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Overview
Cynthia Kaplan takes us on a hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking journey through her unique, uncensored world—her bungled romantic encounters and unsung theatrical experiences; her gadget-obsessed father, her pill-popping therapist, and her eccentric grandmothers; her fearless husband, whom she engages in an ongoing battle over which of them is the most popular person in their apartment; and, of course, her vengeful, power-hungry one-year-old son.
Kaplan's voice is a lot like the one in our heads—the one that most of us are only willing to listen to late at night . . . maybe while locked in a closet. What a relief it is that someone finally admits that she is afraid of nearly everything; that she is jealous even of people whose lives are on the verge of collapse; and that she has, at times, tried to pass for a gentile.
Synopsis
Cynthia Kaplan takes us on a hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking journey through her unique, uncensored world—her bungled romantic encounters and unsung theatrical experiences; her gadget-obsessed father, her pill-popping therapist, and her eccentric grandmothers; her fearless husband, whom she engages in an ongoing battle over which of them is the most popular person in their apartment; and, of course, her vengeful, power-hungry one-year-old son.
Kaplan's voice is a lot like the one in our heads—the one that most of us are only willing to listen to late at night . . . maybe while locked in a closet. What a relief it is that someone finally admits that she is afraid of nearly everything; that she is jealous even of people whose lives are on the verge of collapse; and that she has, at times, tried to pass for a gentile.
Laura Zigman
Cynthia Kaplan is very funny. These pieces are very,very funny.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New WritersIt's a fairly unusual occurrence for a book to inspire us to skip through the halls of our offices, quoting lines to each other and collapsing in laughter. But this one did the trick. Cynthia Kaplan's collection of heartfelt and sidesplittingly funny autobiographical essays takes a razor-sharp look at the memories of her life: her eccentric grandparents, her adolescent growing pains, her early work experiences, her marriage, and the birth of her child. In so doing, this first-time author has managed a rare feat: to revisit those universally painful life events that once made us cringe or cry, and make us laugh instead.
Let's see, there's the time when a boy she liked "asked me to rub sun block onto his back…. Had I this moment to live again, I would have offered to apply the sun block later, in private, with my tongue." Pining for the boy, Cindy loved him "like a dog loves a bone." But she asks herself, "Why do they do that? There's no meat left on it. Is it wishful thinking? Is it the idea that meat was there once and maybe it will be there again one day, or is it just nostalgia? Oh, that meat was good, remember that meat? Nummy, nummy, nummy."
Why I'm like This is a lovingly rendered tribute to "the myriad facets that make all our lives the magical, crazy, infuriatingly wonderful mysteries they are," and Kaplan's refreshingly individualistic, indiosyncratic way of looking at -- and living in -- the world will delight readers of every ilk. (Summer 2002 Selection)