i didn't relate to much of what she wrote about. yet, it still had a few entertaining parts to me. i wouldn't recommend it to most people, but i'm not sorry i read it either. wow, this probably isn't a very helpful review. oh well. read it, or not. your call. (although, if someone hyped up this book, you will probably find it disappointing.)

The beginning was a little slow for me, but I thought the essays (which really read more like short stories) were enjoyable and honest. This is a quick read that I would especially recommend for anyone who has ever considered the following: living in New York City, a career in publishing, volunteering, baking, or going veggie.

If you have American kids -- or may have them someday -- did you ever think of raising them in an interesting foreign country so they could come back as teens with a high coolness quotient? No? Would you send a Jewish ten-year-old to a Christian summer camp? and if you did, would you be surprised to hear that she played Mary in the "Christmas in July" pageant after the blond Girl from Darien was hobbled by a broken toe? Is there a collection of anything in your kitchen drawers, let's say toy ponies for example, that you worry about your mother finding if you die unexpectedly? and if so, would you dispose of them on a Brooklyn-bound subway train? Have you ever locked yourself out on moving day, from both old AND new apartments, requiring two expensive calls to the same sarcastic locksmith?

No? Then you're not like Sloane Crosley, the twenty-something author of I Was Told There'd Be Cake. This little book of wildly assorted essays is a kind of cubist blueprint for the young, well-off, well-educated New York woman. Crosley's writing is irreverent about her family ("I have never met two people more afraid of their house burning down than my parents") and particularly about her (we hope) well-disguised friends. She says of a pair of dinner guests: "Because there are no more hippies, you don't call them hippies. (But if you ever saw two people on a beach, gorging themselves on whole-wheat burritos and pot, picking sand out of each other's toes, and diving into the water naked, that would be them.)"

You may wonder whether you care about Sloane Crosley's observations on her short life to date. That's one question I can't answer for you. I will tell you that while her experiences may be alien to anything you have ever done, thought or felt, the girl can write intelligently and with great humor; there are unifying principles in the human existence and she catalogs a subset of them very well . We're bound to hear more from this young writer, and if she brings her sardonic wit to deeper subjects it will be very well worth reading. This book was an entertaining look at her world. One star off for the essay format, as I believe her book would have been better served by a more linear memoir format.

Linda Bulger, 2008

do not like the book at all. Not what I thought it was going to be. Sorry, not a good review from me..

I actually heard about this book from a friend who used to write for Saturday Night Live and since I always take her recommendations, I went out and got it immediately. At first I wasn't sure - what could Crosley have to say about topics that were so familiar to me? - then I realized that's exactly where the genius (yes, I am using that word) lies. Sloane Crosley articulates the details of the mundane, giving voice to thousands of people like me who are exactly as she says - not abused as kids or alcoholics or spoiled or anything. Just normal. And how insane it is to be normal. I laughed so hard throughout this entire book, especially the first half and the last essay. There's one like in the last essay: "what could be less etcetera than death?" New quote of the month. I Was Told There'd Be Cake is dark and funny and smart and poignant when you least expect it to be. BUY THIS BOOK! You absolutely will not regret it. She's less stand-up-y than Sedaris if that's your thing (it's certainly mine normally) so I think maybe that's where the few negative reviews are coming from - readers who feel like they were sold a bill of goods - but LOOK at what you get instead. Her essays are really different.

Can't wait for the HBO take on this one....

I'd been wanting to read this book for some time, so when it was chosen for my book club, I was excited. The title was witty and enticing, the author was compared to Sedaris and it was a NY Times bestseller...it was a sure bet for a good read, right?

The complete opposite. I don't think there was one funny or remotely humorous part of the entire book. Sloane Crosley just ranted and bitched about everything and her writing style is enough to put you to sleep. She endlessly goes on about the smallest, mundane things...if she wrote more concisely, she would have a shot at least being witty.

And, I finished the book (after forcing myself to) not liking her one bit! She complains about everything - from having to be in a high school friend's wedding to how it's impossible for her to find someone to have a one night stand with in NYC. She was portrayed as someone you wouldn't want as a friend or even acquaintance.

If she can write a book, let alone a NY Times bestseller, anyone can.

If this was a blog, it wouldn't even be worth reading - for free. Unoriginal and self-obsessed .... don't waste your time.

