Cynthia Kaplan takes us on a hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking journey through her unique, uncensored world -- her bungled romantic encounters and unsung theatrical experiences; her gadget-obsessed father and her mother, who, if you should want to know, is fine; her pill-popping therapist, eccentric grandmothers, and fearless husband, whom she engages in an ongoing battle over which of them is the most popular person in their apartment; and, of course, her vengeful, power-hungry, one-year-old son.
Kaplan's voice is a lot like the one in our heads -- the one that most of us are only willing to listen to late at night . . . maybe while locked in a closet. What a relief it is that someone finally admits that she is afraid of nearly everything; that she is jealous even of people whose lives are on the verge of collapse; and that she has, at times, tried to pass for a gentile.

Why I'm Like This

Biographies & Memoirs

Kaplan, Cynthia

Community & Culture

HarpPeren

Do you know why a race-car driver wears epaulets despite the fact that epaulets would seem in every way contrary to the aesthetic of a race-car driver? It's so that in the event of a crash he may be pulled from the flaming wreckage of his car.
Yes, she's back. Cynthia Kaplan, acclaimed author of Why I'm Like This, once again invites us into her no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners world, casting her gimlet eye upon the current state of her affairs. Also of your affairs, and some other people's affairs, too. With her unique talent for wringing hilarity out of the most devastating situations (as well as, it must be admitted, the most trivial), Kaplan fearlessly takes on her family, intelligent design, Narnia, New England's deer population—all the important issues of the day.
Journey with her as she humiliates herself in a variety of locales—a dude ranch, a hospital, Mystic Seaport, the offices of Comedy Central. Cower beside her as she confronts her inner (and outer) most fears. No threat is too small—pajamas, schnauzers, Disney cruises. No subject is sacrosanct—God, sex, The Nutcracker Suite. Kaplan has a worst-case scenario planned for, well, every scenario, including high school reunions and vacationing with your mother-in-law, a subject not covered in any of today's popular guidebooks. You might want to take notes, because Kaplan has that rare ability to write about her own life in a way that makes you feel as though she is writing about yours.
Leave the Building Quickly is a raucously funny, moving, and honest look at the circumstances of our daily lives, the kind that inspire us to crouch in the linen closet at three in the morning. That's okay. Kaplan is there, too. And she's brought snacks.

Leave the Building Quickly: True Stories

Memoirs

William Morrow

Cynthia Kaplan, acclaimed author of Why I'm Like This, once again casts her gimlet eye upon the current state of her affairs. Also of your affairs, and some other people's affairs as well. Journey with her as she humiliates herself in a variety of locales and fearlessly takes on all the important issues of the day—including her family, intelligent design, Narnia, and New England's deer population. Leave the Building Quickly is a hilarious, moving, bitingly honest, take-no-prisoners incursion into the kind of real-life daily circumstances that inspire us to crouch in the linen closet at three in the morning. But that's okay because Kaplan's there, too. And she's brought snacks.

Leave the Building Quickly: True Stories (P.S.)

Reference

Cynthia Kaplan takes us on a hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking journey through her unique, uncensored world—her bungled romantic encounters and unsung theatrical experiences; her gadget-obsessed father, her pill-popping therapist, and her eccentric grandmothers; her fearless husband, whom she engages in an ongoing battle over which of them is the most popular person in their apartment; and, of course, her vengeful, power-hungry one-year-old son. Kaplan's voice is a lot like the one in our heads—the one that most of us are only willing to listen to late at night . . . maybe while locked in a closet. What a relief it is that someone finally admits that she is afraid of nearly everything; that she is jealous even of people whose lives are on the verge of collapse; and that she has, at times, tried to pass for a gentile.

Why I'm Like This: True Stories

William Morrow Paperbacks

I wonder if there is any way I can tell this story and have it seem like I did it in the name of those dolphins that get caught in the tuna nets.Meet Cynthia Kaplan, whose debut collection of personal stories is so much fun to read because of her complete and utter willingness to tell the God's honest truth. 
And it isn't pretty. 
Kaplan takes us on a hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking journey through her unique, uncensored world, from her first bungled romantic encounters (No, really, what was I supposed to do?) to her terrifying tropical honeymoon. From her first, unsung theatrical experiences at summer camp (I opened the script and saw that I had only one line for the entire first half of the play, and that line consisted of one word, wawa) to a starring role in an independent film (Two months after the film screens in New York, my father-in-law passes away...and it is intimated to me more than once that seeing me locked in an erotic embrace with a black woman hastened his decline.). 
We also meet Kaplan's family, almost lovingly rendered in her razor-sharp prose: Her gadget-obsessed father; her mother, who, if you should want to know, is Fine; her eccentric Florida grandmother (I want you to have this. And this. One day. When I'm dead.); her New York grandmother, with whom she discovers she shares an innate sense of spite (Seething is something one can reasonably do for a lifetime, if one is so inclined); her fearless husband, whom she engages in an ongoing battle over which of them is the most popular person in their apartment; and finally, her vengeful, power-hungry, one-year-old son.
Kaplan has a wonderfully original voice, almost painfully precise, and yet, it's a lot like the one in our heads, the one that most of us are only willing to listen to late at night, in the dark, maybe locked in a closet. So what a relief it is that someone finally admits that she is afraid of nearly everything under the sun, including moths; that she is jealous even of people whose lives are on the verge of collapse; and that she has, at times, tried to pass for a gentile (I didn't like carrying the burden of two thousand years of persecution around while everyone else looked so fancy free.) 
After reading Why I'm Like This, you might just take a good look at your life, (or at the life of a truffle pig, as Kaplan does), and realize that even though it's not perfect, it's yours, and that's something.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kaplan, Cynthia. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Kaplan, Cynthia

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kaplan, Cynthia. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Why I'm Like This

Leave the Building Quickly: True Stories

Leave the Building Quickly: True Stories (P.S.)

Why I'm Like This: True Stories

Why I'm Like This: True Stories