The Ticket: Fran Lebowitz’s failures breed success

Catch the legendary writer in North Vancouver at the end of the month.

Sixty-seven-year-old Fran Lebowitz occupies the bizarre position of being as famous for her failures as a writer as for her triumphs. Having become a literary celebrity after the publication of two brilliant collections of comedic essays, Metropolitan Life (1978) and Social Studies (1981), she then fell victim to a self-described “writer’s blockade” that has rarely lifted: her only subsequent work to appear between hardcovers was a 60-page children’s book, in 1994. Lebowitz has since maintained her profile, giving lectures and bringing her none-more-dry wit onto any talk show that will have her—an existence that became the subject of a Martin Scorsese–directed documentary, Public Speaking.

When she comes to Vancouver as part of Capilano University’s Speaker Series, it coincides with the anniversary of the non-appearance of Progress, a slim volume that was first excerpted in Vanity Fair—as an imminent release—14 years ago. (It remains, according to a recent interview, nothing more than “a hundred or so handwritten pages in a drawer.”)

The DeetsDate: Sept. 27 and 28, 2018Venue: BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing ArtsPrice: $50capilanou.ca/blueshorefinancialcentre