Sloane Crosley

Harvard Book Store welcomes acclaimed writer SLOANE CROSLEY—author of I Was Told There'd Be Cake, How Did You Get This Number, and The Clasp—for a discussion of her latest book of essays, Look Alive Out There.

About Look Alive Out There

From New York Times-bestselling author Sloane Crosley comes Look Alive Out There―a brand-new collection of essays filled with her trademark hilarity, wit, and charm. The characteristic heart and punch-packing observations are back, but with a newfound coat of maturity. A thin coat. More of a blazer, really.

Fans of I Was Told There'd Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number know Sloane Crosley's life as a series of relatable but madcap misadventures. In Look Alive Out There, whether it's scaling active volcanoes, crashing shivas, playing herself on Gossip Girl, befriending swingers, or squinting down the barrel of the fertility gun, Crosley continues to rise to the occasion with unmatchable nerve and electric one-liners. And as her subjects become more serious, her essays deliver not just laughs but lasting emotional heft and insight. Crosley has taken up the gauntlets thrown by her predecessors―Dorothy Parker, Nora Ephron, David Sedaris―and crafted something rare, affecting, and true.

Look Alive Out There arrives on the tenth anniversary of I Was Told There'd be Cake, and Crosley's essays have managed to grow simultaneously more sophisticated and even funnier. And yet she's still very much herself, and it's great to have her back―and not a moment too soon (or late, for that matter).

Praise

"A marvel . . . The latest collection from the Manhattan-based essayist suggests she can write engagingly about nearly anything . . . All [the essays] work on multiple levels and all are sharply written, as Crosley continues to extend her impressive range.” ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"[Crosley] continues her tradition of hilarious insight into the human condition . . . [she] is exceedingly clever and has a witticism for all occasions, but it is her willingness to confront some of life's darker corners with honesty and vulnerability that elevates the collection." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Laugh-out-loud funny seems too trite a phrase for a writer whose takes are so addictively original and unexpected, but it’s also true: dear readers, you will laugh. Whether 2 or 20 pages in length, Crosley’s essays are complete and stop-you-in-your-tracks clever.” ―Booklist (starred review)