Book review: ‘The Fran Lebowitz Reader’

Having watched (three times, in rapid succession) Martin Scorsese’s wonderful seven-part TV documentary Pretend It’s a City (Netflix) about his close friend the humorist and raconteur Fran Lebowitz, I was very much looking forward to reading this collection of her old humorous journalism pieces.

I have to say, I was pretty disappointed. The pieces have occasional laugh-out-loud moments—especially when Lebowitz is talking about smoking—but they come in nothing like the density of Pretend It’s a City. Lebowitz makes copious use of listicles, which are entertaining enough in small doses, but soon start to jar when read one after the other.

This is a fun enough collection, but I was hoping for and expecting better.

(But, if you haven’t watched Pretend It’s a City, do yourself a favour and do so immediately.)