This book was certainly good enough to finish, and at times it was very funny, but all in all it didn't pull me in the way a great book and voice does. One of the issues I had with it was that the essays were rather unfocused, covering so many topics at once that they often became like several essays in one, making the main topic and point of the essay nearly unidentifiable at times without looking at the title. This book was being recommended on Amazon along with David Sedaris and Chelsea Handler, and although generally well written and at times funny and insightful, it just isn't in the same category as those humorists. Perhaps if I had found it, not expecting it to be as funny as the authors it was associated it, I might have enjoyed it more. I also agree with one reviewer that although this book has very funny parts, it is not a "funny" book in general, and that is partly what I was expecting. The writing is good but needs polish. Let's she what she comes up with for her next book.

I really had high expectations for this book; I shamefacedly admit that the cover and title had me smitten before it even arrived. However, I was disappointed. Crosley reads like a more angsty, less self-depricating Laurie Notaro. She thinks quite a bit of herself, this one does. The best essay-type book of humor mixed with memoir is "Hypocrite In A Poufy White Dress" by Susan Jane Gilman. That's snappy writing and actual giggle-worthy humor. So Sloane, give it another try...you are a smart girl and with a bit of luck you won't be ruined by all of the Sedaris comparisons.

Please stop saying Sloane Crosley's book is like David Sedaris' work! David Sedaris relies on minute observation and his daily encounters to create humor. Sloane Crosley's humor, by contrast, seems to be informed by Sex and the City, Lucky Magazine, Gap jeans, and that one commercial that makes you want to put an axe in the TV. People (caricatures?) like her are already plastered on the obnoxious sitcoms that litter the airwaves. Why read this book when you can just get the same thing through your TIVO?

Comparisons to David Sedaris' work are inevitable, so I won't try to avoid them in this review. Each chapter is a humorous essay drawing from the author's life. Like Sedaris, the author writes in a somewhat sarcastic style, and the humor tends to be dry with some occasional slapstick. Although I did laugh out loud at a few of the pieces, the humor level varied too much for my taste from chapter to chapter. In fairness, Crosley is at a distinct disadvantage versus Sedaris because her family is not nearly as funny (e.g. Amy Sedaris). Given what she has to work with, not a bad effort.

I found this book to be laugh out loud funny. The humor is satirical, uplifting, and unique. For me, this is a favorite read.

I hope the story about her being asked to be a bridesmaid, and then maid of honor, is not true. If it's a fictional account, fine (even though it's not funny). But if it's true, then I feel really sorry for the poor bride who did not deserve to have a "friend" write about her in this way. I found it distasteful.

I couldn't believe this book was actually published commercially. Unbearable, could not read past page 4.

It is hard to pinpoint what the writer does wrong - she follows all the standard ways of creating funny prose: unusual situations or embarrassing hobbies or behaviours (the first chapter is about collecting toy ponies), using unexpected adjectives (it is not just a pony, it is a chronically dehydrated pony) and everyday situations described in a hilarious way. Except that the result is not funny and the descriptions are not hilarious- they are boring. It is sad - you can feel that she so much wanted to be the new David Sedaris, but alas, this book is a waste of time.

I kind of love this book. Crosley is not quite funny enough, and not quite neurotic enough, but there's a happy balance in there somewhere and this was a comfortable, entertaining, quick read. The first few stories almost put me off, the first one being particularly ridiculous and a serious stretch of patience, but halfway into the book and I couldn't put it down. She has a long way to go if she's aspiring to be David Sedaris or Augusten Burroughs, because her book is definitely mapped out in an identical way - it's a collection of short, humorous 'autobiographical' stories, but there wasn't anything that absolutely made me laugh out loud, even though I know the attempt was plainly there. Regardless, Crosley definitely has a handle on the clever metaphor, and there are a lot of quotable lines in this book, and in the end I think she and I are a lot alike. Maybe that's why I kind of love it.

Quite frankly I don't want to read about how someone was abused by their father, or feels there mother doesn't love them, or who got thirty thousand Ph.D's and spent the better years of their life somewhere in the Amazon getting malaria. Really, I don't. Mostly because I love my daddy, my mom might just be the coolest lady ever, and the fact is I'm still trying to figure out how to work my toaster, much less get a Ph.D. It's nice to read things you can relate to, and I can certainly relate to Sloane Crosley.

I bought this book in an effort not to read my Geography textbook, and immediately fell in love with Crosley's quirky sense of humor, self-deprecating remarks, and all around human approach to essay writing. I worry about some of the same things she does, because after all if I die tomorrow I do not want people finding those awful peasant skirts in my closet.

Lately it seems the personal essay has become something depressing. Who wants to read something depressing? This collection of essays is exactly the kind of essay I would want to write, so it's certainly one I loved to read.

