The Fran Lebowitz Reader, by Fran Lebowitz (1994)

This book presented a collection of comedy essays from Fran Lebowitz. They mostly covered social dynamics and were organised by loose themes like ‘manners’ or ‘science’ the reality though is the content was anything but. In reality each piece revealed a piece of Lebowitz herself, as her unique voice cut through and was solidified further with every passing piece.

Fran has a distinct voice. Assertive but not in an annoying suffocating way. Satirical and a little jaded, but not quite whiney nor pessimistic. Fran (why am I saying Fran, when with every other writer I use their surname?) has a strong sense of self and you can tell she is really happy with herself. This is actually a joy to read.

Regarding the content though, it’s worth considering what didn’t make the cut. I assume these pieces were a weekly column or such once upon a time, and it important to consider this because as a book they don’t quite work. It can be a bit grating reading these back to back rather than as a weekly humour oasis as I assume would have been the case.

I also wonder what didn’t make it in. Some of these columns are… to be kind… rough, so if this is meant to be Fran’s greatest hits I suggest any criticism should be directed at the person who picked and chopped the pieces. What do I mean by rough? Well, Fran plays with form (more on that later) and the experimentation doesn’t always work, sometimes dooming a piece to remarkability from the get go if a concept doesn’t work.

The best example of this appeared as unedited brainstorms, with some columns simply a list of humorous thoughts Fran had come up with on a topic. Once again, assuming these were meant to be columns these kinds of pieces scream either writer’s block or deadline pressure.

The experimentation more times than not though works wonderfully. Fran is quick to lean into fiction, breaks conventional forms with lists or comparative tables and seems to do whatever is necessary to get her point across as humorously as she can. I most enjoyed her fake career story, where she melds the story of a typical furniture salesperson with an imagined comedy industry, yielding a bizarre and worthwhile story of a comedy writer’s journey to the top (or at least middle).

Was there anything particularly insightful here? No, party for the humor first purpose, but also because a lot was out of date (airplane smoking sections anyone)? But was this book worthwhile reading? Sure.