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How Did You Get This Number
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How Did You Get This Number
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How Did You Get This Number
Audiobook6 hours

How Did You Get This Number

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

From the author of the sensational bestseller I Was Told There'd Be Cake comes a new book of personal essays brimming with all the charm and wit that have earned Sloane Crosley widespread acclaim, award nominations, and an ever-growing cadre of loyal fans. In Cake readers were introduced to the foibles of Crosley's life in New York City-always teetering between the glamour of Manhattan parties, the indignity of entry-level work, and the special joy of suburban nostalgia-and to a literary voice that mixed Dorothy Parker with David Sedaris and became something all its own.

Crosley still lives and works in New York City, but she's no longer the newcomer for whom a trip beyond the Upper West Side is a big adventure. She can pack up her sensibility and takes us with her to Paris, to Portugal (having picked it by spinning a globe and putting down her finger, and finally falling in with a group of Portuguese clowns), and even to Alaska, where the "bear bells" on her fellow bridesmaids' ponytails seemed silly until a grizzly cub dramatically intrudes. Meanwhile, back in New York, where new apartments beckon and taxi rides go awry, her sense of the city has become more layered, her relationships with friends and family more complicated.

As always, Crosley's voice is fueled by the perfect witticism, buoyant optimism, flair for drama, and easy charm in the face of minor suffering or potential drudgery. But in How Did You Get This Number it has also become increasingly sophisticated, quicker and sharper to the point, more complex and lasting in the emotions it explores. And yet, Crosley remains the unfailingly hilarious young Everywoman, healthily equipped with intelligence and poise to fend off any potential mundanity in maturity.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 15, 2010
ISBN9781101155035
Unavailable
How Did You Get This Number

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Reviews for How Did You Get This Number

Rating: 3.552434536329588 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

267 ratings38 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I feel the immediate need to pick up something else by Sloane Crosley.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Amusing, frequently well-observed, and occasionally smug, musings of a 20-something privileged white girl, who at least displays some self-awareness.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Amusing essays from a world-traveler with a unique outlook on life. Follow Sloan Crosley as she travels through New York, Lisbon and Alaska. Allow yourself to relax and let her wit and story-telling ability charm and entertain you. Fun and hilarious.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Just started it last night and I'd forgotten how much Sloane Crosley can make me laugh. Her take on the world is terribly funny and wise and self-aware and basically she writes like I wish I did.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Funny essays read by the author. Another good book to listen to on the way to work. Her commentary about living in New York City hit the mark, but it was her essay on her travel to Alaska that hit the mark with me. After taking lots and lots of pictures, the things she remembers most doesn't show up in pictures. How true.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    How Did You Get This Number is Sloane Crosley's follow up collection of essays. I listened to the audio, read by the author. Although I do plan to listen to her first book, I Was Told There'd Be Cake, I chose to start with number two because I had heard the author read from it on NPR.The book starts off with an exploration of her name. It's certainly one I've not heard before, although I did get the pronunciation correct before hearing her say her own name. She recounts her parents' attempt to explain where her name came from, and her eventually discovery that they must have misremembered or just created the reason out of whole-cloth.Much of the book, though, focuses on her problems with spatial reasoning. As it so happens, I read (listened to) the book right after reading (listening to) Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet. I couldn't help but find similarities between Crosley and Tammet in their learning disabilities and in their coping mechanisms — as well as their dry senses of humor.This memoir was definitely enhanced by hearing it read by the author. I recommend it to anyone who likes to read essays or likes off the wall memoirs.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Ehhhh. I feel like this one missed the mark. I haven't yet read her first novel - I was told there'd be cake - (mainly because my library doesn't have it) but after slogging through this, I don't think I will be reading it. Funny, I started this one to give my brain a break from the dense Catherine the Great novel I was reading, but this just couldn't hold my interest, and actually ended pushing me to read more of Catherine.