High Times: When you were writing The Best of the Worst what was the best bad movie you ever saw? Monday June 7 2021. I have a number of bookcases, big wooden bookcases with glass doors; most of them are 19th century. I like Rock Scene, Jet, Bronze Thrills, Interview, Italian Baby Vogue, Used Planes. "And then we did it the Saturday . I wrote an editorial about the matron and got kicked off the paper. I still have the clothes I bought at Bonwit Teller. LEBOWITZ: I mean, because I had no money. This is not England. But why do these things have to be either/or? I just talked it while a speed freak typed it. AS NEW.' Known for her white shirts and blue Levis jeans, Fran Lebowitz was named one of the most stylish women by 'Vanity Fair's 68th Annual International Best Dressed List in 2007. Oh, now I remember my favorite TV show from my childhood. "Pretend it's a citywhere there are other people ," she pleads. Im not a nervous person. They told you what to write. But I really dont like animals at all. The whole time before I write I spend on the phone begging people for ideas and solace and sympathy. A sense of, Im all alone in the world, and I have integrity. Ive never had a job I liked. The novel is reputedly about rich people who want to be artists, and artists who want to be rich people. CLEMENTE: One of my favorite quotes of yours is when you said that youve never been in a relationship for longer than six months, because you didnt want to switch from boredom to contempt. What are those computer letters made of anyway? I was really young. I also went through a period of watching Name That Tune. Okay? Theyre all right-wing nuts. Id call it Hello, This is Fran.. So I didnt have a kitchen. EW cover star Bowen Yang stopped by Late Night With Seth Meyers . I watched 400 Bayer aspirin commercials. In an excerpt from The Art of Fiction no. I firmly believe that. I did not connect eating with staying alive, so I didnt think anything of eating the food. But then I found out it was fraud or something and I could go to jail, so I sent the money back and wrote to the people who sent it to me. You see a young girl wearing a headscarf, and standing next to her is a Hasid. My mother and father thought that because I didnt go to college Id probably end up working in the five-and-ten. Unless they die. Another time I saw a real pretty girl standing in front of the mirror with a little tiny cigarette butt hanging out of her mouth, teasing her hair. You sit or stand in the subway, and you look aroundI do, because I dont have a phone so Im not playing a gameand you see people. I like Mel Brooks, especially the 2,000-year-old-man records with Carl Reiner. I remember one of the best days of my life was an all-day A.I.P. Lebowitz: I only wrote one by myself. To celebrate, were republishing Glenn OBriens interview with the living legend from the August, 1978 print edition of High Times. Which is why I remember things. An interview with the late, great actor, comedian, and cannabis fan Richard Belzer (1944-2023). CLEMENTE: Do you think youre the manifestation of integrity? And as Fran took on polyester, landlords, press agents and pop psychology, her reputation grew. BUT.she has plenty to say and has absolutely no problem with verbal expression and is brutally honest. High Times: What was your best subject in school? Wasnt London still a capital of empire in the mid-60s, the cultural center of the Commonwealth? The thing that would irk me the mostaside from driving the cab; as you know, Im very lazy, I hate to workpeople would say, Was that a good job? I hate all jobs, okay? There was nothing televisiony or psychological about it. That was actually a job. I was a big fan of Sky King. [5] She is known for her sardonic social commentary on American life as filtered through her New York City sensibilities and her association with many prominent figures of the . Theres an out-loud laugh (or more) on every page, as well as many passages destined for the quotation dictionaries, and the best epigrams written since the invention of television. But for I Cover the Waterfront, ordinarily I would go out to dinner with Marc the night beforeand when I say dinner, I mean some hamburger place or somethingand I would think of ideas, and then I would go home. She thought it might be broadening to be banned from fashion shows and book-launching parties as well, and came up with a new name for her new, improved column, I Cover the Waterfront ." Pretend It's a City. And a piano player is sitting there as well. At one point, I dont know why I had this idea, but it was probably after Andy did those big MaosI had this idea to do this wallpaper of Mao, and we made this fake wallpaper. So Scully put on something called Village Varieties, and he hired all these teenaged artists-to-be, and