The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing (Thorndike Large Print General Series)

Rating:
Summary: Yes, you ARE missing something!
Review: To all of those reviewees who rather missed the beauty of this collection, I am sorry for you. Within the simplicity of Bank's language I discovered a few of the most compelling charaters of my general acquaintance. And rarely have I read such natural dialogue. I found myself inside of the scenes, right there with Jane, her family and even her lovers. I deem this collection of short stories not only a must read, but, indeed, a must read over and over again.

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Summary: i loved it!
Review: I loved this book. so many of you are saying that the first chapter was good but the rest wasnt, i loved the whole thing..yah it wasnt in chronalogical order and some things dont make sense at first, but it was a wonderful book all in all. i read about it in a magazine and bought it and read it in four days, and i adored it. it made less sense to my mother then it did to me, so maybe it makes more sense to younger readers(me being 14)..but i reccomend it to everyone.-

Rating:
Summary: Unimaginative
Review: There are many new, skillfully-written books of short stories by women this summer. But I'm surprised Bank's flat style is commanding so much attention. I found the characters thin and the language unimaginative. Do yourself a favor and read Stacey Richter's "My Date with Satan" and Julia Slavin's "The Woman who Cut Off Her Leg at the Maidstone Club." They are the real works of art that stand apart from the contrived, overhyped "genre" of "girl fiction."

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Summary: More hype than substance
Review: I too read many of the rave reviews & was disappointed because I expected much more than what I got. I don't think Banks gave us a unique perspective on relationships or women in love. In fact, I didn't like her protaganist. I too disliked the predictable ending.

Rating:
Summary: easy to relate to and very entertaining
Review: If you are looking for a light, easy to read and entertaining book, this is perfect. Every woman can relate to the main character, who is sarcastic, confident but who also experiences normal feelings of self doubt and neediness. I really enjoyed reading this book.

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Summary: The ending completely killed it.
Review: I was very excited to read this book, seeing how it's been on the bestsellers' list for so many weeks. The opening was captivating and entertaining. However, midway through, the book began to drag on and it finally (mercifully) crawled to an end. I HATED Faith and Bonnie's ideals, and I felt that Banks should have taken another approach to the closing. What could have been a stellar book turned out to be another overated flop.

Rating:
Summary: WHAT THE HECK WAS THIS?
Review: I cannot understand how so many people gave this book five stars. Unbelievable! It started out promisingly enough, then by the end I was just trying to finish it so I could throw the book in the trash (maybe I'll donate it to the library). There was no cohesiveness whatsoever, and the way it jumped from 1st to second to third person was just confusing. I liked the cover though, that's where the one star came from. Otherwise, lame!

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Summary: a breath of clean air
Review: I read the NY Times article about Melissa Banks and GGTF&H and afterwards bought the book. Its not The Second Sex, but it isn't meant to be! Its funny, reflective and contemporary. My background is entirely different from Janes so I found her innocence refreshing. She had a certain self confidence inspite of her self consciousness. It read quickly (one evening) and was well worth that small amount of my time!

Rating:
Summary: AM I MISSING SOMETHING?
Review: I was VERY disappointed in this book. The first story was brilliant and funny, but the rest of the book barely held my interest. I have been very into short stories this summer, but after having just read three books by Alice Munro, this just didn't measure up. Melissa Banks is probably a gifted writer, but I honestly don't see what all the fuss over this book is about. Slim pickings this year.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent first chapter looking for a novel
Review: "Advanced Beginners" is good as a stand-alone short story but the rest of the book gets tedious as it wears on. The last chapter is just silly.