Elizabeth Wurtzel (prozac nation) is dead at 52.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP who went to law school with her. To be clear, Elizabeth was never particularly interested in studying the law (she got a 152 or something like that on the LSAT) - but no one at my school doubted she was extremely talented. And she wasn’t a vanity hire - David Boies was a fan of hers, from what I heard. That said, she was never going to be a partner at BSF or any other big law firm. My classmates are all very sad, she was an incredibly charismatic and magnetic figure.

I think we must be friends w/ very different folks from our law school days. I was in her original class; she ended up a class behind because she failed a 1L class (which is virtually impossible) even though the professor bent over backwards to accommodate her. I only know one person from our class who considered her a friend or would describe her as incredibly charismatic or magnetic. She behaved appallingly in multiple classes, was generally unpleasant to be around, had perhaps the biggest ego I have ever encountered and, yes, ended up as a vanity hire at Boies... which she lasted at for like 3 years. Any time someone dies it's sad, particularly when they die young, and I actually do think she was an incredibly talented writer, but otherwise... I am very puzzled by your depiction of our classmates.

How does one behave appallingly in a law school class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP who went to law school with her. To be clear, Elizabeth was never particularly interested in studying the law (she got a 152 or something like that on the LSAT) - but no one at my school doubted she was extremely talented. And she wasn’t a vanity hire - David Boies was a fan of hers, from what I heard. That said, she was never going to be a partner at BSF or any other big law firm. My classmates are all very sad, she was an incredibly charismatic and magnetic figure.

I think we must be friends w/ very different folks from our law school days. I was in her original class; she ended up a class behind because she failed a 1L class (which is virtually impossible) even though the professor bent over backwards to accommodate her. I only know one person from our class who considered her a friend or would describe her as incredibly charismatic or magnetic. She behaved appallingly in multiple classes, was generally unpleasant to be around, had perhaps the biggest ego I have ever encountered and, yes, ended up as a vanity hire at Boies... which she lasted at for like 3 years. Any time someone dies it's sad, particularly when they die young, and I actually do think she was an incredibly talented writer, but otherwise... I am very puzzled by your depiction of our classmates.

How does one behave appallingly in a law school class?

Different law school classmate of hers here. In one class I was in, she blatantly/inappropriately flirted with a professor going through marital issues that were well known at the school/in the press some. It was really uncomfortable. The professor basically asked her to stop on his socially awkward law geek kind of way and she just wouldn’t let up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP who went to law school with her. To be clear, Elizabeth was never particularly interested in studying the law (she got a 152 or something like that on the LSAT) - but no one at my school doubted she was extremely talented. And she wasn’t a vanity hire - David Boies was a fan of hers, from what I heard. That said, she was never going to be a partner at BSF or any other big law firm. My classmates are all very sad, she was an incredibly charismatic and magnetic figure.

I think we must be friends w/ very different folks from our law school days. I was in her original class; she ended up a class behind because she failed a 1L class (which is virtually impossible) even though the professor bent over backwards to accommodate her. I only know one person from our class who considered her a friend or would describe her as incredibly charismatic or magnetic. She behaved appallingly in multiple classes, was generally unpleasant to be around, had perhaps the biggest ego I have ever encountered and, yes, ended up as a vanity hire at Boies... which she lasted at for like 3 years. Any time someone dies it's sad, particularly when they die young, and I actually do think she was an incredibly talented writer, but otherwise... I am very puzzled by your depiction of our classmates.

How does one behave appallingly in a law school class?

Different law school classmate of hers here. In one class I was in, she blatantly/inappropriately flirted with a professor going through marital issues that were well known at the school/in the press some. It was really uncomfortable. The professor basically asked her to stop on his socially awkward law geek kind of way and she just wouldn’t let up.

lol is that all? but yes, this does sound like something that Ivy law students would deem "appalling."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The PP who worked in publishing in NYC - you're right it was really only a NYC thing, which is why you heard about it and thought it was "big" the rest of the world really didn't give a flying f..

The rest of the world? ...okay? We are still an American board here right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP who went to law school with her. To be clear, Elizabeth was never particularly interested in studying the law (she got a 152 or something like that on the LSAT) - but no one at my school doubted she was extremely talented. And she wasn’t a vanity hire - David Boies was a fan of hers, from what I heard. That said, she was never going to be a partner at BSF or any other big law firm. My classmates are all very sad, she was an incredibly charismatic and magnetic figure.

I think we must be friends w/ very different folks from our law school days. I was in her original class; she ended up a class behind because she failed a 1L class (which is virtually impossible) even though the professor bent over backwards to accommodate her. I only know one person from our class who considered her a friend or would describe her as incredibly charismatic or magnetic. She behaved appallingly in multiple classes, was generally unpleasant to be around, had perhaps the biggest ego I have ever encountered and, yes, ended up as a vanity hire at Boies... which she lasted at for like 3 years. Any time someone dies it's sad, particularly when they die young, and I actually do think she was an incredibly talented writer, but otherwise... I am very puzzled by your depiction of our classmates.