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I was unable to finish this collection, despite trying to do for several months. Finally, last night, in the middle of explaining to my husband why I wasn't enjoying it, I decided to give up. It's true that I tend to not enjoy nonfiction as much as I enjoy fiction. But I do like essayists along the lines of David Sedaris, and a review of this book led to expect something similar. But I didn't find Sloane Crosley amusing at all. She seemed too young. Too matter-of-fact. Too something that left me unable to relate to her experiences, and not funny enough for me to forget about trying to relate. This book just wasn't for me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    At last something I really like, as opposed to books I should like. Humour is dry, astute, I just have a grin on my face all the time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was my first time reading Sloane Crosley but certainly not my last. "How Did You Get This Number" is a set of really funny personal essay about growing up, leaving home, traveling the world, the horrors of dating and finding happiness in life. Crosley has a way of being witty,current and damn funny with little bits of tender moments when it's needed.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I don't understand if I just share the author's sense of humor or if the other people who reviewed this book don't have a sense of humor at all, but I was absolutely entranced by Sloane Crosley. It's been a while since I've read a funny book, and her short essays about things which happen to us all are poignantly hilarious because we can relate. We understand. And we laugh along with her as she makes mistakes. Like we all do. Except for the part where we cry about the baby bear. With stories about the humiliating game "Girl Talk" and holding hands under bathroom stalls, Sloane incorporates movie references and song lyrics which fit all too well in her puzzle of Mad Hatter madness called life. "I was a good girl--but I did not love horses or Jesus and I'd burn America to the ground in exchange for a sliver of my former happiness." This book has given me faith that you CAN write a witty book and still focus on the abstract. You can have your cake and eat it too. You can confess in Notre Dame to a father who only speaks French or Japanese. And you can laugh about it. Which is what we all really need, wouldn't you say?
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I actually thought this was a better book than the first one. Not necessarily funnier but more well rounded with more serious insights. She is really a good writer who uses great phrasing. You really have to follow her because she is so quick that you may miss what she is referring to. I read this book while I was reading "Naked" by David Sedaris(the only book I had not read by him). Sedaris might be funnier but she is more believable. In both cases we are lucky to have them around. I recommend their books to everyone. There is only so much "serious" literature you can read. A good laugh at the ways of the world is always fun.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I couldn’t wait to read this book. I enjoyed Crosley’s memoir, I Was Told There’d be Cake, tremendously. However, How Did You Get This Number? did not live up to my expectations. This memoir was not particularly humorous, which was the reason I wanted to read it. I died laughing with Crosley’s first memoir, but not so much with this book. Some of the essays were actually a little depressing.Overall, this book ended up being a letdown. I wouldn’t actually recommend it to anyone, but I would recommend Crosley’s first memoir.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Sloane Crosley can do no wrong! Her side-splitting essays are hilarious, unbelievable, and downright fantastic.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Crosley gives us another set of humorous essays. For me they missed the mark. I suspect a generational difference, but I think some of them are also just not that entertaining. YMMV.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A witty collection of essays from Sloane Crosley. Often deeply humorous, and quite thought-provoking, Sloane's focus is on New York, although she also covers time spent in Paris, Portugal, and Alaska. Crosley's stories flow beautifully. Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not everything is funny. Sometimes things are hard. Sloane gets it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book of short personal essays started out about like Crosley's first, I Was Told There Would Be Cake. They weren't everything I would hope for from David Sedaris, but then what is? The first couple essays were decent, peppered with funny moments, but they have a strong case of New-York-Itis, the disease that runs through books, the symptoms of which include referencing New York, talking about how New York is a strange and wonderful place, and attempting to describe the way in which New Yorkers are tough, savvy, or whatever (although to be fair, she does acknowledge that New Yorkers do revel in squalor at times, which was nice). I think this happens as so many publishers are in New York, and because so many writers work with publishers in some capacity before getting published, New York becomes the center of the book world. Having never been there, I hesitate to say much more about it, but I get that subways are crowded, cabs range from unpleasant to unholy, and when you concentrate a shitload of people in a tiny space you are bound to be constrained by different types of shit. However, Crosley handles most of it well, and she does some linguistic backflips that are worth a laugh on their own merit. And the book really picks up. In "Light Pollution" Crosley describes a trip made to Alaska for a wedding, and though it's already funny, it takes a turn that brings it to a very human and very dark place. And the real gem, the final essay called "Off the Back of a Truck" is one of the better chronicles of the beginning and end of a relationship. She's smart, she makes a lot of wise statements, and people will be quoting pieces of this to crying friends over the phone for years to come. And the best part is that just when she's about to break your heart, she throws in a line that makes you laugh without destroying the tension. There's a balancing act there, and she pulls it off perfectly. Read that last one first. I kid you not. If you like it, then read the rest
