Jen Lancaster reading.

On Friday night I went to a reading/Q&A/book signing with the wildly funny Jen Lancaster. She is the author of four books, most recently being the just released Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch and a Wardrobe, or the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart Ass Phase. She also blogs pretty regularly, though she's on book tour right now so it's more sporadic and more book-focused. And she has a mild obsession with her dogs, which I personally think is an excellent quality to have.

There is a blurb on her website that describes her as "Carrie Bradshaw meets Barbara Ehrenreich". I would add David Sedaris somewhere in that recipe. It's laugh-out-loud funny stuff.

The new book is about her childhood, high school and college years. She read a part of the chapter in her new book about sorority rush. It was really, really funny. It made me glad that I didn't go to a school where that sort of thing was important at all. She also mentioned in the Q&A portion that she has sold her next two books. The first will be titled something to do with being lazy (can't quite remember the title). She's going to spend a year "getting cultured": going to concerts and the opera and reading classic literature. And then she'll write about it. In a funny way, of course. The other one is called Involuntary: A Year of Giving Dangerously, in which she will volunteer with different organizations and then write about her experience.

Barnes and Noble expected, according to the girl next to me, about 20-30 people to come. They told her that they have never had more than that at a reading at that location. Last night there were at least 150-200 people. They gave out wristbands for the signing that were numbered between 500 and 700. And that's just the people that wanted a book signed.

I have to say, though, my favorite book of hers is and probably will always be Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissists Quest to Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie is Not the Answer. It helped me to keep a sense of humor about the weight loss thing when I was ready to crack at any moment.

Check her books out!

{Images from Jen Lancaster's website}