December 20, 2022 | Paul Richardson
It’s more than a bit ironic that Fran Lebowitz makes her living traveling the country giving talks and answering questions. She hates traveling. As The New Yorker wrote, she is “the patron saint of staying at home and doing nothing.”
The problem is, of course, Lebowitz has lots of opinions. And, since she has been stymied by “writer’s blockade” for forty years (after two widely acclaimed books), well, that leaves talking.
“I am a psychotic perfectionist when it comes to writing, which makes it very hard,” she told the Guardian recently. “It’s a combination of that and the fact that if I’m not the laziest person that ever lived, then I’m certainly among them. Writing is really hard, and I’m really lazy – and talking is easy for me.”
Lebowitz also loves the format of her talks, where she speaks for 30 minutes, then opens it up to questions from moderator and audience. “Answering questions from the audience is, for me, my favorite recreational activity,” she said in the Guardian interview. I like it because it’s surprising. You never know what people are going to ask, and I’m very amused by it.”
Lebowitz will share her thoughts (and answer questions) on March 8 (International Women’s Day) at Festival Boca. Tickets are expected to sell out. Get yours here.
(Quotes in bullet points from a 2020 New Yorker interview.)