Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant satire
Review: I didn't know whether to expect a 'chick' read or the satire that the back of the book seemed to indicate but there a good helping of both...there are some really sharp observations from this recent-college-grad genius who is trying to figure out how to fit in with the real world and still maintain her beliefs. On one hand, there are modern allusions to everyday pop culture, and on the other, you will come across a literary quote or even Monty Python thrown in. I was impressed with the quality writing without it being overwrought or stuffy...it was a breezily-moving, fun story that seemed a step above. One great line I remember is (this might not be exact) is: "There's nothing like watching people get caught in the thick, coarse gossamer of their own hypocrisy." The dialogue is fun, and there are doses of romance AND suspense. It will probably come up in a few of my discussions this summer. If you remember what it was like to be young and think you knew everything you should get something out of this.
Rating:
Summary: Much more than genre writing
Review: Carrie Pilby is not just your ordinary generation X woman. In some ways, she symbolizes the modern concept of "the modern man (woman)" in a struggle even she cannot quite take too seriously.
This book is full of common wisdom. It's humor asks questions most of us ask inside our heads, but never articulate, probing the values and the underlying truths we have been fed through media and our educational system.
Caren Lissner, the author, has created a character who defines a generation of doubt, of people raised after Watergate and the Vietnam War, which needs no Abbie Hoffman or Bob Dylan to instruct them in questioning authority, Carrie Pilby never ceases that pursuit and perpetually questions even her own motivations and attractions.
This book is a non-stop monologue of the contemporary mind, one thick with allusions and puns that might make James Joyce cringe, although the deeper struggle contained in this book deals with the concept of communication when people largely have nothing to say to each other, and that never ending search for a person who will have elements needed to make you feel complete.
It is a mistake to believe this is a young adult novel. Its themes are too central to contemporary culture and its wit too powerful for most young minds to take in without significant experience in the world Carrie Pilby seeks to avoid.
The puns and the punch lines, literary allusions and literary attacks are pure Oscar Wilde, although Lissner would not likely see it that way, each line thick with remarkable humor that reflects the human condition and most often human foibles.
Few novels I have read recently come near to creating the constant stream of social observations this book does, taking pot shots at all those things that seemed so sacred to my generation, from high literature to psychoanalysts.
Although remarkable fun, the human is generated out of the ironic condition of social convention, and often possessed a bite that leaves wounds as well as laughs.
Pain lurks behind every joke, and each joke is joined by more serious questions about how modern people come to meet social expectations -- or perhaps fail to.
This book deals with the great themes of modern and contemporary literature, the struggle against isolation in an age when family and social structure seem have let us down.
This is no stuffy diatribe -- although it is a diatribe of wit, and its hero tilts windmills of our modern minds dealing with the post industrial disillusionment with rich humor and observation.
This book has a permanent place on my book shelf.
Rating:
Summary: Best "Carrie" book since the telekinetic girl!!
Review: This was a fun, fantastic read. Ms. Lissner ... has a great, sympathetic feel for her characters and a wonderful flair for language. Read this book twice and then buy a copy for a friend.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent first book by the author
Review: Laden with comic wit and the pop-culture references that are standard of any New York-centric novel in this day and age, Carrie Pilby is the story of a nineteen-year-old genius who tries to come to terms with the hypocrisy and contradiction that is required of a civilized society. The novel begins with her explanation (or rather non-explanation) of a video purchase to a neighborhood clerk, and continues with Carrie's travels as she tries to execute a 5-point plan given to her by her therapist in an attempt to better understand the society that she is a part of. Mistakenly labeled as a romance novel, it crosses genres as it goes from comedy to drama to tragedy (and yes, there is some romance, but not as a focal point of the novel). Profanity is lightly used and several sexual situations are implied (but not outright described, so get your mind out of the gutter). This novel is the author Caren Lissner's first, and majestically displays her irregular wit. Shakespearean quotes and historical linguistic explanations go side-by-side with quotes from Monty Python, commercial catch-phrases, and use of the word "ebullient" (used twice in the novel at this writer's count). Her vivid explanations of the landscape and culture of New York serve to enhance Carrie's experiences and makes anybody wonder exactly how the author was able to research all the random trivia that is referenced. No doubt it involved many walks around town and a constant Internet connection (for research purposes, of course). In the span of just over 300 pages, the novel Carrie Pilby manages to penetrate the subconscious, latch onto the soul, and make any reader feel ebullient in the end.
