Social Studies (book)

{{short description|1981 essay collection by Fran Lebowitz}}

{{Infobox book |

|name = Social Studies

|image = Social_Studies_Cover_Art.png

|caption= First edition cover

|author = Fran Lebowitz

|cover_artist =

|country = United States

|language = English

|genre = Essays

|publisher = Random House

|release_date = 1981

|media_type = Print (hardcover and paperback)

|pages = 147

|isbn = 0394512456

}}

Social Studies is a 1981 collection of comedic essays by American writer Fran Lebowitz.[http://www.elle.com/pop-culture/reviews/this-american-life-516128 Elle.com]{{cite web|work=The New York Times|title=THE SOUR CREAM SENSIBILITY|date=August 23, 1981|first=Glenn|last=Collins|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/23/books/the-sour-cream-sensibility.html}}[http://www.theawl.com/2012/10/a-chat-with-fran-lebowitz The Awl][http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2010/11/freerange_performance_artist.html Slate]{{cite web|title=Opinions You Won't Find on Twitter: Fran Lebowitz Talks|first=Ginia|last=Bellafante|date=November 21, 2010|authorlink=Ginia Bellafante|url=http://tv.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/arts/television/22lebowitz.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|work=The New York Times}}

To mark publication of Social Studies, Fran Lebowitz was [https://www.interviewmagazine.com/uncategorized/a-taste-of-paradis-fran-lebowitz-in-conversation-with-john-waters interviewed] in September 1981 by filmmaker John Waters about the collection, her stance on modern urbanity, and the life of a writer, published in the magazine Interview. The long-form, wide-ranging, and humorous exchange was republished online in March 2023.{{Cite web |last=Nevins |first=Jake |date=2023-03-23 |title=A Taste of Paradis: Fran Lebowitz, in Conversation with John Waters |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/uncategorized/a-taste-of-paradis-fran-lebowitz-in-conversation-with-john-waters |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=Interview Magazine |language=en-US}}

Social Studies later was re-released in a 1994 compilation entitled The Fran Lebowitz Reader along with Lebowitz's 1978 essay collection Metropolitan Life.{{cite web|title=Fran Lebowitz in Public Speaking|work=Slant Magazine|first=Dan|last=Callahan|date=February 21, 2011|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2011/02/fran-lebowitz-in-public-speaking/}}

In her signature fashion, Lebowitz records her wry observations, tastes, preferences, and aesthetic values within the essays of this second collection of her stories and opinion pieces. One of the essays in Social Studies, for example, “Pointers for Pets”, recommends 19th-century American cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe’s artistry, remarking: “Georgian silver and Duncan Phyfe sofas make wonderful companions, as do all alcoholic beverages and out-of-season fruits.” (p.55)