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Summary: The Title was the best part
Review: This book felt like I was reading it a fog. I'd heard it was one of the hot titles, so I wanted to try it. It was so muddled, I almost stopped reading it. But I made myself finish it as a reading exercise (it helped that it was short). It certainly wasn't clear for a while that it was a collection of loosely related short stories. The characters were not fleshed out well. What sort of clothes does Jane like to wear? What's her idea of a fun day? The only foods we know she likes are soft shelled clams. She goes to a therapist, but that's all we know about it. She seems to drift through her life letting things happen to her, being incapable of making solid decisions for herself. I thought the last chapter was excellent. When I finished TGGTHAF though, I was disappointed that this depressing scrambled book was considered thoughtful and inspiring. I read a couple of reviews where the writer said their life paralleled Jane's, how disheartening to have one's life in such a directionless haze. The same week I read one of my teenager's young adult adventure novels. While the target audience was younger, the characters were much more detailed, and descriptions were vivid, enabling the reader to form a clear image in the mind. It was a much more satisfying read. I'd rather have fun than be depressed.
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Summary: NOT A REVIEW: PLEASE READ BELOW. DO NOT POST.
Review: PLEASE NOTE THAT CHIVERS DOES NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO SELL THIS UNABRIDGED AUDIO TITLE, ISBN: 0792723317, IN THE RETAIL MARKET AND IT MUST BE REMOVED IMMEDIATELY. WE HAVE SENT SEVERAL EMAILS TO THE BOOK-DEPART ADDRESS WITH NO SUCCESS. PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR NEED FURTHER INFORMATION.
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Summary: Very cute story!
Review: I just finished The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing. I have to say it is a good read. I found humor and some drama. It was definitely entertaining!
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Summary: Strange, rambling, and adrift
Review: My primary reaction to this book was confusion; it was just strange. It is similar to many other pieces of contemporary fiction, in that it gave a rather spare account of events and followed the actions and emotions of the characters without filling in much detail. I understood the point of the stories, but I just couldn't make myself care about the characters. I found myself getting annoyed with them for making bad choices and acting so detached. The only part I did enjoy was the final story, when Jane tried to follow "The Rules" to semi-disasterous results. That made me chuckle because I'm always torn between thinking that "The Rules" are ridiculous and wondering if maybe they really do work. Overall, this book just didn't work for me.
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Summary: Disappointing!
Review: I got this book for my birthday. From the title it sounded like an intresting book, but it was not my type of book. It's about this girl named Jane and her love life. She never seems to find the right guy. She gets discouraged and reads a self-help book. She tries out it ideas and finds it is better to be her self. I did not like this book because Jane sleeps around. If you liked this book then good for you, but it wasn't for me. I suggest this book to adults only!
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Summary: Girls' Guide to Anesthetized Living
Review: I often wondered as I read this collection of stories whether the author dosed herself up on Prozac or some other kind of mood stabilizing drug when writing them--the narration is so sedated, pared down to put it kindly, that it has all the brio of a conversation with someone coming to after surgery. The stories are broken up into short passages, like 5-6 line entries in an adolescent's diary. The action, whether external or internal, is not sustained and developed, but broken up into small pieces, which didn't assuage my suspicion that the author couldn't develop her character beyond the sketched outlines of a rather empty, tepid girl troubled by ....emotional anemia? Not getting to spend the summer in Nantucket anymore? Not getting to be Daddy's little girl forever? I found these stories uncompelling, unremarkable, tepid. The "problems" or "conflicts" Banks reveals central to her narrator's, (Jane's), life stand out as quotidian to anyone who has ever been exposed to even a modest range of people and events. More than just reporting them is necessary to make them interesting. The focus is on what Jane wants, but doesn't have. She has, by the way, a great deal, and thus any pathos she tries to evoke is hollow. Wake up and live girl! Banks' narrative voice could be described as minimalist, stripped of all but a voice explaining what's happening, occasionally how the narrator reacts to events, making droll comments often at her own expense. However, if you decide to strip your story down to its essence, you should be sure the essence has some life, some substance, some marrow. I found the narration flat, monotonous, stunted, and one dimensional. Jane's "struggles," except for one with a serious illness, seem to be with the fact that no one appreciates how cute, yet profound she is except herself. The men in her life are distant, self-involved--this seems to be her reason for being so muted, unfulfilled. Her boss thinks she has to prove her talents, earn respect. Makes her take work home. Treats her less like a rising star than the lights of a night-flying plane. She doesn't seem to have a sense of self strong enough to REALLY laugh about such circumstances--she feels compromised by them. This is anorexic writing: I felt like I needed a good meal, a big drink and a real conversation after reading it.
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Summary: Wow
Review: I loved this book! Being 19 years old and completely confused about love, Melissa Bank helped me learn a lot of hard lessons the easy way. I could not put this book down! It's great for a woman of any age who has ever been mystified by love.
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Summary: Wonderful - I got lost in this book
Review: I did not know when I bought this book, plucked clean off the top of a pile of discounted books, that it was a series of short stories, nor that it would be so absolutely mesmerising. I am actually dreading finishing the book as I have enjoyed reading it so very much. Like the protagonist, or narrator if you will, I had a relationship with a (much) older man and Jane's lover Archie so reminded me of him. Yes it's funny but also quite poignant and honest. I know some were dissapointed with the book but if you read a book with expectations, you generally will be. I had no expectations so was thrilled at how wonderous it has been. Please read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: drifty
Review: This book started a little bit slow I thought. Then it got a lot better after the first 50 pages, but there were a few times when the book would jump from one time period to 30 years later and then back to the same time again. This threw me off a bit, but the last chapter was superb.
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Summary: try Helen Fielding or even better, Marian Keyes
Review: It was on the basis of the great reviews that this book got at Amazon.com that I decided to buy it - I will be more careful next time - was I reading a different book or something? 'Laugh out loud' 'hilarious' 'true to life' were some of the comments and descriptions that made me think this would be a book along the lines of Bridget Jones (at least, the first BJ book) and the Marian Keyes books (all of which are excellent). This book was whiny, and melodramatic and did not inspire any of those 'been there' or 'thats exactly what I felt/what I would have done' moments that are all too common when reading the other books I have mentioned. I keep wanting to shake Jane and tell her not to worry about things so much - don't sweat the small stuff, even!
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