Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, imaginative, funny, and often melancholy
Review: I read this book after I read its review in The New Yorker, and I just don't get the comparisons to Bridget Jones' Diary -- TGGTH&F is the antithesis of BJD (but I certainly enjoyed both books). The writing is very, very fine, but I agree with those who have suggested that TGGTH&F would have been an even better book if the two story-vignettes which are departures from the stories involving the main character, Jane Rosenal, had been omitted. And I thought that the author sustained the "Rules" satire (i.e., the last chapter) very skillfully -- I enjoyed it (and the book) very much.
Rating: 
Summary: BAD FLUFF
Review: The author cleverly uses the same character in all stories (although she's not the main character in every story) which I enjoyed; it felt more like a novel than the traditional collection of short stories. Despite the many appearances of Jane, however, she, as the main character, remains dull and flat. Some interesting pages of dialog and nice prose made me want to like this book but the boring characters made for boring stories. And, as a woman, the author should have been able to give the main character some life without making her seem so generic. Too fluffy for my taste.
Rating:
Summary: Really ZERO Stars...
Review: This book was just awful. A huge letdown. (I kept reading thinking, "It's gonna get better I just know it!" Boy, was I wrong.) It promised to be interesting, it wasn't. It promised to be (possibly) fun, it wasn't. It promised to be well written, it wasn't. It was a boring tale of a mushyheaded woman with no backbone or spunk or even just a smidgen of hairbrained loopyness; jane just seemed to go through the motions of being a "city girl". Or even better: the author put jane through a sort of "female checklist" with the ultimate goal of ending up with the "right" career-relationship-apartment. Have some twisted, messed up plain ol' bizarre sexual encounter -- check. Semi-live with boyfriend, but freakout about giving up apartment that is not yours anyway -- check. Recover from serious illness-- check. Have some "complicated" relationship with some older complicated man -- check. Quit/lose job -- check. The list goes on. All very dull, and poorly written to boot! It is like Mad Libs with no adjectives, lazy verbs, and mealymouthed nouns. At least the final chapter had some sense of humor and goodwill even if it did prove just how stupid the author thinks the readers are -- we all know jane is going to predictably... finally... wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee in the final pages. All in all the last chapter does not make up for the rest of the lousy, dreary, lame book. Also, could someone please tell me what that middle chapter/short story was doing in the book? An artsy-fartsy attempt at being Literature? Oh, please. Gag me. Thank goodness, I borrowed the book instead of plunking down hard earned money for this real waste of time. Don't believe the hype. Don't say I didn't warn you...
Rating: 
Summary: very superior stuff
Review: Dim girls will not like this book - it's so intelligent, so well written, and so upmarket, it's almost a shame it's being targeted at the Bridget Jones market, because it's much too good for that. This is literary fiction, very well written and with some wonderfully subtle jokes. I love the way the stories stand alone, but also interconnect. Nothing is over-done, it's all beautifully reigned in. It has the tautness of the best short-stories, as well as being as engrossing as a commercial best-seller. It manages to be both literary and popular at the same time - no mean feat. Highly, highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: NOT Helen Fielding/NOT Lorrie Moore -- Why's that a problem?
Review: I'm confused (and dismayed) by all of the (negative) comparisions to "Bridget Jones'Diary" and to "Self Help." Is no one else allowed to write a novel or story collection about being single, about being in love, and about not knowing exactly what it means to be in love?I found Banks'(and Jane's) voice not unlike the voices of Elinor Lipman's and Laurie Colwin's characters. They're smart, funny, interesting, young women who make mistakes and do the best they can as they navigate their 20s and 30s, surrounded by friends, lovers, and family. These are women who I'd want as my friends. I can't say that about Bridget Jones.
Rating:
Summary: Just Aweful
Review: What a let down! It was worth neither my time nor effort. I'm still shaking my head in disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: The epitome of a beach read (ignore the extraneous chapters)
Review: This is a perfect bubble bath book--funny and engaging if not as insightful as many would have you believe. The "Rules" parody is overdone and a bit childish, although the point is well taken. I'm sure the author had some higher point for the excess baggage (i.e. the Barney chapter and the biker boy/breast cancer chapter--which have nothing directly to do with the main story or character), but personally I think her editor should have reined her in. The "stories", while well done unto themselves, added nothing but bulk (ahhh...maybe that's it...I can almost hear the publisher saying, "we need it to be longer!") and I find it annoying when a book as lightweight as this makes me wonder if I missed something. I didn't...and since you've been forewarned, neither will you. Worth the money while it's on bestseller pricing.
Rating:
Summary: This book looks at "coming of age" with insight and humor
Review: I loved this book! Melissa Bank has written a book that every female can identify with, handling relationships and growing up with humor. Everybody should read this!
Rating: 
Summary: Add mine to all the voices saying "Huh?"
Review: Ahh, the benefits of a great publicist! Must have been that because this book certainly falls way far from the mark. The "Rules" chapter was fun - but other than that (which reads like a magazine article) the rest of the book was a bowl of stale microwave popcorn, a flat Diet Coke, and a rerun of Ally McBeal. Disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Much said about nothing.
Review: I sat down for a good summer read and felt nothing but pity for most of the characters. I still cannot figure out where the two chapters not written by jane came from and where they planned to go! I kept reading for a reappearance of the characters and a possible tie in. It never happened and made me go back to the beginning to see if I missed something.
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