I will admit that this book is, quite frankly, not for the male, over forty, humorless, or uptight. Still, for a college girl who still wishes she could be Wonder Woman, this book tells me I'm not alone, and I'm not nearly as weird as I thought I was.

It would be interesting to find out the demographics of the people giving this book bad to moderate reviews. I'm guessing that most of them are not from the same generation as Sloane Crosley. So it's understandable if they cannot relate to her and the life experiences described in her essays. But just because THEY can't relate, doesn't mean this is a bad book or that Ms. Crosley is a bad writer, and it certainly doesn't mean that people should be leaving bad reviews. Ms. Crosley is not writing to that audience anyway.

If you DO happen to come from the same generation and background as the author (like myself), or just happen to have an appreciation for intelligent and witty writing, then I think you will find this book to be an incredibly engaging and interesting read far above the usual chick-lit fare. While I do agree that there were parts of the book I was expecting to be funnier, the chapters that did have me laughing outloud more than made up for it (The Ursula Cookie, You On A Stick, and Smell This -- to name a few). This book is definitely worth your time.

While I felt that Crosley's quirky topics were mildly entertaining, I have to say I disagree with other reviewers that she has promise and talent. In my opinion, she is quite simply not a very good writer. I didn't even finish the book. She certainly doesn't belong among the ranks of great humorists like David Sedaris (the comparison being the reason I bought this book in the first place).

"... if a soup kitchen is set up in a forest and no news crews are around to see it because they all saw THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and they'll be damned if they're setting one foot in the woods for some stinkin' homeless people, does it count? Somehow I don't think so." - Author Sloane Crosley

I've been considering the title of Sloane Crosley's book, I WAS TOLD THERE'D BE CAKE, trying to perceive the message it sends to the potential reader. I can't quite put my finger on it. It's catchy, though; I like it.

The volume itself is a series of essays on the author's reactions to the minor injustices, unmet expectations, petty annoyances, imponderables, absurdities, and anxieties of her young life. As of today, she's still in her late twenties.

Perhaps the best chapter is the one entitled "You on a Stick", wherein she describes the experience of being chosen as the maid-of-honor by an engaged, former high school "friend" that she barely remembers. A deer caught in headlights is less inconvenienced, apparently.

Perhaps my favorite essayist that ruminates on life and the human condition is Barbara Holland (Endangered Pleasures: In Defense of Naps, Bacon, Martinis, Profanity, and Other Indulgences, When All the World Was Young: A Memoir, Wasn't the Grass Greener?: Thirty-three Reasons Why Life Isn't as Good as It Used to Be). Her view of the world incorporates a certain wisdom and common sense that have evolved from several decades of living beyond what Crosley has experienced. The point I'm trying to make is that Sloane's musings, while certainly diverting and engaging, might perhaps only be taken seriously and thought profound by someone no more than thirty. She has a flair for expression, however, that, seasoned by the years to come, should result in a perception and literary talent that rivals Holland's. Thus, and perhaps unfairly, I'm awarding I WAS TOLD THERE'S BE CAKE only three stars not for what it is now but rather in comparison to the book it could become in 30-40 years.

Of course, somebody age 90, or thirty years older than I am now, may comment that this review is nonsense and I should give credit where credit is due. As a matter of fact, you're welcome to say that no matter what your age.

Returning to the mood conveyed by the title. Petulance, perhaps, or a growing sense of disappointment? I really do like it for its cleverness.

This book was fine but no where in the class of the worst book of Sedaris. Chelsea Handler books are funnier. Chelsea Handler? Yes totally. She's hilarious - Sloan is just whiney.

I am thoroughly enjoying this. I've laughed out loud on the subway more than I care to admit!
If she writes anything else, I will definitely read it.

This is a great book to take on a plane or while waiting at an appointment. Her style is as absurd and humorous as Seinfeld, which is high praise in my opinion.

I should have realized that this would be a bit on the superficial side but the comparisons to NPR essayists got me to buy it. Definitely lacks substance and the wry humor that I'd hoped for.

I. Loved. This. Book. I could not put it down for 2 days. The chapter about the pear and chocolate tart was so funny I peed a little.

I loved this book! It was so funny! She has a writing style very similar to Sarah Vowell. It is an easy read, and her stories are easy to relate to! If you like Sarah Vowell, you will LOVE this book!

