It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me

by Ariel Leve

Book Overview

"Ariel Leve is the love child of David Sedaris and Fran Leibowitz. An original and funny voice.... Insightful and sharp." -- Joan Rivers "Ariel Leve is brilliant and funny and the only other person I know without an oven. Buy this book and keep it close." -- Bill Nighy "Funny, smart, delightfully cranky"(AJ Jacobs) Ariel Leve's Sunday Times Magazine (London) column "Cassandra" moves to book form. It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me offers a humorously...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061864595
• ISBN13: 9780061864599
• Release Date: April 2010
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Perfect book for when you need a reality check or just a great laugh.

From the opening line, "People like to say it will all work out. But what if it doesn't?", you are instantly pulled into the self-deprecating world that Ariel lives in. She's constantly second guessing things and never moving on anything because it will definitely lead to some serious problem at some point in her life. And as sad as this sounds it's absolutely hilarious. It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me is a book of the things we sometimes think, but almost never say out loud. And it was exactly what I needed, a good laugh. This is by far one of the funniest books I've ever read. Ariel's life is a string of constant disappointment and it's basically all her fault, in more ways than one. Before it happens she's already decided it's going to turn out poorly, her birthday is already on the most depressing day of the year and she's entirely dismal about her image, including how she looks and thinks. The book is broken up into one to two page segments like, "Operating Instructions" and "Other People's Children and My Fake Child". Each segment is based on a topic like "Romance". In one of the segments Ariel was talking with her friend Liza about how wonderful it would be to be mysterious, unfortunately Liza decided to tell Ariel when she was planning on becoming a "mysterious woman". Well, needless to say the result was not great: "I checked with Liza to see how life as a mysterious woman was going. Not well. She'd gone on a date, didn't tell anyone, and then when nobody called to see how it went, she was depressed. 'Now I feel like nobody cares about me,' she said. I welcomed her to my world." (It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me p. 64) It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me is the perfect book for those of you in need of a good chuckle. It's an easy read that you can take your time with, pick a topic and read all of the segments, it's sure to put a smile on your face. There's even an index to pick and choose from. I'm sure Ariel has good days, it's just that we happen to get an examination of all those funny quirks that make her who she is. Fabulous writing and a wonderful character, you don't want to miss It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me.

Dark, smart & funny!

Ariel Leve is beautiful, thin, smart, funny. You'd think from her writing that she was a depressed vegan hypochondriac vampire, only too tired and depressed to go out vamping at night. She's very funny, has wonderful insight into human frailties. This book is not only a fun, worthwhile read, it's a great gift for all your sometimes depressed friends. I know -- I've given them to a dozen friends of mine.