it opened at ten in the morning and closed at six. I have to take all the junk off the desk and wash the desk. It could be clean and less dangerous, and not horrible, not under a tidal wave of tourists. I like New York. A decade seems like a good enough time for filmmaker Martin Scorsese and cultural critic-writer Fran Lebowitz to return to the screen. Everybody else was. Fran Lebowitz is a New York humorist who worked as a columnist for Andy Warhol's Interview before publishing her first collection of comic essays, Metropolitan Life, in 1978. During that period I had stripes cut on my hands. Hes not going to be president. CLEMENTE: You didnt have a kitchen, but I doubt that you cook. I would rather have a typist. Lebowitz: I was a behavior problem as far as talking. And if you asked them, Do you like that Jew? She would say, No, I hate him. Do you like that girl in the head scarf? No, I hate her. But heres the great thing about New York: They leave each other alone. I remember what year that was. If theyd known anyone in London, they would have sent me there. Brooklyn was the borough of grandparents. Then she published two books of essays Metropolitan Life and Social Studies - both wonderful. In the mid-70s, she began to write for The Village Voice, but it was at The New Yorker, where she became a regular columnist for the Talk of the Town section, that everything changed for her. I dont know howbecause when I was young, boys didnt type. Fran Lebowitz, the writer, cultural critic, and professional raconteur, spoke with me over the phone via landline, as she famously doesn't own a cell phone or computer. But, of course, Ive always been old at heart. Richard Robinson thinks there should be a TV station thats only the best commercials. Or I would call people on the telephone and have their responses broadcast. First of all, there were a zillion bad jobs. In The Fran Lebowitz Reader, that first book has been re-released in combination with her second 1981 essay collection, Social Studies. But Ive never missed a deadline. I took popular tunes, like Michael Row the Boat Ashore, and wrote lyrics having to do with my family. Karl Lagerfeld did this, I dont know what youd call it, this project, where he and his publishing company made this crate. Lebowitz: I went through a period of watching $20,000 Pyramid, but it was too frustrating because every day I won $20,000 and I have no money. Fran Lebowitz kicks off her career working for a small magazine, "Changes" at the age of 21 where she sold advertising space, then wrote book and movie reviews and was hired as a columnist for "Interview" by Andy Warhol where she wrote a column called "I Cover the Waterfront." And soon she had a book offer from a fan in publishing. Lebowitz: I like Marshall Brickman. One of the other ones was a Manson-type film, a hippie death cult. They dont have to be particularly interesting children; just the fact that they are children is sufficient. It reminds me of when a choreographer I know was creating a ballet. Good Books Books To Read Acceptance Speech National Book Award Wordsmith Great Words Ex Libris Reading Material Women Humor More information . At first Fran had to sneak in her own brand of humor. Here's what started happening: A few years ago, kidsand by which I mean, my friends' kidsstarted coming up to me and saying, 'Fran, where'd you get those vintage glasses?' And I said, 'They . . I would say maybe 74, 75. "Eric Adams I saw coming. It is boring and it is arithmetic. High Times: Do you watch anything else on TV besides Family Feud? So I wrote The Secret Castle and was very disappointed to discover that no one published it. - Booklet on 'New York's Underground' - Large . But at a certain point, you hit your limit, and thats it. Rare Vintage Andy Warhol's INTERVIEW Magazine, September 1981, featuringCover: FRAN LEBOWITZ w/ feature interview by JOHN WATERS (HYSTERICAL! I used to steal hers. Saying no is a little different. I always was. I had this aunt who had a book called The Night Visiters. References This page was last . Light? Fran Lebowitz, who is featured "Pretend It's a City" on Netflix. LEBOWITZ: Im following it, but in a way, I also feel the way I feel about the Kardashians: I feel like its following me. Truckstop Women was one of my favorites. It was one room, but that makes it sound grander than it was. In the past ten years, Lebowitz has been a regular guest on the television showLate Nightwith David Letterman. Fran Lebowitz has realised George Costanza is, in fact, an idiot. Lebowitz maintains that she wrote the columns with the intention of building a distinct collection of essays. Her big, broad-frame glasses evoke the Italian movie stars of the sixties. It was a very terrifying experience because when I started to flip out having smoked this