It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me

“Bulletins from the front line of the deepest, darkest curmudgeonliness . . . [by] the literary love child of Larry David and Dorothy Parker.” —Dani Shapiro, New York Times–bestselling author

“Funny, smart, delightfully cranky,” Ariel Leve’s Sunday Times Magazine (London) column “Cassandra” moves to book form (AJ Jacobs). It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me offers a humorously bleak perspective on life’s potential to turn out badly . . . and Ariel’s innate ability to put the black cloud into the silver lining. This is a book for schadenfreude aficionados; for readers who identify with Cassandra’s slogan, “worrying is my yoga”; and for fans of Seinfeld, Ugly Betty, Sex & the City, Curb Your Enthusiasm, David Sedaris, Woody Allen, and New Yorker cartoons.

“Ariel Leve is the love child of David Sedaris and Fran Leibowitz. An original and funny voice . . . Insightful and sharp.” —Joan Rivers

“Ariel Leve is brilliant and funny and the only other person I know without an oven. Buy this book and keep it close.” —Bill Nighy

“It might seem strange that I approve of Ariel’s doom-mongering, but actually I find that her hilarious and addictive honesty comes closer to the secret of optimism than she would probably care to admit! Immensely enjoyable.” —Laurence Shorter, author of The Optimist

“Anyone who thinks that Dickens is the master of bleakness, or Poe the crowned chronicler of the unfortunate, has not read Leve’s work . . . While men may enjoy it, women will identify with it. We may not have faced all the devils Leve faces, but we’ve faced enough of them. Her informal style and wit allow us to laugh in commiseration.” —Seattlepi.com