Pretty in Plaid: A Life, A Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass Phase [Paperback]

Jen Lancaster (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 4, 2010

Now in paperback! Jen Lancaster's cultural inferiority complex had to come from somewhere...and now fans can find out where in the New York Times bestseller Pretty in Plaid.

Before she was bitter, before she was lazy, Jen Lancaster was a badge- hungry Junior Girl Scout with a knack for extortion, an aspiring sorority girl who didn't know her Coach from her Louis Vuitton, and a budding executive who found herself bewildered by her first encounter with a fax machine. In this hilarious and touching memoir, Jen Lancaster looks back on her life-and wardrobe-and reveals a young woman not so different from the rest of us.

Prepare to take a long walk in her (drool-worthy) shoes in this hilarious and heartwarming trip down memory lane.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this memoir of a fashion-conscious life, Lancaster revisits her misadventures—and outfits over the years (from Girl Scout sash to Gucci purse)—with characteristic snarky humor. You have to hand it to Lancaster: you could find her younger self utterly insufferable, if it weren't for the fact that her present-day self is so clear-eyed about and obviously amused by her past behavior. Jamie Heinlein reads with just the right amount of confident, bubbly obliviousness inflected with a dash of wry knowingness. As is typical in the best professionally read audio memoirs, Heinlein recreates Lancaster so perspicaciously, it's easy to become convinced that Heinlein is Lancaster. An NAL hardcover. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Jen Lancaster is the author of Bitter is the New Black. She has lived in Chicago for ten years with her husband and pets, and has yet to get the hang of the subway or returning library books in a timely manner. Visit www.jennsylvania.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade; Reprint edition (May 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451228537
• ISBN-13: 978-0451228536
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #188,530 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jen Lancaster is a former vice president at an investor relations firm and a New York Times bestselling author.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Jen... Have You Been Reading My Mail? June 30, 2009

By Sparkle

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I hesitated in buying this book thinking that going back to Jen's childhood could not be nearly as Snarky and hillarious as doing such adult things as pretending you have a homeowner's association and that you are the president. I saw that other readers didn't love this one as much, so that made me hesitate too. Boy, was I wrong and I'm so glad I read it.

I found this book delightful and HILLARIOUS! Now, that could be because I think Jen and I are about the same age, with a very practical, middle class up-bringing, therefore have we have many of the same experiences and perspectives. If you are a child of the 70's & 80s and remember Kristy McNichol, Jordache Jeans, Polo shirts and Michael Jackson, you may relate too. She walks readers through her real first job and how she though she was RICH! Didn't we all? When you hit the 20k's in salary.. woo hoo!! until you have to pay rent and a car payment. Then the first time you heard people talking about "Their Lewie" - not know ing it wasn't a dog or an uncle, but a Louis (As in Louis Vuitton).

Jen feels like a Facebook friend I don't personally know very well, but because I read her posts and see her photos, I feel like we are BFFs. I think this book is worth the read. Just be prepared to remember who you were at that time. The entertainment lies not only in Jen's story, but who the reader was at that time in their own history.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Hard to recommend May 24, 2009

By Elizabeth A. Hein

Format:Hardcover

I have read all of Jen's books. Bitter was amazing! I told tons of people to read it and not one was disappointed. Pretty in Plaid sadly I will not be giving a hearty recommendation for. I agree with another review, chapter one was a gas! And there were moments of great stuff in this book, but not enough to make you want to turn the page. I am sad this book did not live up to my Jen standard. Read her first two, maybe her third but take a pass on this one.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Plaid Not Her Color September 2, 2009

By L. D. Merkl

Format:Hardcover

The publisher got greedy and the author got lazy. (Success can do that to you.) With the triumph of three books, someone got itchy to make some more dough and I guess a prequel sounded like a good idea, as well as a surefire moneymaker.
JL's grammar and high school years are a bore. It also reads like she made it up -- so much for the memoir part.
The book gets going more than half way through when JL goes to college, but didn't really capture my interest until the story about the yellow argyle sweater. That is class Jen.
The stories of her professional life don't hold a candle to her temp stories from the second book.
Then the book just sort of ends with..."and you know the rest...Bitter Is The New Black...blah, blah, blah."
I understand she has three more books in the works. I hope she puts effort back into those.