We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

I Can't Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

Book Cover
Average Rating
Published:
HarperCollins 2013
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
From the beloved and acclaimed novelist, a collection of witty, moving essays.In her two decades of writing, Elinor Lipman has populated her fictional universe with characters so utterly real that we feel like they're old friends. Now she shares an even more intimate world with us—her own—in essays that offer a candid, charming take on modern life. Looking back and forging ahead, she considers the subjects that matter most: childhood and condiments, long marriage and solo living, career and politics.
Here you'll find the lighthearted: a celebration of four decades of All My Children, a reflection on being Jewish in heavily Irish-Catholic Lowell on St. Patrick's Day, a hilariously unflinching account of her tiptoe into online dating. But she also tackles the serious and profound in eloquent stories of unexpected widowhood and caring for elderly parents that use her struggles to illuminate ours. Whether for Lipman's longtime readers or those who love the essays of Nora Ephron or Anna Quindlen, I Can't Complain is a diverting delight.
Also in This Series
Formats
Adobe EPUB eBook
Works on all eReaders (except Kindles), desktop computers and mobile devices with reading apps installed.
Kindle Book
Works on Kindles and devices with a Kindle app installed.
OverDrive Read
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Like This
Other Editions and Formats
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
04/16/2013
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780547576220
ASIN:
B008LQ20W6
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Elinor Lipman. (2013). I Can't Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays. HarperCollins.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Elinor Lipman. 2013. I Can't Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays. HarperCollins.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Elinor Lipman, I Can't Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays. HarperCollins, 2013.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Elinor Lipman. I Can't Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays. HarperCollins, 2013.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection11
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
63ea6359-83b0-8266-ed02-2c8270ed2f62
Go To Grouped Work
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 16:42:29
Date Updated:
Jan 24, 2022 10:12:28
Last Metadata Check:
Apr 14, 2024 08:09:34
Last Metadata Change:
Mar 10, 2024 08:08:32
Last Availability Check:
Apr 14, 2024 08:09:38
Last Availability Change:
Sep 12, 2023 15:37:22
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Apr 15, 2024 02:11:38

OverDrive Product Record

images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0874-1/{289F4306-3015-4884-9F6E-A81C5D7CB2DE}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0874-1/{289F4306-3015-4884-9F6E-A81C5D7CB2DE}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0874-1/289/F43/06/{289F4306-3015-4884-9F6E-A81C5D7CB2DE}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0874-1/289/F43/06/{289F4306-3015-4884-9F6E-A81C5D7CB2DE}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780547576220
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • identifiers:
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B008LQ20W6
      • name: Kindle Book
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780547576220
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • id: ebook-overdrive
mediaType
eBook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Elinor Lipman
title
I Can't Complain
dateAdded
2016-06-09T18:24:00Z
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=1328787
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
          • id: 1151
sortTitle
I Cant Complain (All Too) Personal Essays
crossRefId
1328787
subtitle
(All Too) Personal Essays
id
289F4306-3015-4884-9F6E-A81C5D7CB2DE
starRating
3.3

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • fileName: ICantComplain_9780547576220_1328787
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 1051535
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780547576220
      • rights:
            • type: Copying
            • value: 0
            • type: Printing
            • value: 0
            • type: Lending
            • value: 0
            • type: ReadAloud
            • value: 1
            • type: ExpirationRights
            • value: 0
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • onSaleDate: 4/16/2013
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/i-can-t-complain?.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: ICantComplain_1328787
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B008LQ20W6
      • name: Kindle Book
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • onSaleDate: 4/16/2013
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/i-can-t-complain?.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: ICantComplain_9780547576220_1328787
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780547576220
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 4/16/2013
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/i-can-t-complain?.epub-sample.overdrive.com
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Lipman, Elinor
      • bioText:

        ELINOR LIPMAN is the award-winning author of sixteen books of fiction and nonfiction, including The Inn at Lake Devine, Isabel's Bed, I Can't Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays, On Turpentine Lane, Rachel to the Rescue, and Ms. Demeanor. Her first novel, Then She Found Me, became a 2008 feature film, directed by and starring Helen Hunt, with Bette Midler, Colin Firth, and Matthew Broderick. She was the 2011–12 Elizabeth Drew Professor of Creative Writing at Smith College and divides her time between Manhattan and the Hudson Valley.

