Lamentations of the Father: Essays

by Ian Frazier

Overview

When The Atlantic Monthly celebrated its 150th anniversary by publishing excerpts from the best writing ever to appear in the magazine, in the category of the humorous essay it chose only four pieces—one by Mark Twain, one by James Thurber, one by Kurt Vonnegut, and Ian Frazier's 1997 essay "Lamentations of the Father." The title piece of this new collection has had an ongoing life in anthologies, in radio performances, in audio recordings, on the Internet, and in photocopies held by hamburger magnets on the doors of people's refrigerators. The august company in which The Atlantic put Frazier gives an idea of where on the literary spectrum his humorous pieces lie. Frazier's work is funny and elegant and poetic and of the highest literary aspiration, all at the same time. More serious than a "gag" writer, funnier than most essayists of equal accomplishment, Frazier is of a classical originality. This collection, a companion to his previous humor collections Dating Your Mom (1985) and Coyote v. Acme (1996), contains thirty-three pieces gathered from the last thirteen years.

Past winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor; author of the nonfiction bestsellers Great Plains, Family, and On the Rez; contributor to The New Yorker, Outside, and other magazines, Frazier is the greatest writer of our (or indeed of any) age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781429941020
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	05/25/2010
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	1,039,748
File size:	238 KB

About the Author

Ian Frazier is the author of seven works of nonfiction and two collections of humor. A frequent contributor to The New Yorker, he lives in Montclair, New Jersey.

Ian Frazier is the author of Travels in Siberia, Great Plains, On the Rez, Lamentations of the Father and Coyote V. Acme, among other works, all published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He graduated from Harvard University. A frequent contributor to The New Yorker, he lives in Montclair, New Jersey.

Table of Contents

'Kisses All Around'
'Laws Concerning Food and Drink; Household Principles; Lamentations of the Father'
'Tomorrow's Bird'
'Little House off the Highway'
'Th-Th-That's Not All, Folks'
'My Wife Liz'
'Walking Tour'
'The American Persuasion'
'Techno-Thriller'
'The Cursing Mommy Cookbook'
'Veni, Vidi, Arithmetic, Etc.'
'Kidproof'
'The Not-So-Public Enemy'
'Unbowed'
'The New Poetry'
'Researchers Say'
'Warmer, Warmer'
'A Cursing Mommy Christmas'
'Come Back, Suckers!'
'From Across the Pond'
'Everlasting'
'Class Notes'
'Back in the U.S.A.'
'He, the Murderer'
'No. Please, No'
'If Memory Doesn't Serve'
'Kid Court'
'Here to Tell You'
'Chinese Arthimetic'
'Square One'
'Pensées d'Automne'
'Caught'
'Thin Enough'
'Downpaging'
'How to Operate the Shower Curtain'
'What I Am'

Editorial Reviews

Accomplished social satirist Frazier's latest collection reminds us why the novelist and essayist is one of America's funniest living writers. The much-quoted title piece, originally published in the Atlantic Monthly , gives voice to every parent's battle with table manners, bath time and various "laws, statutes and ordinances" concerning biting (don't), sand (not edible) and pets (not to be taped). Equally entertaining are Frazier's self-declared role as spokesman for crows, complete with slogan ("Crows: We Want to Be Your Only Birdaao") and his mock exposé on the truth behind history's most famous phrases. Caesar's "I came, I saw, I conquered" is, according to Frazier, simply an early example of mankind's obsession with the sound bite, a snappier version of: "I came, I saw, I conquered, I had a snack, I took a bath, and I went to bed, because I was exhausted." A treat for Frazier fanatics and new readers alike, this compilation from the past 13 years has nary a misstep and begs to be read in one sitting. Researchers, Frazier says, have determined that life is too hard. But it's easier with Frazier at the helm. (May)

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Publishers Weekly

Written over the past several years, the 35 essays in this companion to Dating Your Mom(1985) and Coyote v. Acme(1996) are 35 more reasons to consider New Yorker contributor Frazier one of America's premier humorists. With the title piece, which has been anthologized numerous times since its 1997 publication, Frazier sets a standard of excellence for the collection from which he never wavers. "How To Operate the Shower Curtain," instructions for his houseguests, is likely to become another classic, copied and prominently placed in guest bathrooms across America. Frazier finds humor in such unexpected places as the "sudden" death of a 97-year-old man, the description by the FBI of Osama bin Laden's build as "thin," and the challenges of information overload, which require our minds to distinguish among H.G. Wells, George Orwell, Orson Welles, and Orson Bean. Each piece is a delight, proving Frazier a master craftsman and sure to leave readers trying to narrow their list of favorites. Not to be missed; highly recommended for all libraries.
—Anthony Pucci

Library Journal

Another hilarious collection from essayist/humorist Frazier (Gone to New York: Adventures in the City, 2005, etc.). A longtime New Yorker-and prolific contributor to the magazine of the same name-Frazier has previously mined the city for comic gold to share stories about his encounters with strangers and interactions with his wife and children, all filtered through his self-deprecating voice. He now lives in New Jersey, where his dry humor is used to great effect, whether he's recounting his duty as household dishwasher or noting details about the FBI poster for Osama bin Laden at the post office. This book takes its title from Frazier's 1997 essay included in the Atlantic Monthly's 150th anniversary collection of best writing. Other pieces are based on recognizable current events and pop-culture icons, such as "My Wife Liz," full of details about the author's fictional marriage to Elizabeth Taylor: "Some people say that there should be certain minimum standards you have to meet in order to qualify as an ex-husband of Elizabeth Taylor's, and that I (and a few other guys) don't make the grade. Utter garbage!" Most of the 30-odd pieces are only a few pages long, offering up perfect snapshots of absurdities and imagined vignettes. The narrator of "Caught"-the coyote who was trapped for two days in Central Park in 2006-takes a Holden Caulfield approach to his new-found recognition: "If you're really interested in hearing all this, you probably first want to know where I was whelped, and what my parents' dumb burrow was like, and how they started me out hunting field mice, and all the Call of the Wild kind of crap, but I'd really rather not go into it, if that's all right with you." Frazier isa masterful comedian whose seeming lack of overconfidence not only endears him to readers but also invites identification, particularly in humiliating situations. His sense of humor is so uncanny and surprising it's nearly impossible not to be charmed. Highly entertaining.

Kirkus Reviews

Ian Frazier is an antidote for the blues.” —The Boston Globe

“Being a funny guy doesn't always mesh with being a smart guy. In Frazier's case, however, the two seem one and the same.” —The Christian Science Monitor

“Warning . . . reading [Frazier's essays] in the bathroom, on the subway, or in other heavy-traffic areas may force you to have to explain to others what's making you guffaw so loudly.” —Entertainment Weekly

“America's greatest essayist.” —The Los Angeles Times

“Frazier is a master of the trade and for those cursed with literacy, an absolute howl.” —The Buffalo News

“Hilarious . . . [Frazier's] sense of humor is so uncanny and surprising it's nearly impossible not to be charmed. Highly entertaining.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher