Book review: The Fran Lebowitz Reader, by Fran Lebowitz.
Fran Lebowitz is very funny, in that curmudgeonly and irritated style of Larry David. Pretend it's a City is a show I have revisited a few times and the content of this book is in a similar style. What can I complain about today? What's wrong with them? Why are they like this? Cigarettes and books and restaurants are my favourite and writers block is not.
Essentially a collection of essays, I could see this being much more entertaining if it was a weekly column. I loved the first half of the book, getting more Fran beyond her Netflix series felt like a gift, but it took me a very long time to finish the second half. It's definitely not bad but it didn't quite hold my attention and I wasn't excited to read it.
Part of the success of Pretend it's a City is her chemistry and rapport with Martin Scorsese, and her butting heads with Spike Lee on whether or not sport can be art (they both make a argument that convinces so they're either both right or both wrong). Learning more about her with New York City as a backdrop makes it utterly compelling. When we're just alone with her thoughts it has a little less impact.