A Big Fan of Fran

Direct and decisive, Fran Lebowitz (author of Metropolitan Life; Social Studies; writer for Interview and Mademoiselle magazines) has offered up her observations and opinions about life, and life in New York, since the 1970s. In Martin Scorsese’s 2021 seven-part Netflix docs-series, “Pretend It’s a City,” Lebowitz goes from putting her perspective down on pen and paper (literally, as she doesn’t own a computer, a cell phone, or an electronic tablet) to conversing across a table with Scorsese about Times Square, public transportation, her lifelong passion, and strict reverence, for books, and much more. And in doing so, Lebowitz delivers something epiphanic in nearly every 30-minute episode (her thoughts on the basketball legend, Michael Jordan springs to mind, for starters).

When the end credits appear, there’s a desire for more Fran; likely Scorsese felt the same way, squeezing in one more sharp sentiment from the woman of the half-hour during the credits. Wishing for a sequel, Mr. Scorsese, “Pretend It’s Still a City.”