Reflections on Looking in the Mirror
February 1, 2009
Humorous essays on aging from the stand-up comic and former writer for Seinfeld, The Larry Sanders Show and Saturday Night Live.
Her father's death prompted Leifer to review the twists and turns of her life. She recounts falling in love with another woman at 40, a breast-cancer scare, menopause and the adoption of a newborn son at 50. The most successful essay,"Two by Two Starts with One by One," describes her life-changing decision to cohabitate with her partner and her partner's pets. The promise shown there is echoed in"The I in'Team'" and"Five Lessons of Animal Adoption," although these pieces ultimately travel much of the same ground. Most of the remaining material doles out predictable reassurance ("you are so much more than you think"), interspersed with the occasional bizarre gem ("I have become my own ass's bitch"). Attempting to pass a light touch over these highly charged topics, Leifer too often sacrifices substance for the sake of a good one-liner. Like the subtitle, the jokes can become too precious. In the first essay, a tribute to her deceased father, she writes,"I see now that as a child a lot of'looking up to your parents' has to do with height." This wisecrack might work in a stand-up routine, but on the page it's not entirely credible. The author tosses off one solid joke after another; if she'd kept mining she might have unearthed deeper insights.
An amusing romp, but Leifer is capable of delivering more.
(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
March 15, 2009
Leifer uses her background in stand-up comedy to good effect in her collection of easy-to-read, column-length pieces that range from her finding her lesbian sexual identity at 40 (If I dont sleep with a woman soon, I think Ill kill myself) to her childhood disappointment at her dads bargain gift of a cheap Babblin Barbara doll instead of the A-list Chatty Cathy she yearned for. Babblin Babs was a train wreck reeking of cheap Taiwanese sweatshop child-labor plastic . . . a speech-impaired whore . . . you didnt want to play with as much as rush her to the emergency room. Along the way she offers breezy observations on Jews celebrating Gentile holidays la Jews for Jesuslike vegans for Burger Kingand her heartfelt conversion to animal adoption that led to her current household of seven dogs, all rescues that have changed everything: My life without loving animals is unimaginable to me now. Its like living without air, without music. All in all, Leifer presents a charming mix of outrageous fun shot through with poignant affirmation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)