The Girls' Guide to Hunting And Fishing - Hardcover

Bank, Melissa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 067088300X ISBN 13: 9780670883004

Publisher: Viking, 1999

Synopsis

When her older brother brings his first serious girlfriend home, fourteen-year-old Jane becomes a sometimes invisible but unblinking observer, struggling to understand what goes on between lovers, and how relationships work - and fail to work. Then,in adulthood, Jane has her own push-and-pull relationships: the disastrous trip which teaches her about fidelity; the older man with his exacting demands; and the younger guy who always calls her honey but never uses her real name. In the book's hilarious climax, Jane finally learns that in love there is neither pattern nor promise and there are never rules.

About this title

Review

Every once in a while a novel sinks into your consciousness that bit deeper than the others. Weeks and years later, apart from recounting the plot, you're left with a feeling, a sense of its soul. It may yet be too early to tell if the The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing will be memorable, but it's soon enough to tell that it defines an epoch. Melissa Bank has written a definitive account of the journey into adulthood, a female perspective on mating and dating. Any woman born this half of the 20th century, who's enjoyed (endured?) more than one relationship with the other side will warm to this funny, frank and sensitive novel. Jane Rosenal's entrée to the world of significant relationships begins with her older brother's older woman. The bewildered teenager's naive understanding and disbelief as the relationship disintegrates before her eyes should have served as a mighty warning on the perils of the mating game. But, hey, what's a little knowledge without bitter experience? As Jane grows into, and out of, a career in publishing, so she melts into, and out of, a series of pointless affairs. Throw in a few life- shattering personal experiences along the way, a near- disastrous encounter with a self-help manual, How to Meet and Marry Mr Right, and finally, Jane learns the secret that has eluded her for so long. Elegantly written and searingly honest, Melissa Bank's debut novel is one to recommend to all your girlfriends--single or not. -- Carey Green

Review

"Charming and funny."
--The New York Times

"As hilarious as Girls' Guide is, there's a wise, serious core here."
--The Wall Street Journal
"A sexy, pour-your-heart-out, champagne tingle of a read--thoughtful, wise, and tell-all honest. Bank's is a voice that you'll remember for years to come."
--Cosmopolitan
"Believe the hype: Jane's touching (but unsentimental) career and love trials ring true."
--Glamour
"Bank writes like John Cheever, but funnier."
--Los Angeles Times
"Melissa Bank accomplishes that hardest of simple things: She shows life as it is--and makes it readable."
--The Washington Post Book World
"Writing literature that mixes comedy and tragedy in the proper amounts is not an easy task. Only a handful of contemporary writers (Joseph Heller, Ann Tyler, and John Irving come to mind) can do it with any success. Whether dealing with serious issues or mundane, Bank proves that she has what it takes to stand in such august company."
--The Denver Post
"Crafted by a gifted writer, a descendant from the school of restraint whose grandfather is Hemingway and whose father is the early Raymond Carver. The presiding mother figure is Lily Tomlin."
--The News and Observer
"Only a few authors have successfully blended the compressed nature of short prose with the novel's greater panorama of character. Melissa Bank brings similar energy and style to her new book."
--Chicago Tribune
"I read the first chapter and thought, 'Wait, I know this girl.' By the second, I realized she was my friend. She did all the things that good friends do: she made me laugh, she made me weep, and when I closed the book at the end of the day, I knew I'd never forget her."
--Ruth Ozeki, New York Times bestselling author of A Tale for the Time Being and My Year of Meats
"Courageous and wise, as heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud funny as only the most deeply true fiction can be. Melissa Bank writes with a fine eye, a clean voice, and a generous heart."
--Pam Houston, bestselling author of Sight Hound and Cowboys are My Weakness
"A compassionate comedy of manners, pitch-perfect . . . Bank's people are fully realized and, just like us, fond, foolish, blind, and wise by turns and in ways both tenderly familiar and refreshingly odd."
--Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of Away and Lucky Us

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 067088300X
• ISBN 13: 9780670883004
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288