Going by the official Goodreads Designation here: 2 stars = "It was OK"

I didn't hate it, I didn't love it. Some of these essays are funny all the way through, some have funny lines, some are just random anecdotes that I'm not sure why they even made it into a book. I saw somebody in another review said this is like snippets from chatting on the phone with your funny friend and that's true - just random stuff thrown together about stuff that happened to her.

I think this seems like the perfect book to have handy for reading in waiting rooms or in a noisy train station or something when you want to read something but can't really concentrate too carefully.

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A witty collection of essays which range in scope from problems as trivial as playing herself on Gossip Girl to more serious topics such as fertility.

Having never read anything else by Crosley, I enjoyed her intelligent and humorous voice in conjunction with her mildly self-deprecating tone. I liked the fact that she wasn't afraid to be honest and admit to her own mistakes, specifically in the last chapter of the book regarding the misunderstanding of the cost of certain medications as well as her freezer incident, but she maintained a comical vibe and blamed no one but herself. One thing worth mentioning is that this is a very accessible collection of essays; some of these range from one to two pages while others are quite a bit longer, making it easy to pick up as you please. I'm looking forward to reading her other works, most specifically I Was Told There Would Be Cake. ( )

Entertaining essays. ( )

I enjoyed this collection of charming, intelligent and relatable stories. The author has a voice that reminds me of real life friends I have. Reading these essays is very much like meeting up with your funniest friend at an otherwise boring party and being treated to the latest gossip from her life. A delight which also provokes thought and contemplation on some of the more bizarre points of existence.

Wheels Up - The author recounts her encounter with an amoral woman in a wheel chair who stole her cab and then ran over a dog's tail.

Outside Voices - The author recounts the dramatic saga of her noisy neighbor, a high school boy named Jared. She becomes so obsessed with him that she eventually devises a way to punish him by means of a powerful spotlight.

A Dog Named Humphrey - The author recounts the thrilling and embarrassing events surrounding her extremely brief guest appearance on Gossip Girl.

You Someday Lucky - The author recounts an amusing story about a period in her life where all of her friends were into a new personality test. They used it to judge those around them and eventually each other.

If You Take the Canoe Out - The author agrees to house sit for a friend who lives in a remote area of California. This is the prefect location to work on her next book which she does. But when her friend is delayed due to a sudden death, the author gets bored and ends up hanging out with some hippy swinger neighbors. Shenanigans ensue.

The Chupacabra - A brief essay about the author's experience hunting Chupacabra sightings in Vermont.

Up the Down Volcano - The author recounts her attempt to climb a mountain in Ecuador. She was sent their on assignment and would never normally partake in such an activity. Naturally, she is not successful.

The Grape Man - The author recounts memories of a favorite neighbor who lived in her building. He was an avid gardener and a kindly soul who had been in the building for a long time and was a form of guardian. After his death, the author struggles to understand how she ought to mourn and meditates upon the keen isolation of living alone in a big city.

Right Aid - A story that's almost a one-liner about sharing a birthday with a cashier at Rite Aid.

Relative Stranger - Driven by curiosity and family lore, the author interviews a distant relative who was quite successful in the porn industry.

Brace Yourself - While visiting France, the author has an unfortunate misunderstanding with a woman in a neck brace that results in all her neighbors believing her to be a monster.

Immediate Family - The author is pulled into an uncomfortable social situation when she reluctantly decides to sit Shiva for an elderly neighbor she knew in passing. When she arrives, she realizes that the deceased person is the father of a neighbor she has never actually met.

Cinema of the Confined - The author recounts her sudden, debilitating bout with vertigo that concluded in her being diagnosed with a fairly obscure disease. She describes the excruciating isolation and lack of control such an event brings about.

Wolf - The author accidentally let her domain expire and it was bought at auction by a man who ransoms personal domains for a living. She eventually agrees to buy it back but also insists on interviewing him. The result of this interview are predictably unsatisfying. He's a scumbag. A boring, amoral scumbag with delusions of mediocrity.

Our Hour is Up - The author recounts a painful story from her childhood when she set up an advice booth at school. A boy takes time out of his day to call her stupid. Many years later, this boy, now a man, stops her on the street and tries to get her to give his girlfriend advice on writing a book. The results are satisfying.

The Doctor is a Woman - The author recounts a series of unlikely events that lead her to seek the advice of a psychic. This man tells her she will have many children. She doesn't think about children much, but now she can't stop. Not that she wants them, but she's undecided and this uncertainty drives her to pursue freezing her eggs. She describes the process and dwells however briefly upon the emotional experience of it all. ( )

I never know if essayists live more interesting lives than most people or if they just write their lives more interestingly. This one is probably a bit of both. Not everyone's cousin is a legendary porn stand-in, or has a bit part on Gossip Girl, but everyone in NYC has noisy neighbors. From these premises Crosley spins funny, profound stories. A David Sedaris comparison is apt. Probably she's less cynical than Sedaris, but no less honest. The humor is more in the language with Crosley.

For me, the least successful piece in the collection was also, unfortunately, the longest. Crosley is assigned a magazine travel piece. She goes to Ecuador and decides to go climb the second tallest volcano in the world even though she has no mountaineering experience. It's very "gringa goes south of the border" which is no less offensive of a shtick even if she's aware of the dynamic. More to the point, there are lots of opportunities to not go on the obviously dangerous climb, but she keeps going and gets into a potentially fatal situation. It's a situation with a lot of tragicomic potential, and she wrings every bit out of it. The moment where the life-or-death stakes of the situation become apparent is probably supposed to be harrowing for a reader, but I just had zero sympathy for her because for no good reason other than "I am writing a piece and it would be cool," does she continue on. It's a bad reason to die IMHO.

If you read one essay in the collection, read the last one, which is about Crosley deciding to freeze her eggs. It is an incredible piece of writing.