The Six Books I Use To Help Drag Me Through Really Difficult Times
Some of these were even in my Amazon cart the day I met Jeff Bezos, and he still didn’t judge me.
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Back in March of 2007, I was very much alone at a gorgeous, highly exclusive Oscar Party that my 7 year old daughter had really been the one invited to. She was a cherished Malibu playdate for the granddaughter of Barry Diller and Diane Von Furstenberg, and since she really couldn’t be expected to drive herself there, I was lucky enough to be her plus one. At one point, some light rain started and the food had just been served making the lovely outdoor tables obsolete so I wandered into one of the rooms of their stunning Beverly Hills estate where a group of men were all sitting around the living room. Balancing a plate in one hand and purse, beverage and utensils in another, I expectantly looked to these casual men and waited for chivalry that never arrived. Starving, I plopped myself down on the floor and put my plate on a low coffee table. I decided to eat as fast as possible and then find my daughter to see if I had more social luck with the 9 year-olds. As soon as I sat down, a well-dressed, bald and seemingly nice gentleman arranged himself on the floor with his plate of food right next to me. Almost immediately, the entire room of men who had just been ignoring me had turned to stare and suddenly the rudeness I had encountered when nobody offered me a seat turned into the rudeness of men leaning over me and my food to talk to the man next to me. After a few minutes of this behavior, I turned to my floor table companion and said loudly enough for the whole room to hear, something to the effect of “Who are you? These men are actually getting their ties in my food to talk to you and I’m not exactly chopped liver.” This guy proceeded to lean all the way back, laid out on the floor laughing in response, and then sat up, extended his hand, and said “My name is Jeff Bezos and I think they’re all talking to me because I own a company called Amazon.” My immediate reaction as an avid book reader from a very young age was to yell out the remarkably witty and original phrase “I love Amazon!!!” I introduced myself and then as soon as I told him my name I had a horrifying realization come over me and I blurted out “But please don’t look at my order history…
