The Bridge Ladies

Reviews

“Lerner’s memoir makes a case for spending time together under the rules of neutrality imposed by a game, and approach to living that refrains from over-sharing and outward complaining to concentrate on the task at hand. The bridge ladies are there for one another, even as they keep their feelings to themselves and play on.” –New York Times Book Review

“A deeply affecting memoir…a generous and honest examination, she honors these women’s lives” –Boston Globe

“A heartfelt and affecting memoir.” –Washington Post

“In her absorbing memoir, Lerner probes marriage, career, motherhood, depression, aging, death, religion and sex, discovering that, although the Bridge Ladies’ generation differs from hers, they share common values of love and kinship. This beautifully written, bittersweet story of ladies of a certain age and era will have wide appeal.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A smart and colorful memoir.” –Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air

“A book for two generations.” –Dallas Morning News

“The Bridge Ladies is an uplifting account of a baby boomer’s attempt to understand her mother’s generation. Lerner never lets herself off the hook, either, and the result is candid, fresh and enlightening.” –Providence Journal

“Through the alchemy of a grand game, Betsy Lerner has woven a universal coming-of-age story for both mother and daughter. A poignant, humorous and often painful struggle through the pageantry of playing cards; a woman’s face on every one.” –Patti Smith, author of Just Kids and M Train

“Betsy Lerner’s ladies are our ladies, our mothers, grandmothers, and aunts. Lerner takes us back to their tables, capturing a group of wonderful American women—growing older now and braving new battles—with sweetness, humor and sharp perceptiveness. This is a book with heart and feeling.”
–George Hodgman, author of Bettyville

“Lerner takes us on a journey of understanding: the card game, the women who play it, their lives and relationships. In Lerner’s beautifully observed account, Bridge becomes both a literal and figurative pathway to repairing an even more precious bond: her own relationship to her mother.” –Deborah Tannen, author of You Just Don’t Understand and You’re Wearing THAT?

“This is the best book about mothers and daughters I’ve read in decades, maybe ever. It’s about mother-daughter conflict, the desire to love and be loved, aging and loss, discovery and renewal. Betsy Lerner is a beautiful, achingly honest writer, and The Bridge Ladies is at once heartbreaking and hilarious.” –Amy Chua, Yale Law Professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

“A searching, funny, warm memoir.” –O, the Oprah Magazine

“The Bridge Ladies reminded me of Tuesdays with Morrie, except it takes place on Mondays and has five Morries. Exquisitely written, in this book are portraits of five women whose like we won’t see again. I devoured it in one greedy sitting, and started re-reading as soon as I finished.” –Will Schwalbe, author of the New York Times bestseller The End of Your Life Book Club

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The Forest for the Trees 

Reviews

“Lerner doesn’t preach on how to write a book but rather tries to help writers and would be authors cope with such problems as ‘being alone with it.’ It’s a survival course. She wants to help the writer who cannot get started embark, the writer stalled between projects ingnite; She wants you to be an effective self-promoter and not a self sabateur. The book is also an affirmation that late bloomers can become successful writers. –The New York Times

“Lerner has a wicked sense of humor. But don’t think that means her book isn’t brilliant. It is. Cleverly disguised as a sensible reference work, [this] is in fact a riveting safari throught the wilds of a writer’s brain, as well as an honest and unpatronizing guide to publishing from every angle. Its tone is singularly authoritative, compassionate, irreverent, and unafraid.” –Newsday

“Lerner describes the self-promoter, the natural, the wicked child, and the downright mentally ill. She explains the ambivalence that almost every writer feels about writing for oneself versus for the public…Her beautifully written book of observations and advice seems to be coming from a friend.” –Columbia Journalism Review

“Remarkably generous about inviting writers behind the editorial curtain, [Lerner] sings like a canary the trade secrets of editors and agents, offering solid, insider advice on every step of the publishing process…with this book, Betsy Lerner becomes what every writer hopes for — a friend in the business.” –Chicago Tribune

“Betsy Lerner’s style is economical and witty. The Forest for the Trees should become a permanent part of any writer’s or editor’s personal library.” –The Seattle Times

“With an early promise not to ‘Strunk you over the head with rules about style,’ Lerner, a former editor in New York’s top publishing houses, provides inspiring, uncondescending advice for writers.”
–Entertainment Weekly

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Food and Loathing

Reviews

“An object lesson in how women can lose themselves in the quest to lose weight…Lerner’s generosity and bravery illuminate every page of this masterful story of a worthwhile life. –USA Today

“Lerner’s writing has the ring of truth, and for many readers who live with eating disorders, this book will be a life raft.” –The Seattle Times

“The critically acclaimed Food and Loathing alternates between hilarious and heartbreaking. –People

“The author stares down the reader with her unblinking relentless truth…You never forget this is a bright and funny young woman engaged in a monumental struggle. ” –United Press Int’l

“Food and Loathing is destined to take its place alongside the classics of adolescent angst, Girl Interrupted and The Bell Jar.” –Newsday

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