This Is Not Chick Lit: Original Stories by America's Best Women Writers

by Elizabeth Merrick

book data

287 ratings, 3.49 average rating, 83 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		13%
4		39%
3		33%
2		10%
1		3%

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published

August 1st 2006 by Random House Trade Paperbacks

binding

Paperback, 336 pages

isbn

0812975677 (isbn13: 9780812975673)

description

New short stories from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie • Aimee Bender • Judy Budnitz • Jennifer S. Davis • Jennifer Egan • Carolyn Ferrell • Mary Gordon • ...more

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08/27/07

Summer rated it:

bookshelves: 2007, short-stories

Admittedly, I picked this up because of my hatred for the titular subgenre - a horrible plot structure wherin skinny, whiny WASPs spend more on shoes than the GDP of several developing countries (what the hell is a strappy Manolo?). And it's especially disheartening to see huge, pink displays of the stuff in bookstores, especially when women authors are turning out the same volume of work as male authors, but getting overwhelmingly overlooked in criticism and awards (See Ursula K. LeGuin's excel...more

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03/05/09

Melissa rated it:

Picked this one up at the library's used book sale and flew through it. I found the title somewhat misleading, as the collection of short stories touts itself as not being anything like what is considered "chick lit," yet most of the stories dealt with love and relationships.

Still, these stories wove a tapestry of fascinating female characters - perplexing, complicated, and not one that could be mistaken as "America's Sweetheart." The story Two Days by Aimee Bend...more

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12/31/08

Nic rated it:

Read in March, 2009

My friend Don made me a present of this book a few years ago, but recently picked it up again. The stories are just excellent. Particularly "Selling the General." Very vivid and suspenseful with strong characterization. "Gabe" is one I often use in class that gets a very strong reaction. It has a strong voice, humor, pathos and two unforgettable characters. Like all collections, not every story hits one out of the park, but this group is solid. And I love the cover!

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03/23/09

Carrie rated it:

Read in April, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I had to return it to the library without reading every single story, but I think I'll check it out again and finish them soon.

My favorite was "Volunteers Are Our Shining Stars" by Curtis Sittenfeld, about a woman who lives in DC and volunteers at a homeless shelter. Usually, I get pissed off by DC writers because they all seem to have a privileged, blind-to-the-world viewpoint... or maybe I'm just saying that because I'm thinking of Laura Zigman again.

Anyway, ...more I had to return it to the library without reading every single story, but I think I'll check it out again and finish them soon.

My favorite was "Volunteers Are Our Shining Stars" by Curtis Sittenfeld, about a woman who lives in DC and volunteers at a homeless shelter. Usually, I get pissed off by DC writers because they all seem to have a privileged, blind-to-the-world viewpoint... or maybe I'm just saying that because I'm thinking of Laura Zigman again.

Anyway, the main character in Sittenfeld's story volunteers at a place that must be the N Street Village shelter, which I have visited, and although she lives in a nice part of town, she doesn't condescend to the homeless or bend over backwards to hold them up as pillars of goodness, either. Instead, she speaks plainly about how the kids are cute, but will turn on you or get bored easily. The mothers inspire equal parts fear and admiration in her. After all, they somehow manage to have sex appeal even if they are dirt poor and have kids in tow. The story isn't so much about the main character's relationship with the shelter residents, though. When a new volunteer arrives, she rubs the narrator the wrong way with her over-the-top perkiness and less-than-fresh-looking skin and tendency to touch people. But when the narrator overreacts and assaults her, she becomes the one who makes everyone else uneasy. I loved this story because it was such a realistic look at one woman's assessments of the people around her; how little unoffensive things can really turn you off someone. I think I would also dislike that new volunteer and want to choke her.

Another story I really enjoyed was the "72 Ounce Steak Challenge" by Dika Lam, in which two Chinese-Canadian sisters go on a trip together and one's pain is amplified by the joy of the other. On the surface, the older sister is the successful one--She's married to a rich man and has a blossoming career of her own. Her younger sister is still finding herself and has just dropped out of medical school because she just doesn't want to do it anymore. What the older sister hasn't told the rest of the family yet is that she's about to get a divorce. It doesn't help that her younger sister, instead of needing any guidance, takes on a steak-eating challenge during the trip and launches her own stardom as a professional eater. The older sister has to sit there and wait as her sister finishes the ginormous meal and wait some more for her to soak up the attention of all the impressed onlookers.(less)

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11/19/08

Brittanie rated it:

Read in December, 2008

I love to read short story collections — they're easily digestible little nuggets and the short story may be my favorite form of fiction.

