Author of the week: Fran Lebowitz

last updated 8 January 2015

“As far as the rest of the world is concerned, Fran Lebowitz stopped writing in 1981 to devote herself fully to smoking,” said James Lileks in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. After Andy Warhol hired her in the 1970s to write a column for Interview magazine, Lebowitz wrote two very funny collections of essays, Metropolitan Life and Social Studies, which waxed acerbically on New York social life. Comparisons to Dorothy Parker ensued, and then nothing. These days, you’re more likely to see Lebowitz acting on a repeat episode of Law & Order than being reviewed in any publication’s books pages. For those who have forgotten her voice, Martin Scorsese has made Lebowitz the subject of a documentary that features her holding court from her regular table at New York’s Waverly Inn.

Lebowitz, now 60, certainly hasn’t run out of things to say, said Nick Haramis in Black Book. Tight-lipped about her own lack of production, she’s quick to admonish the slew of contemporary celebrities who do nothing to earn their fame. “I’m shocked that people get more upset about how many immigrants there are than how many celebrities there are,” she says. Lebowitz’s own forays into the spotlight have always had a purpose. “I want people to know what I think,” she says. “Mainly I want them to do what I say.” That approach, she admits, hasn’t been very fruitful. “I’ve been trying to influence people my entire life.’’ She sighs. “I’ve had very little success with that.”