Popular quotes: The meaning an history behind "Polite conversation is rarely either"
"Polite conversation is rarely either" - Fran Lebowitz
Frances Ann "Fran" Lebowitz (b. 1950) is known for her sardonic social commentary on American life. She was born and raised in Morristown, New Jersey, and received a GED after being expelled from high school. She worked a variety of odd jobs before being hired by Andy Warhol in the early 1970s to write a column for Interview, a magazine he had recently founded with John Wilcock. From there she moved to Mademoiselle. She published her first collection of essays, Metropolitan Life, in 1978; and followed with a second collection, Social Studies, in 1981 (recently reissued as a single volume, The Fran Lebowitz Reader). She is also the author of Mr Chas and Lisa Sue Meet the Pandas, for younger readers.
She is known for wearing suits made by the Saville Row tailor Anderson & Shepherd; and, in 2007, was named one of the year's most stylish women by Vanity Fair. She has recently made recurring appearances on the TV series Law and Order as Judge Janice Goldberg.
A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Two Lives is a memoir written by international best-selling author, Vikram Seth. In this interesting and engaging book, Seth writes about his great...
read more
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
read more
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
read more
British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales.(May 20 2013) Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate...
Full Story
