Why I'm Like This: True Stories (P.S. Series) » (Revised)

Writer and actress Cynthia Kaplan's essays have been published in many newspapers, magazines, and anthologies, and she is the author of the collection Why I'm Like This. She has appeared in clubs, theaters, and on film, but never on Law & Order. She lives in New York City with her husband and children.

Cynthia Kaplan takes us on a hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking journey through her unique, uncensored world—her bungled romantic encounters and unsung theatrical experiences; her gadget-obsessed father, her pill-popping therapist, and her eccentric grandmothers; her fearless husband, whom she engages in an ongoing battle over which of them is the most popular person in their apartment; and, of course, her vengeful, power-hungry one-year-old son.

Kaplan's voice is a lot like the one in our heads—the one that most of us are only willing to listen to late at night . . . maybe while locked in a closet. What a relief it is that someone finally admits that she is afraid of nearly everything; that she is jealous even of people whose lives are on the verge of collapse; and that she has, at times, tried to pass for a gentile.

Laura Zigman

Cynthia Kaplan is very funny. These pieces are very,very funny.