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

When this first came out it was a frothy bit of fun - a slightly darker, real-life “Confessions of a Shopaholic” where successful Jen Lancaster is forced to take a long hard look at her life after losing her job -and everything else.But oh my, this book does not wear well over a decade later.Jen’s constant casual racism (she throws a fit in the Unemployment office when they begin an Orientation in Spanish and yes - makes “we’re in America” cracks that she thinks are oh-so-witty); ableism (she nicknames a coworker “Retardy-Arty” - isn’t she a kick?) and classicism (too many to mention - but let’s just say she has a LOT of opinions about her low-income neighbors and how she can’t wait until the neighborhood gentrification gets them all moved far away from her) all just add up to far too many moments when you really wish someone would just haul off and smack her upside the head with a Walmart purse.Yikes.The challenge is that while Jen happily refers to herself - even in the title - as “condescending and egomaniacal” - we clearly are meant to see this as a joke and to see her as she herself does - funny, charming, witty and (maybe) just a teensy, weensy bit ‘difficult’.An example of this is the story she tells about a company that actually rescinds a job offer entirely as a direct result of her own childish, bad behavior. ( She posts a public lists of companies that didn’t hire her on the internet and goes on about what bastards they all are).When her prospective employer withdraws their offer because a number of their clients are on that list - does Jen learn a valuable lesson about being careful what you put on the internet?Nope. Far from it. She doubles down on her blog and adds these people to her virtual ‘hit-list’ and starts fiendishly trying to figure out who ratted on her. (I guess Ms “I’m the greatest marketing wizard in the world” never heard of Googling someone)But we’re clearly supposed to be right alongside her - shaking our heads about how “unfair” everyone us to poor old Jen and cheering her on with her blow against ...er...um... it’s hard to say what this was meant to achieve exactly.I guess it helped her add yet another group to the ever-growing list of “People who don’t think Jen is nearly as fun and madcap as she thinks she is”.Shoot- now I’m probably on that list too.What are you going to do?I’ll make sure if we ever meet I’ll have my Walmart purse tucked firmly under my arm - just in case.

As a very sarcastic person I find sarcasm extremely humorous. Apart from myself and a few other people I've met along the way, author Jen Lancaster is one of the most sarcastic people I have ever come across and hence one of the funniest.Bitter is the New Black is the autobiography of an extremely spoiled, elitist Vice President at [...] (love her generalizations in this book) who unexpectedly gets laid off during the tough economic times that follow 9/11. This book chronicles her descent from a high-flying executive earning [...] a year to someone who can't even score a temp position for which she is completely over qualified. Despite her perseverance she remains unemployed for 22 months and as a result, she and her boyfriend Fletch find themselves moving out of their unaffordable Chicago loft and into a far less desirable neighborhood. They can't afford their groceries, health insurance, or medicine, and Jen's attempts at finding employment are rebuffed at every opportunity.One wouldn't think that a book based on the struggle to find employment could be an enjoyable read, but because Jen Lancaster does not mince words and speaks from the heart no matter how shallow it makes her seem, she manages to do the impossible. What made me love the author was the fact that she never once gave up or felt sorry for herself. Faced with her circumstances, I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be as motivated as her.Though crass and arrogant at times, I think that everyone can find a little bit of themselves in the author. The truth is, there is a moral to this story for all of us. Especially during the current economic crisis. Who isn't guilty of materialism at one point or another? Who doesn't splurge on a Prada bag or justify [...] highlights on occasion? Who doesn't take their financial status for granted, never thinking it could unexpectedly be taken away from them? Through her wit, brutal honesty, elitist remarks, and unique footnotes, Jen somehow manages to endear herself to her reader all the while reminding us to appreciate what is really important in life.To sum it up, allow me to give you the full title of this book: Bitter is the New Black - Confessions of a condescending, egomaniacal, self-centered, smart-ass, or why you should never carry a Prada Bag to the unemployment office.How can you not want to read it now?Ameena DinFreelance Reviewer

Lots of people gave this book a low rating, but I enjoyed Lancaster's humor and brutal honesty. Yes, she's crude. If a book with profanity is not your thing, then this book is not for you.Yes, she is self absorbed and materialistic and narcissistic. But, unlike some of the other reviewers here, I think she did "grow up" toward the end of the book -- reflecting on WHY?? had she spent so much money on frivolous items, and, in the end, deciding to stick with her writing career rather than take a fast paced, lucrative job. (Clearly, that was the better decision for her, anyway. Check out her growing list of books and bestsellers).Lancaster is brutally unkind toward her co-workers at the beginning of the book, but Hello! They sounded like incompetent, nit-wit, lazy people in the first place. (See? She and I would probably get along just fine...)Finally, I think Lancaster would be a very loyal friend. I wouldn't go out drinking with her (she could probably out-drink most sailors?), but Lancaster strikes me as a person who would stick with you when the going got tough. Case in point: how she rallied to help her husband and get him the necessary medical help (despite not having health insurance) during his bout of depression. When he needed her to be his advocate, she refused to take "No" for an answer, and made sure he had the counseling and medication that he needed.

Shame about the content. You can tell that Jen Lancaster has been faithful to her experiences, but real life just ain't that interesting. This is supposed to be a riches to rags story, but if I'd take this girls kinda hardship any day! Ultimately she's got a great boyfriend (who becomes her husband), great (financially) supportive parents and she's unemployed for a bit. Oh and then she gets a book deal. She also thinks she's funnier than she is. Loved the opening pages, would get you to buy the book, so does she really give a toss about the rest?

Book was not in excellent condition as stated, pages were marked with food stains and notes scribbled on back page of book. The book felt very well read, spine is broken which doesn't make for an enjoyable read.

I laughed sooo much while reading this book. I mean that in the best possible way. This woman is hilarious. I felt like she was sitting next to me while talking about her day. I'm looking forward to reading more of her books.

I was all for reading another Jen Lancaster book especially after The Tao of Martha' (which was amazing, but since I didn't buy it here I can't review it) so obviously I picked the first one.I understand that it was embellished but hot damn if she really did act that way I do wonder...I'm glad that I read it, it was a wake up call for frivolous spending for sure and entertaining on the way. I will read more of her books as I am interested in the progression of her life and subsequent books, and that girl can make me laugh.

One of my all-time favourite books ever, I don't have enough time to write a review just do yourself a favour, grab this book and get ready to Laugh Your Butt Off.