Review: I Was Told There'd Be Cake

Sloane Crosley's Debut Collection of Witty Essays Hits the Mark

Jun 22, 2008

Sloane Crosley makes a name for herself as a modern essay writer who has a knack for writing clever and intelligent pieces.

There's something about Sloane Crosley's debut collection of essays, I Was Told There'd Be Cake, that inspires immediate comparison to some of the more well-known humorist writers like David Sedaris and Dorothy Parker. However, Crosley deserves to stand apart on her own merits as a witty young writer who can weave her tales in a fun and fresh way.

Sloane Crosley: the Writer

Crosley is no stranger to writing, having penned pieces for The New York Times, Playboy, The Village Voice and The New York Observer among others, though one might expect a writer with some serious publications under her belt to be a bit older than 29. Perhaps that's what makes Crosley's essays so immediately addicting: they are written from a young and utterly honest perspective.

Cake encompasses a wide array of topics: plastic ponies, one-night stands, locksmiths, Christian summer camp, the boss from hell, Care Bears, compulsive baking, and decoupage synonyms, just to name a few. The essays also have a subtle underlining theme of New York City life and the odd time of our lives better known as our twenties.

While we might not all have a drawer in our kitchen relegated to holding the plastic ponies given to us by ex-lovers, we do have a similar way of holding on to things way past their prime. The subject matter is so varied and manic, that you actually feel the momentum of the essays when reading them.

Crosley's Life is Like Ours, Only Funnier

Throughout the 15 essays, Crosley takes some facet of everyday life and scrutinizes it is a way that makes you able to relate to her, even if the subject matter seems initially to come from way off in left field.

For instance, in "Christmas in July", Crosley begins the essay by recounting her family's fear of fire. We are lead through the Crosley home in Westchester, NY where objects like candles and fireplaces are ominous, looming threats, only to learn that the Crosley's are "pretty bad Jews."

This only makes the fact that as a child, "for eight consecutive years," Sloane spent her summers at a Christian summer camp. Who hasn't felt out of place, or more importantly, unsure of where their place actually is?

In The-Devil-Wears-Prada-esque "The Ursula Cookie," Crosley recounts her first post-college job in publishing. Everything from the initial excitement of the job, to the eventual loathing of it to the point where she fakes a death in the family to get a day off, is relatable to each and every reader. Crosley has a knack for taking a subject that we have all experienced and turning it into a humorous reflection that we can share alongside one another.

For a writer who clearly has the ability to find humor in life and in herself, having gone as far as proudly proclaiming that she "wrote the cover story for the worst-selling issue of Maxim in that magazine's history", it is clear she doesn't take herself too seriously and her essays benefit from her carefree personality. There is no doubt that Crosley definitely leaves her readers hungry for a second serving.

Book Stats:

The copyright of the article Review: I Was Told There'd Be Cake in Biographies/Memoirs is owned by Lisa Rufle. Permission to republish Review: I Was Told There'd Be Cake in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.