Someone lied. It took me 4 months to get through this book. I kept waiting for the sparkling wit and sardonic charm, I didn't laugh once while reading it. Not a giggle or chuckle not even a tiny, muffled cackle. Someone had the nerve to compare her to a modern day Dorothy Parker? That man should be slapped. Without mercy. Continuously. For eternity. That's just sacrilege. I want my money back and I want all those wasted hours back too! And Sloane, I know you're going to read this (what first time author doesn't read their reviews), it's nothing personal you're just not funny. At least I have my new David Sedaris to read, I can count on that to be clever and to make me laugh.

This book was comical and engaging and kept me wanting to read more... until it was finished just a day after I received it! This is a great book to read when you want to zone out and let your mind relax. I found myself thinking about funny anecdotes from Crosley's stories weeks later, and laughing out loud at the memories of them.

If you spent your post-collegiate years in any major US city, you already lived through your own versions of most of Sloane Crosley's stories. Crosley picks a series of familiar and tedious premises and wraps them in her occasionally witty, but mostly not very incisive prose. Is this what passes for humor these days? Crosley comes across as your standard educated, privileged white kid trying to convince the reader that her life is more interesting than it is. This book has all the edge of plastic cutlery.

Great book, hard to put it down !
I laughed reading the very first 3 pages. I am hooked.

Very disappointing! The quality of writing is poor and the essays are not interesting or funny. Being the only book I brought to read on a plane, I forced myself to read most of it. Finally, I gave up and closed the book.

I enjoyed this book SO much - funny, poignant, funny, thoughtful, funny, honest and FUNNY. If you are looking for a series of essays that make you laugh, make you think, make you a lil misty at times...basically, if you are the type that enjoys great literature and being the friend that everyone else is envious of because you knew about that next hot author first - well, buy it. She's that author. Can't wait to see what comes next. Bravo.

I don't know how this book is getting such high ratings. This author thinks she's much funnier and interesting than she really is. Her stories are boring and I found myself asking "who cares" during much of the book. Why the author thinks that anyone will care about her little antidotes is beyond me. She must be very self centered to think that people want to hear about her stupid "pony" line and about summer camp. You can definitely see she's part of generation 'ME' (see: Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before
by Jean M. Twenge for an interesting read).

I am very much taken with the complete honesty of Sloane Crosley's self-reflections. I am put in mind of
Marjane Satrapi's Perspolis The Complete Persepolis: Now a Major Motion Picture,
and even Barack Obama's Dreams of My Father Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance--how often do we have a document this honest and self-aware from a politician?!--
though the latter two are multi-ethnic and Crosley's is decidedly not. But let me tell you now, you are NEVER getting anything as honest as any of these memoirs from ME(never), not that you asked:) So I applaud all these people! I don't understand the lukewarm reviews here. Yes, culturally, these are comfortable white topics Crosley writes about, but so exceedingly well discerned, so funny and with such a new take on these old topics, I think we have to give her a break for maybe not being Mother Theresa. I love that name, Sloan, too. I don't get why she and Ben Kunkel have drawn such harsh critiques, which I ascribe partially to jealousy of bright new young writers.

I got "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" after another humorist I really liked talked about how she thought it was really funny. Wish I hadn't bought it now. Most of the stories were good but not really laugh out loud funny but rather just quirky at best. Mostly I realized that while Sloane's writings amused me for a bit, she's not someone I would necessarily want in my life. I would give it a B-.

The stories themselves are similar to Sedaris in some ways, but her dry humor is just so cliched. Everyone has that witty friend whose unexpected remarks help spice up conversations just enough to make their presence worthwhile while the annoyance of their repetitive cadence lurks below the surface.

If you're going to be on a plane for 3 hours, this is certainly a book that will keep you occupied. But it's not something that I would recommend that anyone go out of the way to read.

I started to read this book, I figured it would get better as it progressed... unfortunately, it did not improve. I stopped reading the book altogether and returned it to my co-worker.

The book had a lot of hype and promise, but it didnt pan out. I read through it rather quickly and there are no LOL moments (as many reviews stated). I think the only reason I related to the story was b/c I am close in age to the author and grew up in westchester. Other than that, the stories lacked any direction and sometimes (especially the wedding story) I felt she was being a little obnoxious and melodramatic.

This book was amusing but not as great as many reviews had labeled it to be.

This is only just funny enough to keep you reading. Crosley isn't a missing Sedaris sibling by a long chalk. It could also have had a more thorough going over by a proof-reader. It makes something mildly amusing mildly embarassing to find mistakes that would make a high school English teacher sigh and reach for the red pen.

I'm only giving this three stars because it really is a three star book. That said-- I expect that eventually she'll have quite a few five star books, as she has the talent-- it just isn't fully developed as of yet.

