Tuesday, January 29, 2013

[Book Review] BITTER IS THE NEW BLACK by Jen Lancaster

Nonfiction/Memoir

Andrea reviews BITTER IS THE NEW BLACK: 
by Jen Lancaster (New American Library, 2006)

Okay, yes, the title is more than a mouthful, so for the purpose of this review, I will just call it Bitter. This memoir by Lancaster is laugh out loud hysterical. Told from the first person point of view, the author rose to success during the early days of dot.com companies. Spending more money than sense, Lancaster never imagined how badly the drop would be from such heights.


Ms. Lancaster was let go from her position of power, wealth, and prestige just as she was reaching the pinnacle of her career. Before the reader can think, “Good, the b**** deserved it!” we discover Jen is thawing out to become more human.

As harshly and realistically as possible, Ms. Lancaster describes how she and her husband, Fletch, are laid off. She does not want sympathy or pity; she just wants a job. Her biting sarcasm and money-saving methods are understandable during this all-too-true time of recession.

Yes, there is a happy ending, but you have to get to the very last pages of the very last chapter to unveil it. This is a difficult subject to read because unemployment is so prevalent in our society. Because of the author’s mixture of hilarity and sarcasm, though, this “bitter” pill is much easier to swallow.

Andrea King, Poplar-White Station

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