      • name: Elinor Lipman
imprint
Harper Audio
publishDate
2013-04-16T00:00:00-04:00
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
I Can't Complain
fullDescription
From the beloved and acclaimed novelist, a collection of witty, moving essays.In her two decades of writing, Elinor Lipman has populated her fictional universe with characters so utterly real that we feel like they're old friends. Now she shares an even more intimate world with us—her own—in essays that offer a candid, charming take on modern life. Looking back and forging ahead, she considers the subjects that matter most: childhood and condiments, long marriage and solo living, career and politics.
Here you'll find the lighthearted: a celebration of four decades of All My Children, a reflection on being Jewish in heavily Irish-Catholic Lowell on St. Patrick's Day, a hilariously unflinching account of her tiptoe into online dating. But she also tackles the serious and profound in eloquent stories of unexpected widowhood and caring for elderly parents that use her struggles to illuminate ours. Whether for Lipman's longtime readers or those who love the essays of Nora Ephron or Anna Quindlen, I Can't Complain is a diverting delight.
reviews
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        January 21, 2013
        In charming and often self-deprecating fashion, novelist Lipman (The View from Penthouse B) has penned an engaging and moving series of essays about her life—some previously published in the Boston Globe (“Boy Meets Girl,” “I Want to Know”), others in Good Housekeeping (“Good Grudgekeeping”) and the New York Times (“Confessions of a Blurb Slut”). The most touching is Lipman’s tribute to her late husband, Bob Austin, in “This Is for You,” and the loving treatment of her son, Benjamin, in the same essay, lauding him for his help during his father’s last days. (Earlier in the collection, the laugh-filled “Sex Ed” provides a hysterical look at the author and her doctor husband trying to explain the reproductive process to their fifth-grader son.) “No Outline? Is That Any Way to Write a Novel?” offers a fascinating glimpse into Lipman’s creative process. Whether or not one is a Lipman fan before reading this collection, he or she most certainly will be by the time the final page is turned.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        April 1, 2013
        Accomplished novelist Lipman (Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus, 2012, etc.) exposes her journalistic roots by collecting over 30 "(all too) personal" essays and columns that have appeared in a number of periodicals. Dating back about 20 years, these mostly light pieces examine her family's foibles, the craft and business of writing, romance, and, somewhat surprisingly, given the rest of the volume's rather acerbic tone, moving reflections on her husband's tragic illness and the author's life after his death. In each piece, no matter how brief, Lipman tackles the subject at hand with Dorothy Parker-esque wit and verve. The author's good-spirited openness and self-awareness shine through in pieces on her childhood (she happily dishes about her mother's condiment-phobia), her willingness to hold grudges and the stages of her son's development. She also describes the peaks and valleys of decades living with a kind man whose tastes and "midlife fastidiousness," especially when it came to dress and household clutter, sometimes got the better of her. Particularly keen are Lipman's observations on writing, covering topics ranging from the naming of characters--"Nomenclature done right contributes to characterization"--to the authorial use of food as a "narrative helpmate" and a frank rumination on the politics of blurbing. Confessing her proclivity to promote the work of others, Lipman explains, "I am giving back. Critics have been described as people who go into the street after battle and shoot the wounded. No blurb can be a bulletproof vest, but in my own experience it can put a square inch of Kevlar over a worried writer's heart." A feast of bite-sized morsels of humor and wisdom.

        COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        February 15, 2013

        This collection of essays, culled from previous publications, presents a lifetime of experiences. Starting with memories of her mother and father, Lipman, author of many popular novels (e.g., The Inn at Lake Devine), takes readers through her life using candid snapshots. She includes views of her husband ("I Married a Gourmet," "Monsieur Clean") and the upbringing of her son ("Sex Ed," "The Rosy Glow of the Backward Glance"). One of the most touching pieces deals with the death of her husband from brain disease. Along with providing family details, she discusses the marginalia of everyday life, such as invitation etiquette and Sex in the City, as well as her career. She is strongest when she shares about her son and when discussing the vagaries of being an author. Lipman is known for humor and satire; there are pieces that will make readers laugh and some that will elicit a tear or two. The book is best read in small doses. There are nuggets here that readers will surely want to share. VERDICT This is a crash course for aspiring authors (in the section "On Writing," among others) and a charming read for those who enjoy the essays and literary nonfiction of Nora Ephron or Anna Quindlen.--Linda White, Maplewood, MN

        Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

popularity
90
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/289f4306-3015-4884-9f6e-a81c5d7cb2de/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
id
289f4306-3015-4884-9f6e-a81c5d7cb2de
starRating
3.3
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0874-1/{289F4306-3015-4884-9F6E-A81C5D7CB2DE}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0874-1/{289F4306-3015-4884-9F6E-A81C5D7CB2DE}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0874-1/289/F43/06/{289F4306-3015-4884-9F6E-A81C5D7CB2DE}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0874-1/289/F43/06/{289F4306-3015-4884-9F6E-A81C5D7CB2DE}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: Biography & Autobiography
      • value: Literary Criticism
      • value: Nonfiction
publishDateText
04/16/2013
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 9780544227903
mediaType
eBook
shortDescription
From the beloved and acclaimed novelist, a collection of witty, moving essays.In her two decades of writing, Elinor Lipman has populated her fictional universe with characters so utterly real that we feel like they're old friends. Now she shares an even more intimate world with us—her own—in essays that offer a candid, charming take on modern life. Looking back and forging ahead, she considers the subjects that matter most: childhood and condiments, long marriage and solo living, career and politics.
Here you'll find the lighthearted: a celebration of four decades of All My Children, a reflection on being Jewish in heavily Irish-Catholic Lowell on St. Patrick's Day, a hilariously unflinching account of her tiptoe into online dating. But she also tackles the serious and profound in eloquent stories of unexpected widowhood and caring for elderly parents that use her struggles to illuminate ours. Whether for Lipman's longtime readers or those who love the essays of...
sortTitle
I Cant Complain (All Too) Personal Essays
crossRefId
1328787
subtitle
(All Too) Personal Essays
publisher
HarperCollins
bisacCodes
      • code: BIO007000
      • description: Biography & Autobiography / Literary
      • code: BIO026000
      • description: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Memoirs
      • code: LCO010000
      • description: Literary Collections / Essays