I was quite disappointed with the first few essays, and thought that maybe she was trying too hard. The essays are somewhat enjoyable, but she mixes a few too many clichés in with too few of her very original sentences.

But-- it was good enough to keep me reading, and I absolutely loved the "You On a Stick" essay about her being asked to be a bridesmaid in an old friend's wedding. Thoroughly enjoyable, and something many of us can relate to.

She's young and still finding her voice. My guess is that her next work will be an improvement and that we'll be hearing more from her.

She definitely is cool-- in that she is honest, and that she writes from her own perspective, not caring what might "sell."

This book to me, while disappointing overall, does show that she has the observational voice that we all love in the Sedarises and Burroughs of the world. Plus she has the ability to create unusual and entertaining phrases which you have to admire.

I'll definitely be watching her rise.

I was excited about this book coming out because she was compared to David Sedaris. I don't think so. I think D.S. is awesome-ly funny. I only laughed out loud one time when I read this book. I was really disappointed. Every chapter leads you to believe she's going in the "funny" direction, but she never quite gets there.

This collection of essays by the young and uniquely named writer Sloane Crosley is amusing and definitely worth reading. While the essays offer little in the way of "laugh-out loud" or "rolling-on-the-floor" moments, the stories told are well written, relatable, witty, and occasionally profound. The strongest is an essay about Crosley's determination to have a one-night stand that originated in her childhood and culminates in several unsuccessful and awkward attempts and a new sexual outlook.

Perhaps the gushing reviews on this site and elsewhere, coupled with my demographic similarities to the author (twenty-something white female, vegetarian, attended the same college, lived in NYC directly afterward) gave me inflated expectations, but I thought this book was just OK. I "got" all of her cultural references but it was all a bit boring. As some other reviewers have said, there is nothing new here in terms of material. While I am thrilled that a fellow Connecticut College alum has achieved such success, I did not feel that this was a hysterically funny collection. It doesn't even come close to laugh out loud favorites such as A Year in the Merde.

I thought this book was funny but then again, I am a twentysomething upper middle class white girl too, as someone else noted. This book is very "relatable" if you are like her but certainly doesn't have the appeal and cleverness of Sedaris.

This is like reading a diary from that quirky, way too cool friend you always wished you had. Sloane Crosley is obviously a person who is full of life and fun to be around. I found myself chuckling constantly as I read about her travails in New York and her odd personality quirks (dioramas, anyone?).

As essay collections go (and there are plenty, from folks like Sarah Vowell to David Rakoff to Sandra Tsing-Loh), this is one of the best. Well worth the time.

This was a delightful, smart and funny read. I finished one essay, and felt compelled to read the next. Crosley's frank, honest sense of humor was entertaining. I would call this a good read for those who like Nora Ephron, David Sedaris, Cynthia Kaplan, etc.

It seems that there is no denying the existential reality that we are all ultimately alone, and try as hard and we might, it's impossible to get another to really get us. Perhaps there are two basic choices to approaching this dilemma. We could drive ourselves crazy in trying to be known and fully understood by the world (and lose ourselves in the process). Or, we can just do the best we can in being upfront about our idiosyncrasies, and along the way, understand ourselves more/make others laugh/get a book deal out of it. Sloane's essays are not only funny, entertaining, refreshingly-off-the-beaten-path, and uncannily hard to forget, but they also seem to model a solution to the existential dilemma of never being fully known: unapologetically embracing our idiosyncrasies.

I really wanted to like this book based on it's title alone (I'll admit it: I am addicted to all things cake), but I should know better by now. Crosley is indeed a talented writer but this book was promoted to me as the next best thing to David Sedaris and it just didn't hold up to the hype, in my opinion anyway.

Perhaps the real Sloane Crosley is a transgendered junkie raised in foster homes by abusive religious fanatics. One never knows these days (and maybe not just these days, if you think of Daniel Defoe faking it). Anyway she writes in the persona of a young, healthy, good-looking heterosexual with Westchester parents, a New England College, and a Manhattan job. These are handicaps for the vendor of comic reminiscences, but Crosley overcomes them nobly, and was able to make me laugh out loud at several points. She makes the most of the childhood traumata of having an unusual name and being assigned the second best bedroom. Would Augusten Burroughs have managed as well with such scant material? He had it made.
I was about to conclude with commiserating her for the fact that humor is a tough competitive market, and that even the most brilliant satire ends up on the reminder tables if it ever makes print, but I see that she's in the Amazon top one hundred bestseller list. No theodicy is needed.