Take a photo of a barcode or cover
kjboldon 's review for:
The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing
by Melissa Bank
Reread 2022 after her death of breast cancer. This book was a revelation to me when I read it when it was published. But I didn't reread it, and it sat on my shelf till I was reminded of it by Bank's too early death at 61.
Smart, funny, sad, and true, like one of the characters says they want their art to be. That this book gets dismissed by the insulting and reductive label chick lit says more about readers than it does about this book. A coming-of-age novel in stories, it follows Jane from 14 to her 30s, through various jobs and boyfriends. It's written in brief, devour- able segments that kept me turning the pages. Along the way, she has the good fortune to be supported by a fascinating crew of women: her brother's girlfriend, a handful of good true friends, her mom, an enigmatic boss, and in the last, titular story by 2 imaginary women authors of a The Rules-sorta book. These latter two are not to be trusted, just as Jane isn't always. What she says and does often disagree, and there are times when she makes frustrating choices. The guys in this book aren't so reliable, and they disappear and reappear throughout. Ultimately, Jane (and we) figure out that no one is simple and reductive and that being our own goofy selves, unguardedly, is the only way to connect.
Don't read this looking for romance or to feel good, though there are moments of that. There's a lot of dark shit and bad choices too. But read it to be reminded of how good it is to get older and figure stuff out on your own, and to embrace the bad choices of a younger self, the ones that made you as wise as you are. If you liked Jenny Offill's Dept of Speculation, this has a similar vibe.
Smart, funny, sad, and true, like one of the characters says they want their art to be. That this book gets dismissed by the insulting and reductive label chick lit says more about readers than it does about this book. A coming-of-age novel in stories, it follows Jane from 14 to her 30s, through various jobs and boyfriends. It's written in brief, devour- able segments that kept me turning the pages. Along the way, she has the good fortune to be supported by a fascinating crew of women: her brother's girlfriend, a handful of good true friends, her mom, an enigmatic boss, and in the last, titular story by 2 imaginary women authors of a The Rules-sorta book. These latter two are not to be trusted, just as Jane isn't always. What she says and does often disagree, and there are times when she makes frustrating choices. The guys in this book aren't so reliable, and they disappear and reappear throughout. Ultimately, Jane (and we) figure out that no one is simple and reductive and that being our own goofy selves, unguardedly, is the only way to connect.
Don't read this looking for romance or to feel good, though there are moments of that. There's a lot of dark shit and bad choices too. But read it to be reminded of how good it is to get older and figure stuff out on your own, and to embrace the bad choices of a younger self, the ones that made you as wise as you are. If you liked Jenny Offill's Dept of Speculation, this has a similar vibe.