This is Not Chick Lit

(from bn.com) "Chick lit: A genre of fiction that often recycles the following plot: Girl in big city desperately searches for Mr. Right in between dieting and shopping for shoes. Girl gets dumped (sometimes repeatedly). Girl finds Prince Charming. This Is Not Chick Lit is a celebration of America’s most dynamic literary voices, as well as a much needed reminder that, for every stock protagonist with a designer handbag and three boyfriends, there is a woman writer pushing the envelope of literary fiction with imagination, humor, and depth. The original short stories in this collection touch on some of the same themes as chick lit–the search for love and identity–but they do so with extraordinary power, creativity, and range; they are also political, provocative, and, at turns, utterly surprising. Featuring marquee names as well as burgeoning talents, This Is Not Chick Lit will nourish your heart, and your mind. "

Let me say, the introduction to the book is fabulous. It really gives some insight into what chick lit is, its flaws, and its good features.

Yes, the short stories in this book touch on some of the same themes chick lit does, but not really. I'm not a big short story fan. I've only read two I've actually liked. But, I thought most of the stories in the book were nothing to write home about.

For a book that attempts to bash chick lit, I thought it was a bit hypocritical. It portrays chick lit to have no substance. Most of the stories do not. The stories were supposed to be a substitution for chick lit, but were written in such a way that my AP English teacher would have loved to use in school: boring, plotless, and written with a "I'm smarter than you" attitude.

I'd rather have chick lit any day.

Grade: D

Coming up: The book that was published in response to This is Not Chick Lit, This is Chick Lit!