From Interview, Lebowitz has gone on to carve out a more than 40-year career of words and ideas in what she claimed as the profession she was born to pursue—”being right.” In Vancouver for the first time, Lebowitz spoke to two sold-out crowds, serving up social commentary that toured the great gamut of luck (not being born in a refugee camp); nature (she’s got nothing against it as long as it stays outdoors); regret (she has none, she’s always right) and idiocy (Trump is not her fault). Here we offer a few of “the best of” both evenings with Lebowitz’s inimitable take on her life and times.

On childhood: Back then it was, “Frances speaks out of turn. Frances asks too many questions. Now they would say, ‘What a lovely, curious child!'” On the Great Outdoors: “I am not the type who wants to go back to the land. I am the type who wants to go back to the hotel. Camping—sleeping outside—is something you do if you don’t have an inside.” On aging: “I was in a photo shoot recently. The photographer was taking too long. I said, ‘You have to hurry this up.’ He said, ‘I’m just trying to get a good picture.’ So I told him, ‘If you want a good picture, you should’ve called me in the ’70s.'” On favourite things: “My favourite thing is to stay home, lie on my sofa and read. It’s the same as when I was five. Except now no one is banging on my door saying, ‘I know you’re reading in there!'”

Written by: Victoria Miles