much pot I was in a room with people who had also smoked this much pot and no one would help me out. Bankers. I wrote for the school newspaper. High Times: Did you ever worry about not graduating from high school? CLEMENTE: But if you drink a little bit of coffee before you go to sleep, this doesnt happen. I cant imagine what I could have done with it. The episode closes with Dear Someone, a poem by Deborah Landau. Stay home! I met Marc in . SHOP NOW. Im simply not a fan of navet. But all the rest of them were, including Jeb Bush. Thats good for at least an hour of not writing. He said, Id like you to come and sit there while Im doing it. Now, even if you have money, you can have a horrible apartment. I loved getting the measles and colds so I could sit on the couch and watch all those morning situation comedies. Which, in my opinion, was: What is culture without gay people? CLEMENTE: One of my favorite things that you ever published was something that came out at the height of the AIDS epidemic, when the amount of nonsensical, prejudiced, ridiculous things being said was really extraordinary, and you came up with a few paragraphs that really nailed the situation. Lebowitz: To be glamorous. And it turns out that the Bush family, like most families, has no smart ones. He packs them, and then every time you move, they have to be put in different ways. CLEMENTE: Youre a New Yorker, but you were raised in New Jersey, no? Lebowitz: Sepia is my all-time favorite. And its also not a modern idea; dictators are an old-fashioned idea. Its not my preference, but it is my lot in life. One is that deers are rats. Fran Lebowitz is an American author who may be recognized for her role as Judge Janice Goldberg on Law & Order. The Fran Lebowitz Reader. Lebowitz: I see no reason to get up before one oclock except to watch Family Feud. After nearly half a century as a journalist, author, social critic and "talker," the quintessential. You're only as good as your last haircut. . I also wrote plays for my cousins to perform at various family gatherings. I also have several writing habits necessitated by living in this apartment. "One of the reasons people our age came to New York, if you were gay, was because you . Also a TV show that was on Sunday morning for four hours: I cant remember the name of it, but Sonny Fox was the emcee. There may, in fact, still be no ceiling in the bathroom. The building is still there. I do remember that the worst movie I ever saw was called Four Flies on Gray Velvet, with Mimsy Farmer, one of your great loves. Im happy none of it was ever published. I remember the darkness of being sent awaysheer misery of a kind that I didnt know existed. CLEMENTE: What aspect of New York do you think has really fundamentally changed? I saw a group-therapy movieand the whole thing took place in redwood hot tubs with people screaming their problems at each other. And at the end of the book report you were supposed to tell people where they could get the book, and I would always say. Fran Lebowitz. Once a girl was sitting on the window ledge smoking a cigarette and the matron walked in and the girl jumped out the window. But you need more room to do that. She went from the New School in Manhattan to Franconia College in New Hampshire, and worked at Magnum Photos and at the teen magazine Ingenue. Speaking to celebrated New Yorker Fran Lebowitz over the phone is an experience as hilarious and eye-opening as one would imagine it to be. Fran Lebowitz and Martin Scorsese Seek a Missing New York in 'Pretend It's a City' The Netflix series, featuring Lebowitz and directed by Scorsese, offers acerbic commentary and a sense of. I wrote a musical comedy for my grandparents 35th wedding anniversary. In those days you smoked whatever pot you had that day, so rather than share with others I smoked as much as I could humanly smoke. Theyre acting as if the other people are Abraham Lincoln. But I thought it was a job. And just think how fantastic New York would be. Three or four hours, okay, fine. It was written in the nineteenth century by, I think, a seven- or eight-year-old child who was the daughter of someone very rich who had this book printed. Jamaica Kincaid was born Elaine Potter Richardson on Antigua in 1949. He writes for the New Yorker. Volume 1: Best of First Decade 1969-1979. CLEMENTE: If you were going to run for office in New York, what would be your program, and what kind of qualifications would you declare you have? High Times: What are your favorite magazines? LEBOWITZ: I drank my lifetime supply of alcohol and I took my lifetime supply of drugs between the ages of 15 and 19. If I know its the last day, I always do it. The essays were published inMetropolitan Life(1978) andSocial Studies(1981). Full-time Im watching daytime TV., The following