How Did You Get This Number

By: Sloane Crosley

Narrated by: Sloane Crosley

A brand-new book of hilarious and insightful personal essays by the iconic, irresistible Sloane Crosley. From the author of the sensational best seller 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.

©2010 Sloane Crosley (P)2010 Penguin

Critic reviews

"How sure footed and observant Sloane Crosley is. How perfectly, relentlessly funny. 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." (David Sedaris)

Good book

A very good book, well narrated. I would recommend this. Thanks to Audible for having such great books in store

Uniquely Funny

Just pure fun. A unique wit. Hope there’s always more! Nothing like it in terms of a youngish woman’s perspective, making fun of the world and her circumstances.

Just blah

It's mostly New York cliche problems.
The writing is good, but I don't feel like I got anything out of it. There are a couple about non-new York issues but they didn't do anything for me. I like to take something away from essays. This was just a long winded monologue that I felt like was a waste of my time. If I lived in New York maybe I would feel differently.

Gold

Sloane Crosley’s writing like comfort food for me, minus the high cholesterol. And her voice is soothing and almost meditative as she reads aloud her insanely witty, intelligent, and bonkers essays. I cannot recommend this, or any of her other books highly enough.

Get this and get it now.

Crosley is fantastic in her second book. You can tell she has matured some since I Was Told There'd be Cake. The writing in this book is a better and a bit more personal. Not all the stories/Essays are as hilarious as her first book, however I feel that How Did You Get This Number stands up well as a follow up book.

Funny and poignant – a little bittersweet

(As posted in GoodReads)
Highly amusing in a slightly bittersweet type of way. The different characters are quite varied

Couldn't Finish It

What would have made How Did You Get This Number better?

The author should find someone else to read because her voice is to monotone.

What was most disappointing about Sloane Crosley’s story?

She tries too hard to be smart and funny.

Any additional comments?

I should have read the reviews before buying this audio book.

not my absolute favorite

It was a very long and sort of non very exciting story. But I do love the story being told very meticulously. But the story at least in the beginning has no direction. Kind of repetitive on going of the struggles and loneliness in being in a different country and that's about it