This Is Not Chick Lit

July 31, 2006
"Chick lit as a genre," writes Merrick in her introduction, "presents one very narrow representation of women's lives." This anthology's 18 stories, on the other hand, present a frequently funny take on women's experiences ranging from the mundane to the riotously absurd. In the first story, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Thing Around Your Neck," a young Nigerian immigrant struggles to find her place in America. In Curtis Sittenfeld's "Volunteers Are Shining Stars," a mildly neurotic young volunteer, maddeningly pecked at by her colleagues, is driven to violence. One of the most memorable stories, Jennifer Egan's "Selling the General," puts a disgraced publicist to work for a genocidal dictator to pay for her daughter's private school tuition. Men get some representation too: Cristina Henríquez's "Gabriella My Heart" sees a gay man reflecting on a heterosexual high school crush, while the married biology professor in Binnie Kirshenbaum's "The Matthew Effect" pursues a student. Readers who've been Fendi'd and Choo'd to distraction would do well to pick this up.

August 15, 2006
If your library buys short story collections, this is one you will want to purchase. The artful title will hook readers, and the stories will reel them in. -Volunteers Are Shining Stars, - by Curtis Sittenfeld, author of the best-selling "Prep", follows the severe personality clash that occurs between two women's center volunteers. Judy Budnitz's -Joan, Jeanne, La Pucelle, Maid of Orleans - turns the spotlight of modern reality television on the historical person of Joan of Arc. In Jennifer Egan's -Selling the General, - a down-and-out PR consultant stages a nearly disastrous PR stunt between a B-movie star and a genocidal general. Chick-lit cliché s of the newly married New York status seeker who gives up her job and hires a cleaning woman are undermined by the protagonist's jealousy of her hired help in Caitlin Macy's -The Red Coat. - These stories are some of the collection's highlights, but every story is fresh and intriguing, and reading the stories as a whole will lead readers to discover new favorite authors." -Amy Ford, St. Mary's Cty. Lib., Lexington Park, MD "

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2006
This short story collection examines, in illuminating detail, issues and concerns facing women who won't find solace in a Prada bag. In no way is the editor trying to denounce chick lit. With these thought-provoking stories, she aims for mind expansion instead of mental escapism. In one story a woman experiences trepidation upon her wedding night, flees her husband, and becomes a protectoress of orphans. Another showcases the battles and execution of Joan of Arc through the lens of a reality-TV television crew, complete with makeover. A first date starts off with much promise until the two singletons admit lying to each other over the most banal facts. The most disturbing story " is" chick lit but with a perverted twist--a single, anxious woman volunteers at a shelter, observes other couples with both hunger and disdain, and develops a distorted view of a coworker when a child disappears. No less hopeful than typical chick lit but certainly more poignant and serious, this collection should spur spirited conversation among readers willing to discuss comparisons.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)