My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover If Not Being a Dumb Ass is the New Black, or, a Culture-Up Manifesto

Yeah I am still mad I bought this one in hardcover. I think I lost my mind since I tend to only buy hardcover when I know I will be re-reading an author again and again. At least "My Fair Lazy" had more of a structure than the last memoir did. This one just follows Lancaster as she goes on a cultural diet, i.e. doing things like reading poetry, attending the theater, etc. Sorry, it just felt very....who cares about this as I was reading. As someone who misses their Booklikes blog and used to post pictures about the theaters and musicals I attended, and who loves loves loves museums, I get loving culture and wanting to immerse yourself into it. I just can't see why this was made into a book. There's nothing Earth shattering here, and the show more laughs per usual are few and far between. And once again we get to see that due to her contacts and how much money she has, Lancaster is able to dine out at restaurants and attend plays that most people can't do.

The narrative flow as I said up above was much better in this one. I just had a hard time thinking that Lancaster ever cared that anyone would think she was unintelligent in a conversation. She's been telling us through how many books how great/smart she is? It just felt like a false note. And then Lancaster "training" herself on how to carry conversations and know about current events and discussing the theater felt like Eliza Doolittle for petty people. Sorry, not sorry, but it just made me go this is a book like a thousand times.

Anyway, I was the person who bought this in hardcover and who is now placing this book into my pile of donations for the library when they start to accept them again. show less

This is another spectacularly funny memoir from the author of Bitter is the New Black and Bright Lights, Big Ass. Jen has decided that it is a little embarrassing that when she gets nervous, she gets loud and can only talk about the latest reality television show. And she watches a lot of them! Obsessively. So she decides that she needs to be able to have an intelligent conversation and not be dumbed down by her tv addictions. So she decides she needs a Jenaissance, so the next time she meets Candace Bushnell (her hero) she won't be a moron who doesn't know who Baudelaire is.

my review: This book was hilarious, I think I loved it more than Bitter is the New Black. Despite being a best-selling author (and a republican) she seems so down show more to earth and funny. And relateable. And I don't even watch reality tv (except Project Runway and Top Chef, but those are good shows). I loved her fascination with opera, her foray into world cuisine, wine and cheese pairings, classic literature (Eudora Welty drove her back to MTV's Real World but she decided Gossip Girl could never have existed without Edith Wharton), museums and plays.

Jen is helped along by many of her more cultured and very patient friends. She drags her husband Fletch along for the ride. This was a fun, quick, entertaing read, that I very much enjoyed and highly recommend!!

My rating 4.5/5 show less

The length it took me to finish this book is in no way due to the actual book and more to my own ongoing life and craziness. This is the second book by Jen Lancaster that I've read and I have to say that she's one I will continue to read. I really enjoy the way Jen Lancaster writes. She comes across as someone I would want to be friends with (even though we don't share political ideologies, but she barely ever brings that up). Her writing style is unique and all her own, like she's having a chat with you about whatever she has learned or has happened to her. And it's always amusing, with an overall story from beginning to end. She's one of those writers who makes the banal bits of life enjoyable to read about, not boring in the show more yeah-we've-all-been-there sort of way.

This book focuses mainly on her decision to become more culturally aware by opening herself up to new experiences with theater, literature, food, etc. I found it quite interesting as someone who, while I've always loved theater, has her own issues with coming out of her own comfort zones. And it's nice to see that others struggle with the same things, just in different ways.

If you like memoirs or books about life lessons and opening up to the world, this a book for you.

