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $11.37
You Save: $2.58 (18%)
New (8) Used (14) from $7.82
Avg. Customer Rating:  321 reviews
Sales Rank: 172103
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.8
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
ASIN: B000O17CZG
Publication Date: March 7, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 316 more reviews...
 Hilarious, Witty and Tons of Fun! May 8, 2006
46 out of 49 found this review helpful
My best friend, Sonja, (bless her generous heart) gave me this book after she read it and highly recommended it. I have to say it was even funnier than she said it was.
Jen (NOT JENNY) is one of the most loveable, egocentric, witty characters I have ever read about. The fact that it's a memoir is even better! She cusses a blue streak and comes up with awesome one-liners. When she called herself, "Carbohydate Barbie" I cracked up and could totally relate. Jen loses her high paying corporate job and must (gasp) even sell her Kate Spade shoes on Ebay before all is said and done. Her man, Fletch, is a baby doll and true blue friend. The account of their wedding in Las Vegas (where, unfortunately a porn convention was being held at the same time) was my favorite part.
If you're tired of the same old chick lit [...], get this refreshing book. Jen is an inspiring, creative survivor. I look forward to more books from her.
 Mediocre attempt at being witty June 22, 2006
36 out of 61 found this review helpful
I read a lot of 'chick-lit' and while I think Ms. Lancaster would consider herself up there with the best of them, I'd have to disagree. I'm shocked at the amount of people who found her hilarious. I didn't really find much to laugh at- I was horrified by the way she thinks, reacts and 'speaks her mind'. There is a huge difference between being too blunt and just being a complete, idiotic and materialistic human being and, frankly, I think Jen falls into the later catagory. I think my issue is that I've worked for someone almost exactly like her- someone who is the queen of her own universe and treats every else as though they should bow down and submit to her superiority. It was a nightmare job and I left because the sheer ego of the woman made me want to kill her. I felt this same way about Jen. I found myself wishing that someone, ANYONE, would tell her what a selfish cow she was but, alas, while she gets her comeuppance by becoming one of the poor and down-trodden, she still manages to throw her weight around and look down her nose at those she doesn't agree with. I found myself wanting to at least relate to her but I couldn't because there wasn't one moment in which I felt sorry for her. I know the rut she was stuck in- too qualified for retail and no one in her industry could help her but I found that her realization that any job would do came way too late in her unemployment haze. As for the writing, it tries to be sharp and at times it almost succeeds. I didn't find it compelling enough to devour it as I do the other silly but fun Chick Lit that I favour. I also absolutely despised the stupid footnotes- why the heck couldn't she just say that in the prose? It was annoying at best. I suppose I felt strongly enough about the book to write a review so it had some effect on me but I don't quite think it's the effect that Penguin or Jen Lancaster was hoping for. I don't think I'll be purchasing any more of her books- I may look them up in the library to see if she's fallen to earth from her self-created pedistool. I definitely wouldn't recommend this to anyone looking for a likeable story. I think I was supposed to finish the book and smile to myself that while she's sometimes a bit too blunt, Jen Lancaster is terrifically witty and gutsy and says what we all wish we could think. Instead, I closed the book in disgust and couldn't believe that she's making a living that rewards her for being a horrible, cruel, extremely vindictive, and loathsome human being. Then again, having read the book, she's too busy virtually sticking her tongue out at people on her blog to stop and think that all the hate mail she receives might be for a reason. She's not the world's most gifted writer but for the sake of her poor husband, it's probably best that she thinks she is. Then again, as self-delusional as she is, it wouldn't matter anyway; anyone who disagreed would be 'ignorant' or 'stupid' or whatever other juvenile insult and rationalization she'd come up with. Read at your own risk, you might end up throwing the book at someone if you don't fall for her pitiful attempt at trying to make her bitterness funny. We all have it, we just don't all choose to make the world suffer for it.
PowerPoint and Prada and Pearls ... Oh My! April 15, 2006
28 out of 31 found this review helpful
Jen Lancaster is my hero. And not because I share her love of shopping and fashion (I don't ... most days I'm just grateful if the one pair of jeans I have that fit, are clean.) She is my hero because throughout some really gut wrenching trials, she maintained her very keen sense of humor.
Is this book for everybody? Maybe not. But if you read that title and think 'this book is for me,' it probably is.
Jen makes no apology for her self-centeredness, but rather makes it endearing. This book is laugh-out-loud funny.
Nicole Del Sesto, author All Encompassing Trip
Awful book. Waste of time. April 10, 2006
22 out of 42 found this review helpful
This book was terrible. Seriously, I am sorry that Jenn in Jennsylvania admitted to this being a memoir! I love a good fun read as much as the next person but this is a worthless read. The book played into every sterotype imaginable and her ignorance was offensive in parts. What type of "heroine" uses a wedding as a ploy for money, cancelled her health insurance to buy shoes and subsequently associates material things with peoples self worth including her own. The next time you are sterotyped as being a gold digging, self indulgent, money grubbing egomaniac just because you are a woman, a New Yorker, an American or a Sorority girl you can thank the HEROINE of this book. I am relieved I picked up the book on the free rack at the library and did not support this author financially the last thing I want to see is a sequel to this book.
 The Shopaholic's Evil Twin September 5, 2006
22 out of 25 found this review helpful
This is the story of the downfall and subsequent growing up of a spoiled brat. Jen Lancaster is a vice president at Corp. Com., working insane hours and bringing home an insanely huge paycheck for it. She and her devoted boyfriend Fletch live in an uber-trendy loft in an "it" neighborhood in Chicago, unconcerned about paying through the nose for rent since they both bring home fat paychecks. Jen has a very expensive salon habit and an even more expensive shopping habit, and one of the reasons she has held off marrying Fletch is that he can't afford the size rock she wants.
It all comes crashing down one day when Jen gets downsized. It's a tough economy, and in the 22 months it takes to land a new job, she learns about not taking anything for granted. When Fletch also gets laid off, they get perilously close to having to move in with her parents, and she starts to examine her silly spending habits.
Jen is a selfish, unsympathetic character who can be downright mean, but I have to admit she's funny, and while I wouldn't actually say the things she says to people, I was right there with her on her train of thought. There were times I wondered why Fletch stood by her, but mostly I just want to know where to find a guy like him. He weathers her constant tantrums without batting an eye, and when times got really tough, I admired Jen and Fletch's ability to stick together and support one another.
What I really liked about this novel was that though Jen had to learn some hard lessons and rearrange her priorities, the experience didn't change who she was inside. Though she learned not to blow wads of money on senseless things, and learned some respect for menial jobs, she didn't lose her mean streak. I also had to admire her ability to keep fighting, uncowed, even when things seemed impossible.
Though I'm uncertain whether I'd like her in person, Jen is amusing on the page. For an inside look at the downward spiral of an annoying, self-serving princess, this book does a nice job.
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