Personal Reneissance

'My Fair Lazy'

Author: Jen Lancaster

Format: Audio CD

Published: Penguin Audiobooks; May 2010

Narrator: Jamie Heinlein
Genre: Humor; Memoir
Rating: B
Source: Library

Synopsis:  It's a JENaissance! The New York Times best-selling author of Pretty in Plaid gets her culture on.

Readers and listeners have followed Jen Lancaster through job loss, sucky city living, weight loss attempts, and 1980s nostalgia. Now Jen chronicles her efforts to achieve cultural enlightenment, with some hilarious missteps and genuine moments of inspiration along the way. And she does so by any means necessary: reading canonical literature, viewing classic films, attending the opera, researching artisan cheeses, and even enrolling in etiquette classes to improve her social graces.

In Jen's corner is a crack team of experts, including Page Six socialites, gourmet chefs, an opera aficionado, and a master sommelier. She may discover that well-regarded, high-priced stinky cheese tastes exactly as bad as it smells, and that her love for Kraft American Singles is forever. But one thing's for certain: Eliza Doolittle's got nothing on Jen Lancaster - and failure is an option.

My Take:  I've read a couple of Jen Lancaster's books in my pre-blogging days and loved them. They were witty and, well, incredibly relateable in a, wow, she says everything I wouldn't have the guts to say but I totally agree with her kind of way! So when I discovered that my library had Lancaster's newest book available on audio I was excited to check it out and I was not disappointed.

While Lancaster has published multiple memoirs and they all build on each other I don't believe you have to read them in order. I've read 'Bitter is the New Black' and 'Bright Light's Big Ass' and didn't miss a thing by skipping ahead to this book. While I certainly expect to go back and read the couple I have missed, there is no major plot twist I've missed for these books chronicle Jen's life. A person's life, in reality, really is only so complicated and that's the fun in it because it is the mundane-ness of it that you can really relate to.

After years of working from home, writing her memoirs, Jen has realized that she has spent far too much time watching reality TV and not nearly enough time discovering culture. I think we can all fall into the that trap from time to time. It's easy. Maybe reality TV isn't your thing, sure, but staying at home can be easier than going out and experiencing something new. Well, I for one love some reality TV and while, Jen watches every show under the sun much of what she was talking about I was totally laughing out loud along with. Eventually she realizes though that as a middle aged adult her dinner party repertoire is not age appropriate and she is embarrassing herself so she needs to get out more and she starts herself on a 'Jenaissance' (love that term, by the way!).

The memoir then chronicles her adventures of trying a myriad of ethnic cuisines, different theater experiences, and classical novels to say the least with Jen in all of her humor telling us what she likes and dislikes of each. Living in San Francisco, I was shocked as to many of the cuisines that we eat all of the time that she had never tried (Indian for example, how can you go a couple of weeks without a curry?!).

Granted it could get a little tedious while she was chronicling everything, if you were reading it in print you could have just flipped through a couple of pages. By the end of the memoir you might just find yourself inspired to try some new experiences too! Break out of that mold, you know, it could be fun! :)

Cover Lust: I think it's pretty cute and totally fitting! A pair of leopard print slippers imply someone who is chic and also lazy!