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Sunday, April 5, 2009

Review: The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing

Author: Melissa Bank


Hailed by critics as the debut of a major literary voice, The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing has captivated readers and dominated bestseller lists. Generous-hearted and wickedly insightful, it maps the progress of Jane Rosenal as she sets out on a personal and spirited expedition through the perilous terrain of sex, love, relationships, and the treacherous waters of the workplace. With an unforgettable comic touch, Bank skillfully teases out universal issues, puts a clever, new spin on the mating dance, and captures in perfect pitch what it's like to be a young woman coming of age in America today.


My Thoughts:

I had no idea this book was a collection of short stories. Which is fine, but I would have liked to have known that going in. I have a different mind set when reading short stories or novellas than I do a full length book.

The stories themselves were alright. Two of the stories didn't fit with the others, because they did not feature Rosenal. Both of these stories were very good, and one of them left me wanting more. The stories featuring Rosenal were okay. The stories revolved around the men in her life and her relationships with them: father, brother, and two boyfriends.

The last story kind of tidied everything up, and left a happy ending. A little too tidy and perfect if you ask me. The last story is titled the same as the book, "Girls' Guide..." This title is actually the title to a book Rosenal buys and follows, for a while, in order to find a man. This story did not seem to go with the rest of the book, and actually felt cliche.

The stories were a bit too choppy for me. Short, sweet, to the point. Rosenal was funny and sarcastic sometimes, but I am still not sure what I was supposed to get out of this book.
My book club was not sure either.

My Rating: 3/5

I think Bank does have promise but that her writing is just not my thing.
Challenges: My Friend Amy's Book Challenge 2009

5 comments:

Amy said...

I really didn't like this book. I think I liked parts of it, but not all.

There is a movie, though, with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alec Baldwin that I watched out of the need to see everything with Buffy ;)

It was actually not bad, though it went straight to DVD.

Unknown said...

Interesting! I had been toying with reading this book, but I think I won't based off your not-so-sure review :D At least, I'll hold off until I'm really in the mood

Anonymous said...

I'm not a huge fan of short stories, but they are good for audio books in the car :)

The Bookworm said...

I felt the same way! I had no idea this was a collection of short stories either. I didnt enjoy this one too much at all. They made a film version, it was ok.
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

Toni said...

hummm.. I liked the book... I don't think it is a good book club book.. and not a deep read.... but when I read the book it was what I needed at the time and I enjoyed the shortness and maybe since I wasn't fully engaged in it.. at the time it was a buffer. Thanks for the review...something tells me if I re-read it... I would feel the same way.

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