Friday, June 19, 2009

The Well-Read Commuter Reviews When You Lie About Your Age, The Terrorists Win

When You Lie About Your Age, The Terrorists Win

By: Carol Leifer


What this book is about: Hollywood comedy fixture Carol Leifer faced a dilemma. She could either stop telling the story of the greatest experience of her life (seeing the Beatles at Shea Stadium) or lie about her age. Carol had always found that after finishing telling the story of singing along to every song that summer night in New York, it was followed with amazement by those that the story had just been told to and the comment “Wow, the Beatles!” However, by the late nineties the amazement was then followed with the less that amazing and slightly unsettling question, “The Beatles? God Carol, just how old are you?” Leifer then realized she could deny her authentic self, keep the story under wraps from now on and keep people guessing about her true age or continue to share the story of her night with the fab four from Liverpool. How she chose to face that dilemma and just about everything else that came her way follows in her third book.


Did you like it: In tough times good comedy can be both a gift and an escape. This book delivers both. Consider your passport stamped, as Leifer dishes on the demise of her marriage, discovering her inner lesbian, adopting seven dogs from animal shelters, calling out lazy feminists and surviving class reunions. Part advice, part biography and completely hilarious you will find yourself recommending it to all of the women in your life whether they are 31 or 71. Well written and a joy to read. I also loved the format of the book- subjects are presented in sixteen short chapters so it is the perfect book to throw in your purse and pull out whenever you are faced with a wait. However, the first two chapters were so hilarious that I read the entire book in one sitting. Being an avid Seinfeld and Larry David fan I was familiar with Leifer’s writing and straightforward sense of humor, but she outdid herself for this book.

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