Imagine that you were going through a huge pile of books and you find a diary. When you begin reading the diary, you find that it’s written by someone who is just like you, attitude-wise. In discussing his or her flaws, the diarist is describing you. Likes and dislikes? You. Bad habits, bad behaviors? You. Might you begin to wonder if this was a diary you kept and forgot about?
In reading It Could Be Worse,You Could Be Me, I could not believe that I had found the musings of a kindred spirit. Since the author is twenty years younger than I, it was like being reincarnated without the bother of dying. There are major differences between Ariel Leve and me. She’s a successful author and columnist, she’s young, she’s Jewish, she’s single, she has lots of friends, and she lives in New York and London. I’m not and I don’t. The really bad part about all of that is she writes about how miserable her life is; what does that say about mine?
Ariel Leve is a woman who purports to spend most of her time in her pajamas (or pyjamas) or bathrobe, enjoys sleeping, and doesn’t particularly like sharing or listening. It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me is an anthology of complaints about life. Leve apparently has bad experiences at everything she attempts and is convinced that everyone—given enough time—will hate her.
Anyone who thinks that Dickens is the master of bleakness, or Poe the crowned chronicler of the unfortunate, has not read Leve’s work. The major difference is that she is writing about her own life and her own failures. Totally pessimistic and a confirmed hypochondriac, she details the character flaws that prevent her from being happy.
Does It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me sound depressing? It’s not. It’s very funny. Although Leve has traveled the globe, she claims she doesn’t do anything. Big events that require massive planning include getting a mani-pedi and having lunch with friends. You know it’s not easy to fit all these things in when you’ve got a full schedule of doing nothing.
Article comments
1 - Lynn Voedisch
She sounds like some members of my family.
2 - A Geek Girl
If she sounds like you, then she sounds like me. That's terrifying!
I like it!