Sloane Crosley (born August 3, 1978) is an American writer living in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

known for her humorous

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

s, which are often collected into books like '' I Was Told There'd Be Cake'', ''How Did You Get This Number'', and ''Look Alive Out There''. She has also worked as a

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at the

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division of

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and as an adjunct professor in

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's Master of Fine Arts program. Her recent work includes a novel ''Cult Classic'' (2022) and her memoir '' Grief Is for People'' (2024), largely about the death of her friend Russell Perreault.

Education

Crosley graduated from

Connecticut College Connecticut College (Conn) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. Originally chartered as Thames College, it was founded in 1911 as the state's only women's colle ...

in 2000.

Career

Riverhead Books published Crosley's first collection of essays '' I Was Told There'd Be Cake'' on April 1, 2008. The book appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. It was a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor, one of

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's best books of the year, and optioned by

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. Crosley's second collection of essays, the 2010 book ''How Did You Get This Number'', also appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer P ...

released her debut novel ''The Clasp'' in October 2015; it was optioned by

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in 2016. Her third book of essays ''Look Alive Out There'' was also a Thurber Prize finalist. Crosley's second novel, ''Cult Classic'', was published in 2022. In addition to writing her own books, Crosley edited '' The Best American Travel Writing'' in 2011. Crosley has published work in or edited for various magazines and newspapers. She was a weekly columnist for British newspaper ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' in 2011. She is a contributing editor at '' Vanity Fair'' and was the founding columnist for ''The New York Times'' "Townies"

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series, a columnist for ''

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'' Diary, a columnist for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'', a contributing editor at ''

BlackBook ''BlackBook'' is an arts and culture magazine published bi-annually to print and online. Founded by Evanly Schindler in 1996 as a quarterly print publication, covering topics ranging from art, music, and literature to politics, popular culture ...

'' and is a regular contributor to ''The New York Times'', '' GQ'', ''

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'', and NPR. She has also written cover stories and features for '' Salon.com'', '' Spin'', '' Vogue'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', ''

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'', '' W'', and '' AFAR''. She co-wrote the song "It Only Gets Much Worse" with

Nate Ruess Nathaniel Joseph Ruess (pronounced ; born February 26, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. He formed the indie rock band The Format in 2002, and later went on to form the band fun. in 2008. He emerged as a solo act with his guest per ...

. Crosley's 2024 memoir '' Grief Is for People'' is her first full length nonfiction book and was published to positive reviews. It focuses largely on the death of close friend Russell Perreault, Vice President of

. Crosley is and

In popular culture

In 2011 Crosley appeared on the TV series ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series created and developed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and based on the series of novels of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. It follows a group of students on Manhattan's ...

'' as herself. She appeared on ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airi ...

'' on six occasions from 2010 to 2014. She was mentioned in ''

BoJack Horseman ''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animation, adult animated tragicomedy television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It stars the voices of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F. Tompkins, and Aaron Paul. Set primarily in ...

'' when the character Diane Nguyen receives an advance for a book of personal essays. On July 4, 2022, she was a clue on ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...

Bibliography

Story and essay collections

* * *

Memoirs

Novels

* *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crosley, Sloane 1979 births Living people American women novelists Connecticut College alumni American women essayists American women columnists The Independent people The New York Times columnists The New York Observer people The Village Voice people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Columbia University faculty 21st-century American essayists Novelists from New York (state) American women academics Vanity Fair (magazine) people