But I'm used to reading collections by a single author, an author I've already established that I like. This is the first anthology I've read, and herein lies the problem — some of the stories were really, really good. Several made my throat close up and my eyes water. But there were several that just felt corny, gimmicky or forced. I can't real...more

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03/01/09

Djrmel rated it:

bookshelves: fiction, short-stories

Read in November, 2006

Ignore the defensive first half of the title (which really makes no sense at all, when the collection's introduction is titled "Why Chick Lit Matters") and focus on the the subtitle, because that's what this anthology is - well written fiction by some very talented people, who are female. There's a broad range of stories and styles: some coming close to the genre the title says it is not, some so far away that there's barely a female in the story, let alone a relationship issue, and i...more

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06/25/09

Meera rated it:

I picked this up because I was intrigued by the title, and I will admit, because I was partially trying to balance out the Shopaholic books I had just read-- but I was really happy I did, because I loved it! Not all of the short stories were my favorites, but the ones I liked, I absolutely loved. I would imagine this would be a great collection to share with a friend to have someone to discuss with, the nice thing is the collection is a good balance of humor and more serious topics (sometimes ...more

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10/21/08

ambimb rated it:

Read in November, 2008

recommended to ambimb by: Laura

A good if not great collection. Contains a good variety of short stories, from the historical fantasy of "Documents of Passion Love" by Carolyn Ferrell to the offbeat but slightly disturbing "Selling the General" by Jennifer Egan, no two stories are the same. My favorite was "Volunteers are Shining Stars" by Curtis Sittenfeld, whose narrator at first seems a smart, kind, self-aware volunteer at a shelter for battered women and their children, but who ends up being a...more

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08/24/08

Courtney rated it:

Read in August, 2008

The premise of this book - that chick lit is inferior and limiting and needs to be rebelled against - ticked me off so much that I had a hard time getting over the title and actually reading the stories. Genre fiction can be fun, reading is good, literary snobbishness annoys me.

When I finally got over my aversion to the cover, however, I found a strong collection of short stories inside. Most of the literary short stories I come across these days are boring tales of middle-aged peopl...more

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02/01/08

Missy rated it:

Read in February, 2008

I should have known when I saw "Elle" quoted on the cover that this book would be deeply disappointing. A great premise, certainly: a collection of stories by women that do not fit into the "girl in a big city finds Mr. Right" formula of chick lit, it tries to paint a truer, more complex portrait.

Unfortunately, most of the stories do not live up to the promise. In most, the characters are thinly drawn (my biggest pet peeve), and many of the stories were pretentio...more

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01/30/08

Lindsay rated it:

bookshelves: shortstories, theamys

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Lindsay by: NPR
recommends it for: fans of strong female writers, non-chick-lit seekers

This was a fun collection of short stories to read...it certainly is not "chick lit." It turned me on to a slew of new (to me) authors I can't wait check out. I thought the approaches of Carolyn Ferrell and Judy Budnitz were particularly creative, got me excited about starting up my first Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie book, and of course I'm eternally devoted to Aimee Bender--although the story selected for this book is not as fanciful as those in her other collections. My favorite is po...more

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08/18/07

Kerri rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction, short-stories

Read in November, 2008

This is probably one of those few titles where someone on the train doesn't have to ask me what the book is not about. Although I did get the few "so, what is it?" Elizabeth Merrick has compiled a fantastic collection of short stories by contemporary women writers. There was only one that I skipped over, one that was boring, and I was dissapointed by Mary Gordon's "The Epiphany Branch," which is indeed about NYPL's Epiphany Branch. It just started to sound like Mary Gordo...more

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08/16/07

Christina rated it:

bookshelves: to-read--am-reading--have-read

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: EVERYONE! :)

"Chick lit's formula numbs our senses. Literature, by contrast, grants us access to countless cultures, places, and inner lives...Chick lit shuts down our consciousness. Literature expands our imaginations." (Taken from the Intro)

By the same token, the editor of this book also states, "We all need occasional cotton-candy entertainment to transport us from our increasingly overworked and overstimulated lives...The problem is, rather, that the chick lit deluge has hel...more "Chick lit's formula numbs our senses. Literature, by contrast, grants us access to countless cultures, places, and inner lives...Chick lit shuts down our consciousness. Literature expands our imaginations." (Taken from the Intro)

By the same token, the editor of this book also states, "We all need occasional cotton-candy entertainment to transport us from our increasingly overworked and overstimulated lives...The problem is, rather, that the chick lit deluge has helped to obscure the literary fiction being written by some of our country's most gifted women..."

