Book Review: I Was Told There'd Be Cake

from contemporarylit.about.com"The back cover of I Was Told There'd Be Cake says that "Sloane Crosley can do no right." This is not quite true. Although these essays detail the many misadventures of Sloane, clearly she's done something right indeed in this witty and entertaining book.Sloane Crosley is a young New Yorker. She's heard every Ferris Bueller's Day Off joke (for a grand total of 3,567 times) about her name. She attended a Christian-based summer camp for eight years, despite being "one hundred percent Jewish," and once ended up with the part of Mary in the Christmas-in-July nativity play. She had an impressively complicated time moving to a new apartment in New York City. And she has a knack for making just about any experience into a funny story.I Was Told There'd Be Cake features fifteen essays ranging from childhood to present, some with coming-of-age themes, others about making transitions and embracing change, many about the ways in which we discover our own identities. The stories vary in length and can be read in any order; you can easily take a piece or two of Cake at a time or devour the whole thing in one sitting.
I Was Told There'd Be Cake fits cozily between self-reflective tales of quarter-life crisis, such as those in Generation What?, and highly sardonic works such as Laurie Notaro's. If you're a young urban professional, if you have been young at some point, perhaps recently, or if you simply enjoy snarky humor with a little reflection (and much truth), I Was Told There'd Be Cake is an excellent choice for your summer reading list.



laura james' review: i freakin loved this book. i don't know if it was because i could pretty much relate to whatever it was she was talking about (oregon trail, being a bridesmaid, baking for a group of friends), or just because i was pretty much laughing the whole time. i'm usually not one for non-fiction, but this was a great and fast read. she has a great sense of humor and pulls you in from the very first essay. i would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a non-serious read, or pretty much anyone who is old enough to remember the original oregon trail.