The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing

I can't believe this book has been sitting on shelves that I've passed, maybe even looked at, since 1999 and I didn't read it until 2020. It's beautiful.

This is a collection of stories. Mostly told from the point of view of Jane as she moves from adolescence to adulthood. I'd say it's some form of Bildungsroman and a love story you didn't know was a love story. It's not a romance, but there is love. It's not a comedy, but there is humor.

Writing like this makes me feel even less qualified to write a review. Like so many other reviews have stated, it's a shame this beautiful and full prose is classified as chick lit because a woman wrote it. I don't know what to say other than it made me think and feel so many things deep in my ribs. I even broke out the page marker stickers for quick access to my favorite quotes because this is definitely staying on my shelf to reread in a couple years when I forget the gorgeous language I loved so much. It felt like sinking into a worn leather couch in front of the fireplace on a chilly night.

Would I recommend?
If you're looking for a Bridget Jones Nicholas Sparks romance, pass. But if you love prose and feeling things you probably don't want to feel, a million times yes.

It is supposed to be the precursor of all the chick lit titles in the whole wide world. Ambitious, isn't it? And even if it's a good story of a girl growing up, finding and losing partners and lovers, family and the meaning of her own life, and the ending is cute and sweet, the fact is that I felt robbed of the lightness and fun chick lit is meant to give me. So there.