Mid-90s, I'll admit: I read chick lit. In late elem/middle school, I discovered the wonders of the likes of the bodice rippers of Danielle Steel & Victoria Holt/Phillipa Carr/Jean Plaidy (take your pick, 'tis the same person by the name of Eleanor AB Hibbert!) -- though I never got into the Harlequins -- and following that, with the explosion of Ms Bridget, I got into chick lit...and after a few formulaic reads (although, I'll confess: Marian Keyes would have to be one of my favorites, if I read more of it...), I got very bored of the genre. Very. And I realized exactly what the editor stated: I was losing out on so many excellent authors out there who were writing actual literature that made me *think* that I very easily gave up on chick lit...sure, I still love me some tmz.com & my TVyNovelas, but I haven't bought a chick lit book since & I don't miss it. I don't want anyone who loves chick lit to feel like I'm bashing her, either: go forth & enjoy...at least you're actually reading!!! (I have a real loathing for adults who don't take the time to read anything at all...!) So when I saw this book in Tahr-zhay, I simply had to buy it (the cover is fantastic!)...and to say the least, I haven't even read it yet...I'm looking forward to it, though, because I do recognize two authors in it: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (who wrote The Purple Hibiscus & she shares my birthday though one year younger!) & Cristina Henríquez (Come Together, Fall Apart...I read a lot of Hispanic lit...).

Enjoy! :)

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07/11/07

snackywombat (v.m.) rated it:

Read in July, 2007

recommends it for: All the ladies

This is a wonderful intro to a whole range of emerging female writers, so if you are like me and you search out new writers before committing to a whole novel, then this is a great anthology to use. Some stand-out stories are: "The Thing Around Your Neck" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, whose Half a Yellow Sun I'm putting on m TBR list; Holiday Rheinhold's curiously callous tale, "Gabe"; the amusing family drama "The 72-ounce Steak Challenge" by Dika Lam; and Roxana R...more

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05/28/07

Holly rated it:

bookshelves: 2007, bookclub

Read in January, 2007

I chose This Is Not Chick Lit for book club because we don't usually pick anthologies, and I wanted us to read some contemporary women authors. I was also curious to see if the whole "chick lit" thing would provoke discussion. Indeed, a lively discussion was had. Most of us felt that although chick lit may not be high literature, it has its place and shouldn't be relegated to the Harlequin romance section, and that chick lit, as a genre, offers more than its stereotype. We also discuss...more

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07/17/07

Liz rated it:

Read in June, 2007

My sister picked this book up at the library based solely on the cover and I thought it would be a great bus book. I generally don't gravitate towards short stories, so I don't have much to compare the stories to in terms of quality. I have to stick with the 'liked it/didn't like it' level of assessment.

That being said, I really liked this collection of stories; there were diverse characters and situations. I liked that some of the main characters were not sympathetic, yet I still w...more

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03/26/08

Kate rated it:

bookshelves: i-really-need-to-read-more-fiction-

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Kate by: Lindsay Beckmann, of course...
recommends it for: women who don't wear makeup every day :)

You need to read this book. Particularly if you're a woman who reads Bust, or Venus, or has a feminist bone in her body. Not because this is a "feminist" book in the traditional sense, but because every story in it bucks the "chick-lit" tradition of high-heel wearing, Manhattan socialites (Yes, I do love Sex in the City and Lipstick Jungle, but they belong on TV, not in a book, so you can look at the cute boys and envy the outfits.) Lindsay recommended this book to me, and I ...more

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01/01/09

Casey rated it:

Read in January, 2007

This is where I discovered Cristina Henriquez, in a story called "Gabriella, My Heart." Henriquez is fantastic, as is her story collection Come Together, Fall Apart.

Other standouts (not as great as Henriquez, but good): Curtis Sittenfeld ("Volunteers are Shining Stars"), Jennifer Egan ("Selling the General"), and Caitlin Macy ("The Red Coat").

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05/12/09

Christy Stewart rated it:

bookshelves: anthology, books-i-own, general-fiction, minimalist

Read in May, 2009

I picked this book up because of the title. I hate Chick Lit so that was a good advertisment for me (also I'm drawn to books that are black or pink...More so books that are black AND pink) I'm glad I bought it because I haven't had a lot of love for female general fiction writers. I suppose I have some sexist opinions of them but I had just never found a female writer that would go to any extremes as say, Joey Comeau or Carlton Mellick III would. Needless to say, this has proved me wrong.

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06/05/08

Kristen Waltman rated it:

I got this book when I realized that all I had been reading was chick-lit...I mean, I would buy books and then a few chapters into it, realize that it was the same exact plot/storyline as the last book I bought (ie. They're Not Your Friends, The First Assistant, etc.) classic tales of girl moves to big city for a flashy job, meets cute intimating bad-boy, also meets cute NICE guy, and I guess you can figure it out from there...haha!
Anyhow, THIS book is an awesome collection of short storie...more

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