Rating: 
Summary: A re-freshing piece of literature
Review: Carrie Pilby is one of the most unique characters you will follow. The whole book is laugh out loud funny! Watching how much she over analyzes everything and trys to decide what she does like will have you in hysterics!
Rating:
Summary: Great Fun
Review: A bit heavier than the normal Chick Lit this book is life through the eyes of Carrie Pilby. She is a genius trying to cope with everyday life in a world of people who aren't quite as intelligent as she. She speaks with a psychologist regularly because he father pays for it and wants her to go. She hasn't had an average life to say the least, she skipped several grades early on in her life and was always told that once she got to college she would meet more people like her (which she didn't and comes to resent her father telling her it would be so).
Filled with sarcasm this books clever little one liners and Carrie's over analyzation of EVERYTHING will have you laughing the whole way through. I suggest you follow Carrie Pilby as she tries to be normal in a world where normal is not eaisly defined.
The littlest things that are analyzed in this book will really get you thinking. I loved this book I hope you will too.
Rating:
Summary: Finished in two car rides...
Review: I read this book all the way from So Cal to San Francisco and back.
Sarcastic with a biting sense of humor, Carrie Pilby is the perfect anti-heroine. The book takes on an interesting character study. She goes from one spectrum to the other: not needing anyone to realizing that being social is not half bad.
Carrie's psychologist gives her a list of things to accomplish:
1) List 10 things you love
2) Join an organization/club
3) Go on a date
4) Tell someone you care
5) Celebrate New Years
To almost everyone, these tasks might seem fairly simple to finish. On the other hand, if you are a 19 year old prodigy who has skipped grades in school and doesn't quite seem to connect to many people, these items may seem taxing.
She places an ad in the paper, looking for a "date," and, at the same time, gets involved with a man who is "looking to have fun," though he has a fiance who doesn't know about it.
The more you read, you wonder if Carrie will be alone for the rest of her life. Or, will she let others in? She goes through a growth process, and by the end of the book, you may not recogize her.
There were chuckling out loud parts to where I had to read passages to my driving companion. Her dry sense of humor kept me going. The end could have been a little less of a neatly tied bow, but I'll forgive her because it kept me entertained the whole ride through.
Rating:
Summary: awesome
Review: this book was great. i totally identified with carrie. a must read for loner depressed people.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional! I couldn't put it down
Review: I read this book a long time ago and just realized I didn't write a review on it! Absolutely charming book. Carrie Pilby will draw you in to her world and you'll want to stick with her til the end. I found so many similarities between Carrie and myself, both good and questionable. It made me reevaulate some of my own social skills but overall I loved this book. I can't wait to read what else Caren has up her sleeve!
Rating: 
Summary: a little disapointed
Review: I have to admit I don't know anything about "chick lit", but I bought this book after reading the author's web page for years and wanting to see the final result of her work. Carrie Pilby turned out to be a good story built on a premise of this 19-year-old woman living a life alone in New York, a city of millions - that sounds impossible, but it happens more than you'd think in this fast-paced world. There's a lot of sarcastic or ironic humor among the descriptive view of Carrie's life and how she observes those around her from the unique perspective of someone who graduated college early and spent most of her life away from the mainstream. What I liked most of all about the book was the plot, and how her psychiatrist had her put together a set of goals that eventually pull us through the book, setting up the different threads within. That made it a real page-turner for me. Like I said, I don't know much about chick lit and I don't know if this book is indicative of others in the genre, but I suspect that it's ahead of the pack and I personally found it a good read and worth checking out.
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