Reverend Jen's Really Cool Neighborhood/Les Misrahi [Paperback]

Reverend Jen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0894390112 | ISBN-13: 978-0894390111 | Publication Date: April 1, 2003

Printed on pink papers, Reverend Jen's Reverend Jen's Really Cool Neighborhood is a travel guide for the poor, deviant and bored, which takes readers on a whirlwind tour through the Lower East Side where they will gain valuable insight into where to obtain the cheapest Budweiser, the greasiest pizza and the fanciest porcelain unicorn heads. Filled with personal anecdotes of hellish roommates, loneliness and delusions of fame and peppered with delightful illustrations and sultry photos, it is both educational and entertaining.

Flip the book over and you'll find a bonus - Les Misrahi, an epic musical puppet show which tells the story of Jen Valjean, an ex-convict who has just been freed after serving three years for stealing a glue stick from Kinkos.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Printed Matter, Inc. (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0894390112
• ISBN-13: 978-0894390111
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 4.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,964,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Observations About A Fun Place, August 22, 2003

By 

G. Paula (Clifton, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reverend Jen's Really Cool Neighborhood/Les Misrahi (Paperback)

I cringed when I read the so-called review in which the reviewer launched a personal attack on the author rather than discussing the book. That was extremely inappropriate, and the person who wrote that should be ashamed of himself or herself. Then again, another reviewer, in response to that out-of-line review, wrote something that praised the author but again did not address the book itself at all. I think some people are missing the point of a review.

Lest I too become one of those people, I'll now talk about the book: I liked it.

The Lower East Side is a fun place. As Manhattan becomes more uniformly upscale and sanitized (you *know* things are changing when even the Meatpacking District becomes fashionable), the Lower East Side is the last bastion of hipness and nonconformity. I thought "Reverend Jen's Really Cool Neighborhood" captured the feel of that very nicely. As the author says, it's quite likely that some of the places she mentioned will no longer be there by the time the reader reads the book, but that hardly matters. The value of the book is not in its usefulness as a travel guide. Rather, I think it serves as a snapshot of a certain place at a certain time - a neighborhood somewhere between the old dangerous-but-fun New York and the new safe-but-bland New York.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take THAT Fodor's, August 17, 2003

By 

"beenthere92" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reverend Jen's Really Cool Neighborhood/Les Misrahi (Paperback)

Every city guide should be as funny and personal and filled with wisdom and real experiences as Reverend Jen's Really Cool Neighborhood. This book is poetry of the ridiculous. I highly recommend it, especially to anyone who's ever struggled in New York. You will laugh with recognition.

By the way, Les Misrahi, the companion play that comes with the book and was apparently performed by the author with puppets outside her landlord's office is also hysterically funny. It tells the story of the author's alter-ego Jen Valjean, who was imprisoned for stealing a glue stick from Kinko's. Silly and brilliant.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holy Elf, June 21, 2006

By 

AMG - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reverend Jen's Really Cool Neighborhood/Les Misrahi (Paperback)

I for one hope and pray that the Rev has got rich parents who will look after her. Pointy ears don't grow on trees, you know! And neither do troll museums. She's a gentle genius and this book will heal you. No, this doesn't mean you can stop taking your lithium or your amoxicillin (you know who you are.)