How does one behave appallingly in a law school class?

Different law school classmate of hers here. In one class I was in, she blatantly/inappropriately flirted with a professor going through marital issues that were well known at the school/in the press some. It was really uncomfortable. The professor basically asked her to stop on his socially awkward law geek kind of way and she just wouldn’t let up.

This was class after class for a semester when she was a nearly 40 year old woman. It was a class of 100+ students. There were some specifically over-the-too uncomfortable incidents including her charging up to the front of the class once ripping off her sweater. Anyway, I’m not the one who characterized it as appalling and there are way more stories than this, I just didn’t feel comfortable describing rumors I didn’t witness. Appalling (or maybe outlandish?) behavior in class seems a fair description to me. I think most of my classmates would say the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sad she was divorcing

Where did you hear that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sad she was divorcing

Where did you hear that?

It’s in some of the articles. She and her husband separated in early 2019.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The story of her wedding in 2015 sounds really lovely. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/style/elizabeth-wurtzel-finds-someone-to-love-her.html

Though I find it disturbing her initial diagnosis was only stage 2 breast cancer. That's a fairly early stage for diagnosis, to have it turn out to be terminal in the end.

My mom died of stage 2 breast cancer.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like she was mentally unstable.

[Anonymous]

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/postscript/the-chaotic-beautiful-larks-of-elizabeth-wurtzel?verso=true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like she was mentally unstable.

The title of her book didn’t tip you off? Wtf? It’s pretty much her entire debut book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This must have been a white woman thing. I'm 50 and Black and I do not remember this book. Is it just me?

It's fine that you don't remember the book or that the topic didn't interest you. But you don't have to denigrate it as a "white woman thing." Think about what you are doing. Is anything that simply didn't cross your radar written off now as a petty bourgeois exercise in racism? Croatia? Must have been a white woman thing.

+1000
I’m almost 52, white, and hadn’t heard of her. Please stop dividing EVERYTHING up along racial lines.

In this context, it’s racial and cultural. That’s not a bad thing. It just is. Jesus.

Or it's just something some people are into and others not. I'm white, 39, and was in Wurtzel's law school class. Had civ pro with her actually. I never heard of her or her book until a classmate told me she was famous. I tried to read it and could not. Word vomit combined with really poor choices. She was a train wreck. I'm sorry she's dead and she had a tough life, but her later in life choices were her own. And yes, everyone knew she was not interested in practicing law, which to be fair was not particularly unusual at YLS. I know lots of other classmates who no longer practice law. Including a fair number who never did, and a few who never took or passed the bar.

Ahh, immediate PP here. You are more representative of the classmates I keep in touch with. If you were in her civ pro class the first time she took it, I'm sure we know each other. As I said, I enjoyed Prozac Nation and think she was a gifted writer, but train wreck is really a perfect description of her in law school.

We probably do. Alas, I myself did not keep in touch with many classmates during my own 3-year plunge into Biglaw. Too many late nights and not enough keeping up with friends.

[Anonymous]

Agree to a other pp. It is a White woman thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP who went to law school with her. To be clear, Elizabeth was never particularly interested in studying the law (she got a 152 or something like that on the LSAT) - but no one at my school doubted she was extremely talented. And she wasn’t a vanity hire - David Boies was a fan of hers, from what I heard. That said, she was never going to be a partner at BSF or any other big law firm. My classmates are all very sad, she was an incredibly charismatic and magnetic figure.

That’s what a “vanity hire” at a law firm is so glad you could clear it up.

Lol whatever. That’s not a vanity hire at all.

So she was hired for her legal talent to bill on cases? No, she wasn’t. She also wasn’t hired for her ability to bring in clients. Pure vanity hire.

She was hired at least in part because she went to YLS. Most, if not all, of my classmates got biglaw associate job offers. She had the added name value to go along with it, but that doesn’t make her a vanity hire.

The fact that BSF hired a best-selling author despite the fact that she was never licensed to practice law does make her a vanity hire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP who went to law school with her. To be clear, Elizabeth was never particularly interested in studying the law (she got a 152 or something like that on the LSAT) - but no one at my school doubted she was extremely talented. And she wasn’t a vanity hire - David Boies was a fan of hers, from what I heard. That said, she was never going to be a partner at BSF or any other big law firm. My classmates are all very sad, she was an incredibly charismatic and magnetic figure.

That’s what a “vanity hire” at a law firm is so glad you could clear it up.

Lol whatever. That’s not a vanity hire at all.

So she was hired for her legal talent to bill on cases? No, she wasn’t. She also wasn’t hired for her ability to bring in clients. Pure vanity hire.

She was hired at least in part because she went to YLS. Most, if not all, of my classmates got biglaw associate job offers. She had the added name value to go along with it, but that doesn’t make her a vanity hire.

The fact that BSF hired a best-selling author despite the fact that she was never licensed to practice law does make her a vanity hire.

She passed the NY bar exam in 2010. Thus, she was licensed to practice law.