Rating: 
Summary: Delicious!
Review: Just a wonderful story -- I shared the joy, heartache and laughs with Jane as she journeyed through adolescence into womanhood. If you love Bridget Jones, you'll love this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Hunting and fishing for love and acceptance.....
Review: I loved this book. It was very funny and very touching in parts as well. This is the tale of a girl (told in a series of short stories)from childhood to her adulthood who like everyone, searches in her own way for an understanding of love and life and friendship. She is a wonderful observer of others in her life while trying to pick up clues on how one goes about this "hunting and fishing" for answers to lifes most precious desire, love and acceptance. She tries to learn from her older brother, from her parents, from her friends and even from bosses and ex-boyfriends. This is a wonderfully written work that brings it's character to full living color. I loved the humor of this book, although I think anyone under thirty might miss the finer points. The emotional scenes when her father becomes ill made me weep, and really think about my parents and ther health,(especialy my Mom's chronic health) This is a terrific book, and even if you are a younger(under thirty) reader you will love it, because it will strike home at some point in Jane's life.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, Familiar, and Entertaining
Review: I don't normally care for modern "literary" short story collections--too often they consist of only one or two memorable stories and the rest seems like filler. No so in the case of Ms. Bank's "Guide." Her writing is consistently fresh and funny. Her characters and plots realistic, but not necessarily predictable. I thoroughly enjoyed the way she introduces us to Jane and allows us to watch her grow up, mature, get hurt, grow wiser, and eventually find the man "she didn't know she could hope for." And if you love dogs, you'll relate to the way Bank conveys Jane's relationship with her dog. (Bank's description of a dog museum, with an interactive display of squirrels and a gallery of scents, was worth the price of the book for me.) As other reviewers have said, one piece seems out of place, but as a whole this works as a series of connected stories that tells a much bigger tale. It's a satisfying read, and chances are, you'll finish the last story in this collection wanting more.
Rating:
Summary: A quick, enjoyable, and interesting read
Review: While entertaining and interesting, The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing wasn't quite what I had expected. However, I still thouroughly enjoyed this book (which is almost a collection of short stories). Each chapter grabs your interest and keeps it until the end. The book reads very quickly, which I also like. Some of the characters were a little underdeveloped, but overall, a very good book.
Rating:
Summary: A female Salinger?
Review: This is a bunch of short stories sold as a novel. I useually hate short stories. If it is a great story, I would like to have more, if it lousy, why should I even read it? This is a lot of great stories, with a tender, witty, even funny tone sometimes. They are full of emotional insight, as J.D.Salingers books were and with the same kind of interesting and lovable character (s) in it. This book has nothing to do with Bridget Jones books, and is probably not a good book for the person who only takes time to reads on vacations twice a year. This is a book about real people, with fragments of Jane Rosenals life, glimpses of what is and what could have been and of a very charmy, very beautiful person who I would have loved to meet (and who I have realise now, I have already meet a few times!). If you are a reader and like writers like Salinger, Barbara Trapido, Gontsjarev, Tagaki, Murakami etc, then this may be the book for you also. Its more a four and half star than a four.
Rating:
Summary: Likable
Review: I liked this book. I have to admit I didn't realize it was a series of short stories. (While reading, I thought it was a novel.) So, I was left somewhat baffled and a little dissatisfied when finished. However, that feeling didn't diminish my overall enjoyment of the book. It's a well-written and witty collection (instead of a novel--much to my relief) and an easy afternoon read. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful summer reading
Review: I will be brief and to the point--its a wonderful, easy summer read that women will understand. Anyone who has read, and been hurt by, "The Rules" will laugh at the last story. You will not find any life-altering truths in the book, but it will make you smile. And in the middle of August at the beach, that is what I wanted.
Rating:
Summary: a good read
Review: This book kept me interested the whole time by being one thing: real. The main character's problems although not neccesarily always typical were easy to relate to. Jane was a lovable young woman and throughout the book I found myself constantly hoping she would find the success and happiness she was looking for. I commend Melissa Bank on this excellent novel.
Rating: 
Summary: not what I expected
Review: I read this book having seen it metioned along with Bridget Jones's Diary. I guess I was expecting a funny book, and I found this one not funny and rather depressing. The heroine goes through early adulthood attempting to establish relationships and really not faring to well. (the depressing part) The last chapter has her following a "method" to manipulate men and almost ruining her chance at what sounds like a good relationship. Now, it was funny. Maybe because I am 35 and married 11 years it did not appeal to me. Just my 2 cents worth.
Rating:
Summary: A Fresh View of Modern Suburbia
Review: The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing is an impressive debut by Melissa Banks, who received a stunning $275,000 advance for this short story collection after having the stories published separately in such renowned publications as The New Yorker and The Harvard Review. Although short story collections are generally considered risky, Banks' is successful primarily because it reads very much like a novel, since all the stories are linked around the central character-Jane Rosenthal- and a central setting- modern New York suburbia. In fact, the most memorable title of any of the short stories is "The Worst Thing a Suburban Girl Could Imagine", because it basically sums up the theme of the whole book. WIth the exception of the powerful and touching story of Jane's father's death due to Leukemia, most of the stories deal with common, everyday issues, such as Jane's distress over her editing job and her on again- off again affair with a much older literary mentor. However, Banks treats such trite issues with surprising clarity and deepness, so that every reader can draw a parallel between Jane's life and her or his own. The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing is a quick read, and it is guaranteed to make you want more stories about this character's clash with surburbia. I, for one, am waiting in anticipation for Banks' next short story or novel, for her first book shows the promise of an author who will be putting a fresh twist and great writing skill into everyday events familiar to us all for a very long time.
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