I Can't Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays by Elinor Lipman

I love Elinor Lipman's books. I've read them all, except for her newest novel, The View From Penthouse B. And I have it on my list.


I just finished I Can't Complain and adored it. Each essay was a snippet of her life and views on such wide-ranging topics like what would happen in the series finale of "Sex and the City" (essay titled Assignment:  What Happens Next?) to accepting invitations to everything from weddings to book club and speaking engagements in the essay No Thank You, I Think. 

This lovely book has three sections:  Meet the Family, On Writing, and Coupling Columns. Except for A Fine Nomance, all of these essays appeared in other publications, magazines like Good Housekeeping, More, the Boston Globe, and the Washington Post, to name just a few.

To make it last, I read one section each evening. I will definitely be reading I Can't Complain again. At least once.

If you aren't familiar with Elinor Lipman, please acquaint yourself. Her writing is smart, witty, and always a pleasure to read. 

If you are familiar with her, what's your favorite book?

Book Read:  I Can't Complain:  (All Too) Personal Essays
Author: Elinor Lipman

In One Person by John Irving

Okay, I just finished John Irving's new book, In One Person. And not a minute too soon. I really like John Irving's writing. Usually. But this book, full of descriptions (not explicit, mind you) of a bisexual man's sexual exploits just didn't do it for me, to use a turn of phrase. And I don't care a bit for Shakespeare (go ahead, shoot me), which is quoted throughout the first part of the book. I don't like reading most classics (again, shoot me), which are referenced (namely Madame Bovary). So, in part, this just wasn't the book for me as far as being able to relate to it goes.

And I am not a prude. I don't mind reading about things of a sexual nature, but this one was more of a "I don't care" than anything else, I guess. I don't know what it was really, but I never felt invested in the story. Can't put my finger on it, to use another turn of phrase.

Toward the end, I felt like it was a textbook, in fact, trying to teach me, the reader, about the AIDS epidemic and transgender phraseology and what not instead of answering some questions (like why didn't Billy Abbott seek out Miss Frost and Kittredge as an adult)?

Oh well. I still enjoyed In One Person. I chuckled aloud more than once (several times each time I read the book, in fact). But this was not my favorite John Irving book.  And I love many of his books, especially The Cider House Rules.

Have you read In One Person? I'd love to hear what you thought of it.

Book Read: In One Person

Author:  John Irving

ISBN: 978-1-4516-6412-6