The New York Times Book Review - Dominique Browning
…essays on everything from motherhood to soap operas, from sex education to writing tips. Lipman's beloved son, Ben, and her equally well-loved husband, Bob…are prominent, and it's a treat to get to know them, even to hear their voices, and to feel her love…There's nothing too personal about a good essay, which achieves only an illusion of intimacy, a reaching toward universal connection, while much is left unsaid. Yes, Lipman is nice, sensitive, positive—and old-fashioned. She wears her heart on her sleeve. And, in the end, that has as much going for it in the way of profundity as anything a bitter, snarky postmodernist has to offer.
The Washington Post - Wendy Smith
…a collection of short essays that are reliably smart and witty, but never nasty…[Lipman's] good nature twinkles on virtually every page of I Can't Complain…As readers of her fiction know, Lipman is unfailingly funny, and comic flashes illuminate even her saddest essays.
From the Publisher
"Lipman's acuity as a social observer makes her voice seem to belong to a wise and funny friend." —The Boston Globe "More addictive than that bag of peanut M&M's… [Lipman] is always in top form as an essayist…Her essays celebrate an uncommon virtue: common decency. Lipman is eloquent and loving." —The New York Times Book Review "Endearingly personal…The essays are full of wit and charm, along with some trenchant observations." —The Seattle Times "[Lipman's] good nature twinkles on virtually every page of I Can't Complain…Lipman is unfailingly funny, and comic flashes illuminate even her saddest essays...Lipman portrays our most painful emotions coexisting with the humor that makes them bearable." —The Washington Post "Engaging…Good-natured confessions run throughout the pieces in I Can't Complain." —The Miami Herald "Funny, witty, gracious and knowing personal essays that make a reader want to have lunch with the author." —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "The essays in I Can't Complain bring warmth and insight to topics ranging from soap operas to the death of [Lipman's] beloved husband." —Parade "In each piece, no matter how brief, Lipman tackles the subject at hand with Dorothy Parker-esque wit and verve. The author's good-spirited openness and self-awareness shine through…A feast of bite-sized morsels of humor and wisdom." —Kirkus Reviews "As if readers are sitting down to sip a glass of wine with their best friend (if that best friend happened to be incredibly witty, intelligent, self-aware and encouraging-and also a bestselling author), this collection feels like the very best gabfest imaginable…Very highly recommended." —Book Reporter "Charming…Whether or not one is a Lipman fan before reading this collection, he or she most certainly will be by the time the final page is turned." —Publishers Weekly
Kirkus Reviews
Accomplished novelist Lipman (Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus, 2012, etc.) exposes her journalistic roots by collecting over 30 "(all too) personal" essays and columns that have appeared in a number of periodicals. Dating back about 20 years, these mostly light pieces examine her family's foibles, the craft and business of writing, romance, and, somewhat surprisingly, given the rest of the volume's rather acerbic tone, moving reflections on her husband's tragic illness and the author's life after his death. In each piece, no matter how brief, Lipman tackles the subject at hand with Dorothy Parker–esque wit and verve. The author's good-spirited openness and self-awareness shine through in pieces on her childhood (she happily dishes about her mother's condiment-phobia), her willingness to hold grudges and the stages of her son's development. She also describes the peaks and valleys of decades living with a kind man whose tastes and "midlife fastidiousness," especially when it came to dress and household clutter, sometimes got the better of her. Particularly keen are Lipman's observations on writing, covering topics ranging from the naming of characters--"Nomenclature done right contributes to characterization"--to the authorial use of food as a "narrative helpmate" and a frank rumination on the politics of blurbing. Confessing her proclivity to promote the work of others, Lipman explains, "I am giving back. Critics have been described as people who go into the street after battle and shoot the wounded. No blurb can be a bulletproof vest, but in my own experience it can put a square inch of Kevlar over a worried writer's heart." A feast of bite-sized morsels of humor and wisdom.