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved this book of essays almost as much as the first, "I Was Told There'd Be Cake". Made me laugh out loud in places but was thought-provoking in others; found myself tempted to show sentences, paragraphs, or pages to whomever was near me in the bleachers at my daughter's vball tourneys...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I loved Sloane Crosley's first book, I Was Told There'd Be Cake, but this collection of essays was just OK for me. A few of the stories seemed forced and wordy. My favorite story was Lost in Space which explains Ms. Crosley's struggles with a temporal-spatial deficit. As someone who struggles with the same disability, I could relate to the difficulty telling time and having to hide the fact that you are counting on your fingers. This book was a fun, light summer read. Based on my love of her first book, I will continue to seek out Sloane Crosley's writing for quite some time to come.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sloane Crosley takes her hectic and sarcastic eye around the world for this collection of autobiographical essays. However, there is less of a theme in these stories, less coherence in her story-telling, and fewer belly laughs than she wrote with in I Was Told There'd Be Cake. Still, many of her stories have a common enough theme for the 20-30 something group for her to find a good audience. With a little more cohesion through her stories, she would be a female, younger David Sedaris.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Eh, I wasn't as impressed as I thought I might be with all the hype about her previous book and then this one. We grew up not far from each other and I could relate to some of her experiences - but in others she came off as a strange alien. I know she's meant to be very humorous, but perhaps we have different sense of humor.There were some pieces I liked for sure - the throwbacks to our childhoods with Girl Talk, YM and Trapper Keepers, and whatever happened/didn't happen with Sang was amusing - but I didn't find these essays to be very cohesive or well edited. Many dragged on far too long. That said, it was a very quick read once I sat down to read it and finished it with some skimming in a gym session.I was the most eager for her travel tales as I am a traveler myself, but I was left underwhelmed. She came across, instead of someone seeking experience, as someone who was never going to be happy. Why did she bother?I'll still keep an eye out for the first to see if I enjoy it any better.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I got this book through Early Reviewers.I really enjoyed this book. It is very funny, and it made me feel like I was just talking to a friend. My favorite part was about the taxi cabs in New York. I would recommend it, and definitely her previous book, to anyone looking for a good read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Like her previous book, I Was Told There'd Be Cake, this book is a collection of essays. I'm a sucker for these types of books, and when I find a contemporary writer who specializes in essays with a humorous bent, I will doggedly read that author until their well of experiences run dry. David Sedaris is the master of the art of of the humorous essay and is the gold standard by which I judge all other essayists. Augusten Burroughs started out as a memoirist and then evolved into an essay writer, turning out two or three essay collections that worked quite well before returning to his memoir roots. Anna Quindlen and Jacquelyn Mitchard both began by writing essays before making the leap to novels. Nora Ephron has made a career out of writing witty essays; her book Crazy Salad was one of my first introductions to the genre. Sloane Crosley is one of the few female essayists I've come across in recent years, and it was a pleasure to find her. (And, hey, Chuck Klosterman--I'm coming for you next!)To be honest, I think I'm attracted to essays because if I'm going to be any type of writer, I think I'd be an essayist (before make the inevitable jump to writing the Great American Novel. HAHA! Or, more realistically, a moderately successful trade paperback.) When it is done right, a humorous essay is like visiting with a really funny friend who tells you about their latest mishaps, vacation or adventure or revisits their childhood to tell you about their crazy relatives. A successful essayist can mine the comedy gold inherent in childhood, vacations, the school years, work, dating, marriage and motherhood and make you laugh while nodding your head in recognition. When done well, it seems effortless. (Though I'm sure it is anything but.) The key, though, is having a perspective that comes at things from a slightly skewed perspective that makes the mundane and ordinary seem fresh and interesting.Well, enough about essays already! How was this book? Although the writing was a little uneven and could have used more focus, I found the book pretty satisfying. Like any collection of essays, you'll always like some more than others. In this book, there were a few essays that could serve as a model of "how to write a humorous essay." Then there were some that just didn't quite find the right rhythm and tone. Considering an essay is only about 20 to 30 pages, if my mind is starting to drift on the third page, things are not going well. Yet in each essay--no matter how much I thought she veered off course or lost her rhythm--Crosley manages to eke out a turn of phrase or make an observation that makes her stuff worth reading.Here is a brief rundown of the nine essays in the book and some excerpts that really delighted me.