Bitter Is the New Black

Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office

By: Jen Lancaster

Narrated by: Jamie Heinlein

Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Jen Lancaster was living the sweet life - until real life kicked her to the curb. She had the perfect man, the perfect job-hell, she had the perfect life - and there was no reason to think it wouldn't last. Or maybe there was, but Jen Lancaster was too busy being manicured, pedicured, highlighted, and generally adored to notice.

This is the smart-mouthed, soul-searching story of a woman trying to figure out what happens next when she's gone from six figures to unemployment checks and she stops to reconsider some of the less-than-rosy attitudes and values she thought she'd never have to answer for when times were good. Filled with caustic wit and unusual insight, it's a rollicking listen as speedy and unpredictable as the trajectory of a burst balloon.

©2006 Jen Lancaster (P)2009 Penguin

Critic reviews

“Hilarious.” (InStyle)

“A humorous and inspiring approach to navigating middle age.” (Booklist)

Intolerable

I keep reading about Lancasters "Sharp wit"
I didn't hear it, she sounds like the teen queens on every rich kid high school series since 2000
She laughs about stealing a bag from a "smelly" homeless man.
After that I wanted her to fall, and hard. She really didn't suffer much, and seemed temporarily chastened but when things looked up became almost as obnoxious as she was before. Revolting on all levels.

Oh but for the love of pit bulls...

Overall, I found Jen Lancaster the character to be pretty unlikeable. Mean rather than funny and not as clever as she thinks herself. I did get through the entire book, and it looks up. There is some redemption and humility nestled in there somewhere, and post 9/11 job market was pretty much just as she describes. There's a lot in this book to like, the main character just doesn't happen to be one of them.

Better than I'd hoped.

After reading the other reviews I was a bit skeptical, but I really enjoyed this book. It was fun, irreverent and sarcastic - all the things I love in a book!

Not So Bitter

I'm not sure why I bought this book or why I even wanted to read it but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a pretty good listen - funny, light, and real. Jen Lancaster is so relatable. I'd say she's the new age girl next door (if there's such a thing).

I would recommend that if anybody was interested in this book, that they should listen to the audio version versus reading the print version. The narrator helped bring Lancasters story to life! I'm confident that I wouldn't have liked this story half as much if I read the print version rather than listened to it - it's an experience!

Terrible.

What was most disappointing about Jen Lancaster’s story?

Her attitude, her tone, ugh. So irritating! I really wanted to like this book.

What aspect of Jamie Heinlein’s performance would you have changed?

She was fine. Maybe too fine because she voiced this terrible person to a tee.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Some of the humor wasn't insulting.

Any additional comments?

Let's just say I wouldn't want to be friends with Jen. I will be requesting a refund. Waste of a credit.

Loved it!

Jen Lancaster is very funny and the book is written really well - Great Job! I also loved the narrator who can make or break a book. I had to not listen to this at night, because it was so good I didn't want to go to sleep. There are other books that I only listen to at night, because they are so boring that they put me to sleep ;-)

Mixed Review

I was conflicted between 3 and 4 stars. I liked it, and thought Jen Lancaster put together a great autobiographical story, but I often asked myself, "What is the point of this?" Or, "Why do I care?" On the other hand, I couldn't stop listening, and want to hear more from her. Because of that, I gave in with the 4 stars.

Paper book is better- but this is entertaining

I've read "Bitter" 3x with the paper book. It is by far one of my favorite books of all time! Listening to it- the only drawback is the narrator gets a little..."Charlie Brown teacher." Listening to Jen's newest book, which she narrated herself, was better due to the fact that Jen emphasized things differently- the way she intended. The footnotes peppered through the book are also hard to understand with an audio book...unless the reader is ready for them.

Overall- still an entertaining, laugh out loud book.

Awful.

This book me to tears. I had a 24 hour drive and thought I couldn't be bored listening to a book, but this was terrible. She is not an intersting character, her life is less than intersting and the guy was a humdrum.

I chuckled a bit

At first when I started it, I thought, I hate this lady! But it got better. Yes she is kind of a pill but as time goes by, she starts to change. I enjoyed it.