interview took place one afternoon in an apartment overlooking the East River. The last one took me 11 hours to type. I saw a lot of movies that were never released because people knew of my interest in that sort of movie, so I often went to distributors screenings and sat with 12 men with cigars. Its too expensive. I once read that deer are in the rodent family, and I still believe this. But all the girls I knew when I was young who had to workthere were rich girlsbut the ones who had to work were waitresses. They dont know what anything is, so they have to make it up. There are musings about Times. There were two funny ones that were real crowd pleasers when I used to read them. I never write anyone letters. I had such contempt for a certain kind of writing, which I would now call white writing. It was so dull and mannered. . Frances Ann Lebowitz ( / libwts /; [1] born October 27, 1950) is an American author, [2] public speaker, [3] [4] and occasional actor. I went to bed earlier than anyone in the world. And thats the reason why a person of a certain age wakes up early morning with a slight sense of anxiety. And as soon as we finished, Marty goes, "Let's make another one." They told you what kind of sex to put in it. I just dont want anyone in the apartment, not for longer than a few hours. And people are constantly telling me, whether they are friends who feel sorry for me, because I cant find a place to live, or real estate agents, You cant afford an apartment the size you need with this many books. Fran Lebowitz is 69 years old October 27. Im sorry, were full up. I dressed in old clothes, thrift-shop clothes. High Times: Do you remember the first funny thing you ever said? This is another thing most people don't know about Toni: though she was incredibly hardworking, she was physically incredibly lazy. And even when America is not working that well, it still works better than other places. I answered Steve Pauls telephone and was a general schlepper and errand girl for him, and I drove for him. Im not afraid to be on TV. But, third of all, I used to say, I just cant go into a deli and order a roast beef sandwich and give them this.. I have a great collection of A.I.P. I picked up two famous people: one was Dr. Joyce Brothers, who undertipped me, and one was Rod Steiger. Not just in school; I count on my fingers still. LEBOWITZ: I dont cook. Every single one. I was mesmerized by The Modern Farmer. I finish things now, and I think, Who was the last person who typed for me? And its not just New York; its the whole world. Im a horrible girlfriend. Polka Dotty ate seeds and celery tops, and my mother would give me Polka Dottys food, and I would go downstairs and eat it. General with two other people who were also smashed out of their minds. Im going out. Im the only person left who is this irresponsible. This will come as no surprise to anyone who is even vaguely familiar with her work, which, in the past four decades, has largely consisted of being Fran Lebowitz: a strong-willed, grumpy,. But there was a myth about her. Lebowitz is strictly opposed to technology and to this day has no cell phone, computer, or typewriter. $598 $300 at Ralph. But John Springer banned me from his screenings. Just because its February doesnt mean were talking Roses! Bei/Shutterstock. For two reasons: First of all, I stopped taking drugs when I was 19, and who wants to drive a cab around New York with drugs in their car? Lebowitz: I dont know if any inspire me. I never had any machines. I think my most enormous smoking punishment was being grounded for a month. "It would have been . I didnt know that there was anything about me that had a name, that could be diagnosed. The title song was sung by a truck. He was probably grumpy. No, Im just intrigued by them, because, to me, theyre like talking animals. The two close friends first came together for an HBO documentary Public Speaking in 2010, directed by Scorsese, which introduced Lebowitz to a new generation and helped established her continued relevance. Dutton, is a collection of Frans columns. I didnt connect with the fact that her father was a lord and that he had it privately printed, and that my father was not a lordhe owned a furniture store and had no intention of having a book privately printed. I liked it better than critics screenings because they didnt sit there trying to think of entertaining comments; they just sat there with their cigars, trying to figure out how much money they could make on it. And then I would go to the Factory and turn it in. I would have liked to have met Nabokov. So theyre in alphabetical order, within each section. One of which is that I strongly object to having more than one generation of a family being president. 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