Overall: highly enjoyable. show less

I laughed from cover to cover while reading this book - seriously, I laughed out loud so much while reading this book that both my husband and my best friend were giving me dirty looks! Now, once in awhile a book will make me laugh out loud once or twice, but this was a first for me. I was familiar when Jen Lancaster's titles from my bookselling days, but I had never bothered to actually read any of her books before since I don't really go for anything in the Bibliography genres. I only made an exception for this one because the author claimed to be a reality television addict, which I can sadly relate to. While I was not a fan of every single show that she referenced in the book, I was familiar with all of them and could appreciate her show more sense of both humor and sarcasm. At times, I was amazed that this person actually exists, since her behavior in polite society, especially under the effects of either alcohol or caffeine, could be termed as attrocious, but that was part of the focus of the book, so it works. The things she says and the way she behaves are ways that I am sure most of us have wanted to do at times, but had too much self-control to do so. Jen Lancaster seems to have little to no self-control, which she gains as the book progresses, but even her lack of self-control is strangely appealing and endearing.
It has been a few days since I finished the book, and I feel like I am having Lancaster-withdrawals, so it looks like her other books will be going on my wishlist! show less

Okay, Jen Lancaster is not high brow, but God how I love her! Numerous times while reading this book I had to set it down to remove my glasses to wipe my eyes because I was crying from laughing SO hard. In this memoir our heroine, Jen herself, decides to "culture up" to prepare herself for a charity event with authors she idolizes. Up until now whenever she opens her mouth it's guaranteed humiliation when her celebrity worship devolves into discussions of reality TV, to which she's addicted. So she determines to be brave, get off the couch and get cultured. She attends plays, listens to opera and reads the classics. Along the way we get to spend time with her husband, her friends, her pets, and her neighbors. What a ride. Her show more conversations with her friends sound just like the ones I have. She'd fit right in. She's coming to my home down this summer and I will be going to meet my first author in person. I wonder if she'll be wearing one of her Lacoste shirts. show less

I’ve been reading Jen Lancaster’s books for a while now—since after her second book, Bright Lights, Big Ass was published, actually—and she never fails to entertain her readers. I’ve been following her through her now-famous experience at losing her job and taking up temp work; bad neighbors; and her efforts at weight loss, and she’s truly not afraid to put herself out there. Her last book before this one wasn’t her best however, so I was pleased to discover that with My Fair Lazy, Jen Lancaster has returned to true form.

My Fair Lazy is a collection of essays about Lancaster’s addiction to reality TV and how she made a conscientious effort to change her habits by becoming more cultured-visiting the theatre, for example; show more or eating cuisine beyond her old standard of hamburgers, French fries, and orange soda; or reading (or rereading) the classics—there’s a hilarious bit in there that’s classic Jen, where she goes into a bookstore to try to find “a novel written by a woman whose initials are EW,” picking up a book by Edith Wharton, and realizing that she meant Evelyn Waugh instead! Then there are some very funny comparisons between Edith Wharton’s characters and the characters on Gossip Girl (not a reality show, but yes, there are a number of similarities between them now that I think about it). Each chapter has a title that's a twist on a certain reality show's title o catchphrase ("Outwit, Outlast, Outclassed," for example, or "The Biggest Winner"). And Lancaster's prose is littered with zingy references to various shows, although tat, of course, isn't the focus of the book.

There’s a fair amount of plugging here for her previous books, as well as many details about her writing the books and going on book tours; and there are a couple of factual errors (cycle thirteen of America's Next Top Model was the one with the petite girls, not cycle eleven). Also, the book dates easily, as Jen mentions seasons of various TV shows from a few years ago (e.g., Survivor: China). But other than that, I thought that this was a really strong, humorous book. I read very few memoirs, especially since many of them seem like navel-gazing most of the time; but Jen Lancaster’s books are the exception. She always manages to learn her lesson at hand with a certain about of humility—although, as she says herself, she’s perhaps not so skilled at filtering what she says. All the better for her readers, however, as Lancaster’s books never fail to be entertaining and insightful. show less

The Jen striving to improve herself is just as funny as the bitter unemployed exyuppie we met in her first book. Her wit can be savage, but her personal growth over the past few years shines through in a new appreciation for people who would have set her off in the past.

Her obsession with reality TV and her relentless determination to get cultya are sides of her fine self that make a collision course in this latest memoir. Oh my God the kitten stories! And one thing that comes through on practically every page is her deep appreciation of her friends.

Let it be known that I have love for Miss New Yor- err, Lancaster. Even if she does watch What The Fox News.

BTW, the footnote was INVENTED for Jen's personal use.