* Show Me On The Doll--A travel essay about Sloane's impromptu solo trip to Portugal that answers the question: Would you like to see a three a.m. performance of amateur Portuguese circus clowns? The essay is filled with comic moments of trying to get by in a country where you barely speak the language and the stresses and joys of traveling by yourself--especially when you have are severely directionally impaired.Excerpt: "I found myself waiting online for Lisbon's main attraction: an antique freestanding elevator that springs up the city's center and leads to nowhere. When I got to the highest level, I climbed the narrowest staircase to the tippy top. America is lacking in this, I thought. All of our public structures are self-explanatory. When you press the PH button, you're going to the penthouse. Not the stairs that lead to the landing that lead to the lookout above the penthouse. Our basements are conveniently located at the base. No cellars that lead to subfloors that lead to catacombs of ruins."* Lost In Space--An essay about Sloane's temporal-spatial deficit, a learning disability that means you have zero spatial relations skills. After reading this essay, I self-diagnosed myself with the same disorder. It explains so much!! Such as why I have trouble reading a clock, telling my left from my right, and my marked disorientation when outside of my home area. (Confession: After we moved to our current home, I would get to places by driving to my old house and proceeding from there. This was all good until Mr. Jenners caught me doing it and insisted I learn more fuel-efficient routes.)* Take A Stab At It--An essay about looking for a post-college apartment in New York City. This was one essay that I felt veered all over the map and could have used more focus, but it still provided this little gem:Excerpt: "All immediate hints of purpose went out of the rooms themselves. Showers in kitchens, toilets in living rooms, sinks in bedrooms. It was if Picasso were born a slumlord instead of a painter. Nothing was where you thought it would be, which would be eccentric in a mansion but disarming in an apartment. Once, at a party, I opened a door expecting to find a toilet but found a stove instead. Just a closet with a stove in it. And a bare bulb hanging, as if to say "Here is where we roast the chicken."* It's Always Home You Miss--An essay about the perils of riding in a New York City cab that should be a must-read for any bloggers planning on attending BEA in the future.* Light Pollution--Another travel essay about Sloane's visit to Alaska to be in the wedding of a friend. A classic "fish out of water" tale that will convince you to never mock a bear bell. Includes a hilarious anecdote of what happens when an SUV filled with city-bred bridesmaids hits a bear in the middle of nowhere. Yet despite the comedy, Sloane manages to capture the impossibility of capturing the grandeur, scale and stunning beauty that is Alaska.Excerpt: "What I want to say is: Here is a country that is ours but not ours. A crazed landscape of death and marriage with designated bells to acknowledge both. Here is the longest breath of fresh air you will ever take, the bluest stream you will ever dip your hand in, the humane thing to do."* If You Sprinkle--An essay about encountering "that" girl from grade school later in life--the popular mean girl who you aspired to be friends with but who could cut you off with a glance or a reminder of why you weren't worthy to be part of popular crowd. If you didn't have a girl like Zooey Ellis in your life at some point, consider yourself truly blessed.Excerpt: "So many years and miles away from the second-floor girls' room where Zooey Ellis used her first tampon, her voice was unmistakable. "My mouth dropped open. Was she not supposed to be in Arizona, fending off scorpions and practicing her golf swing? It's difficult to conceive of the geography of the whole wide world when you're in middle school. When your classmates move away, it seems impossible that they could ever come back. As if the world's events since have happened to you but not to them. It's the reason you can look at your middle-school yearbook and still see your peers. But someone else's middle-school yearbook looks like a bunch of thirteen-year-olds."* An Abbreviated Catalog of Tongues--An essay about the history of pets in Sloane's family.* Le Paris!--Another travel essay, this one describes Sloane's two trips to Paris--one a youthful backpacking trip with her friend Emily and the other to visit her friend Louise who is living in Paris. Of the two visits, the youthful one with Emily had me giggling like a fool, especially when Sloane decides to make confession in Notre Dame--despite the fact that she is Jewish, despite the fact that she only speaks English and the priest only speaks French/Japanese. It is a hilarious little bit that may have been the part that had David Sedaris blurbing "If you needed a bib while reading I Was Told There'd Be Cake, you might consider diapers for How Did You Get This Number." (Just for the record, I respectfully disagree with Mr. Sedaris; I didn't feel in danger of peeing my pants at any time while reading this book--though I may have chuckled out loud one or two times.)