It's not every day you read a woman's commentary on her own funeral. But even death couldn't stop Barbara "Bobby" Otis Bell from speaking her mind…albeit via the words and memories of her devoted granddaughter, comedy writer and New Yorker contributor Bess Kalb. Nobody Will Tell You This But Me is Kalb's delightfully irreverent tribute to her indomitable grandmother Bobby, whose early-twentiethcentury childhood in Brooklyn as the daughter of Jewish immigrants offers a deft portrait of life as a first-generation American. Along the way, her story poignantly reflects the complicated, fiercely loving ties that bind women across the generations. Sprinkled with transcripts of hilarious phone calls between Bobby and Bess—"Everything you wear is black… Why don't you take down my credit card number and go to Bloomingdale's and buy yourself some nice things that aren't morose."—this engaging "memoir by proxy" celebrates the joy of family and the importance of living life with brio!