I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane CrosleyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I recently posted a review on Crosley's second book, How Did You Get This Number, which I read before I Was Told There'd Be Cake. I'm glad I read them in the order I did, because if I had read Cake before Number, I would have had super high expectations for Number.
I was delighted with I Was Told There'd Be Cake in a way that I wasn't for How Did You Get This Number. Crosley's voice, which is hip and aged at the same time, talks us through many mundane experiences of her life, but always with a wry sense of understanding. If I personified her essays, I would say they were like the darkly quiet friend of yours standing in the corner who has the best jokes out of anyone else at the party. Crosley comes across as someone who is dry and confident and accepting of her own hubris and humility. And her essays about her family, living and working in New York, and travel, while funny, are a glimpse into the way that only she can see her world. I like that there is nothing universal about her essays, but specifically and perfectly from Crosley's point of view. There are many essays that made me laugh, and in Number there was one essay that made me choke up, but other that, I read her essays like I'm looking at paintings. I see them from a distance and admire them, hanging exactly as the artist planned.
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