* Off the Back of a Truck--For me, this was the pièce de résistance (oh la la ... such a fancy term!) of the book. Simultaneously telling the story of a love affair gone bad and Sloane's highly suspect relationship with a dealer in black market furnishings, this was by far the most compelling, funny and touching essay in the bunch. I've never quite seen the pain and ridiculousness of recent heartbreak quite so accurately described:Excerpt: "Within a week, I had transitioned to a kind of purgahurt where the idea of being mollified by pints of ice cream and the idea of stabbing myself in the chest seemed equally unviable. And yet the world seemed hellbent on handing me daggers. Every cab ride home manged to swing me past his sublet apartment, what was apparently his actual apartment, or his office building. Who was he, the Church? NYU? It seemed greedy for one individual to have so much landmarked property. I'd look out the opposite window, longing for a time in the near future when it wouldn't occur to me to look or not look. Every restaurant suggested was one I had been to with Ben. Horribly insensitive friends marked their own birthdays with celebrations, resigned leases in his neighborhood, and used words with vowels that he also used."My Final RecommendationAn interesting (if uneven) collection of essays by a writer who has her own unique view of the world and a gift for crafting memorable turns of phrase. Although some essays seemed to lose their focus, overall I found this book a pleasurable read. If you're a fan of essays like I am, I would recommend the book. However, I'm not sure how good this book would seem to the casual reader of essays or those new to the genre.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sloane Crosley is a hipster. The kind of hipster who knows she is cool but will desperately try to appear nonchalant about it. The kind of person who makes a point of mentioning the latest cool party she's been to, but in the same breath dismisses it out of hand. How Did You Get This Number is essentially a hipster's insight into the life of a 20 something New Yorker. While both amusing and at times thought provoking, Crosley's essay come accross as a female version of David Sedaris but with less widespread appeal. Her commentary on everyday events, like that of a breakup, are well written but because they are written with the pretenious attitude of a 20 something hipster, the collection is bound to alienate certain readers. Hence I give it three and half stars, an essay collection I would enthuiastically recommend but with note of caution.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I recently read Sloane Crosley's first collection of essays "I Was Told There Would Be Cake" and really enjoyed it - so I had high expectations for this book.I was not disappointed. I loved this collection of essays as much as her first. It is a fairly unusual thing for me to laugh (or snicker) out loud - but this book had me going - again and again. Some of the essays are much better than others. But all were worth reading. Even when Crosley has her introspective moments - the essays remain interesting and somehow she avoids that sickly self indulgent effect that plaques other essay writers. It is smart, funny and a quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed. Looking forward to her next collection!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Okay, I admit it...at first I was ready to throw in the towel on this one, but the stories redeemed themselves (to me) upon reaching the half-way mark through the final pages, leaving me with a more favorable impression, and a few good laughs. Final verdict: not as funny as some I've read, but DEFINITELY has it's moments worth reading. Happy reading!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sloane Crosley’s How Did You Get This Number is a fun ticket for travel adventure. I’ve spent my long week-end in Portugal, Alaska and especially New York City without leaving the comfort of my bedroom. She gave me a lot to laugh about (and the vicarious experience of being a young writer in New York City) The poignant and painful are often the well from which the funniest is drawn. Because I come from a family with a variety of neurological and learning problems, I found the chapter “Lost in Space” cutting very close to home. And therefore the talk of right-left brain discrepancy and “having the village idiot camped out in half your brain” established a print cameraderie that kept me from putting this book down. How could I not fall in love with someone who confesses near the beginning of the book that she’s never met a clock that works properly and has resorted to going to Canada to avoid the trauma of a week-end bus trip to her sister’s house?)This book is very funny, in that subtle, laugh to yourself and underline portions so that you can read them to your friends way.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Got this through the early reviewers and I am glad I did. Only read about 1/4 so far and I have found myself laughing many times. Great read so far and I look forward to the reast.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A solid collection that entertained but did not wow. I did not laugh out loud nearly as much as I did with Crosley's "I Was Told There'd Be Cake", but I often found it more introspective (not a bad thing) than light-hearted. The essays here are definitely longer (for the most part) than the prior collection and therefore, can afford to go deeper. I enjoyed nearly all of them, I was just never 'wowed' so I would still recommend this for those times when you want a bit of heft with your amusements.