Shiksa Goddess: (Or, How I Spent My Forties) Essays [Paperback]

Wendy Wasserstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 2002

Celebrated playwright and magnetic wit Wendy Wasserstein has been firmly rooted in New York’s cultural life since her childhood of Broadway matinees, but her appeal is universal. Shiksa Goddess collects thirty-five of her urbane, inspiring, and deeply empathic essays–all written when she was in her forties, and all infused with her trademark irreverent humor.

The full range of Wasserstein’s mid-life obsessions are covered in this eclectic collection: everything from Chekhov, politics, and celebrity, to family, fashion, and real estate. Whether fretting over her figure, discovering her gentile roots, proclaiming her love for ordered-in breakfasts, lobbying for affordable theater, or writing tenderly about her very Jewish mother and her own daughter, born when she was forty-eight and single, Wasserstein reveals the full, dizzying life of a shiksa goddess with unabashed candor and inimitable style.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Perceptive. . . . Sweet. . . . The often-poignant writing embraces wit, tragedy, joy.” –The Miami Herald

“Sparkling. . . . Wasserstein comes off . . . warm and honest, unassuming and modest. She’s the quirky, cool aunt you always wished were your mom.” –The Boston Phoenix

“Wendy Wasserstein writes with a heart as big as The Ritz. . . . These funny, truly intimate and uncommonly passionate pieces are a model of their kind.” –Terrance McNally

“Gut-wrenching, life-affirming . . . show[s] how powerful good writing can really be.” –New York Post

From the Inside Flap

Celebrated playwright and magnetic wit Wendy Wasserstein has been firmly rooted in New York?s cultural life since her childhood of Broadway matinees, but her appeal is universal. Shiksa Goddess collects thirty-five of her urbane, inspiring, and deeply empathic essays?all written when she was in her forties, and all infused with her trademark irreverent humor.

The full range of Wasserstein?s mid-life obsessions are covered in this eclectic collection: everything from Chekhov, politics, and celebrity, to family, fashion, and real estate. Whether fretting over her figure, discovering her gentile roots, proclaiming her love for ordered-in breakfasts, lobbying for affordable theater, or writing tenderly about her very Jewish mother and her own daughter, born when she was forty-eight and single, Wasserstein reveals the full, dizzying life of a shiksa goddess with unabashed candor and inimitable style.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (May 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375726039
• ISBN-13: 978-0375726033
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #978,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gotta Love Wendy!, April 4, 2005

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Helluva Godtime - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shiksa Goddess: (Or, How I Spent My Forties) Essays (Paperback)

Wendy Wasserstein, the acerbic, often-hilarious Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright, brings her trademark dry humor to this sweet collection of essays. Ms. Wasserstein writes what she knows about-theatre, New York City, looking for love, trying to lose weight, friends, and making the decision to have her first child at the age of 48.

Many of these essays are magical, but could be an acquired taste. For those of you who love biting autobiographical satire can look no further.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How we will miss the Shiksa Goddess, November 2, 2006

By 

S. Tolleson-Rinehart "suetr" (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shiksa Goddess: (Or, How I Spent My Forties) Essays (Paperback)

Wendy Wasserstein's untimely death in the winter of 2006, at the young age of 55, robs us of what should have been decades more of her witty, generous-spirited but sharp, wise feminst humor. These essays are a delight, giving us much over which to ponder and chuckle, even in our sadness, knowing as we do that the mind and spirit creating them have left us. Read them to savor baby boom feminism in mid-life, and to honor the memory of a great woman of letters.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very clever smart chick lit!, July 9, 2006

By 

Anne (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shiksa Goddess: (Or, How I Spent My Forties) Essays (Paperback)

Wendy Wasserstein has won Pulitzer prizes and it shows in this book! Of course it's "just chick lit" but still very well written, well thought out chick lit that's a cut above the rest in my opinion. It's not as good as the Sex and the City series - on tv, that is - but heading in that direction!