Tag Archives: chick lit

In Defense Of Chick Lit

Jamie BeckmanApril 19, 2011 //

Jennifer Egan is one of my favorite authors of all time. I devour her books, care about her characters, and recommend her novels to anyone looking for a good, meaty read. I was thrilled that her latest, A Visit from the Goon Squad, a novel about the ravages of time on characters working in the music industry (to distill it way, way down) got so much attention from publications like The New York Times Book Review this past year. And when a buddy of mine sent me a link via IM to a Wall Street Journal story yesterday about Egan winning the Pulitzer Prize for the book, I was so happy for her — and for women writers everywhere. But then I scrolled down to the end of the story. Keep reading »

Writer Tawni O’Dell Comes Out Swinging Against Sexist Publishing Industry

Jessica WakemanNovember 22, 2010 //

A few months ago the author Jonathan Franzen published his novel, Freedom, and among bookworms, it was like a new “Star Wars” movie being released or Angelina Jolie popping out another baby. Not only did President Obama make headlines for snagging an advanced copy to read on vacation, but Franzen made the prestigious New York Times book review not once, but twice, in a single week. That was all too much for author Jodi Picoult. “Is anyone shocked?” she tweeted, no doubt rolling her eyes. “Would love to see the Times write about authors who aren’t white male literary darlings.” Everyone weighed in with their opinion — sexism? sour grapes? — including here on The Frisky. The matter was settled, at least for moi, when the blog Slate.com did an old-fashioned author byline count of The New York Times Book Review. That publication does, in fact, review more books written by men than women.

For us lady writers at The Frisky, it was all pretty disheartening. (Kate may be the only one who has published a book thus far, but there are several of us on staff who go home and peck on our laptops some more.) Now there’s more “ugh”-ness to “ugh!” deep in our bellies: Author Tawni O’Dell penned an essay for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about her experiences navigating the publishing industry and book-reviewing culture as a female writer and they’re utterly fascinating.

I just have four words for you: “wood nymph” and “biker chick.” Keep reading »

Girl Talk: How I “Sold Out” And Joined The Chickliterati

Susan ShapiroAugust 30, 2010 //

In the new Atlantic, a male author lampoons Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner, “Two writers whose work is often referred to as chick lit,” for tweeting and commenting that white male literary darlings (like Jonathan Franzen) get all the good ink. Yet the only thing less fun than not being taken seriously by the big boys is not being taken anywhere at all. I know since I tried to sell out for decades when nobody was buying. Keep reading »

Book Critic Says Pink Covers “Candy Coat” Books For Women And Girls

Jessica WakemanJuly 28, 2010 //

I have a favorite independent bookstore near my office. There are tables full of new fiction and non-fiction, shelves filled with New York Times bestsellers, and one particular bookshelf full of pastel pink and purple books. These pink and purple books, of course, are in the “chick lit” section. Even without searching for titles like Confessions of a Shopaholic, you can tell from the rose- and lavender-colored hues that this bookshelf is where you will find the fluffier books which are primarily written for women, by women.

But one book critic has had enough of this “flouncy frivolity.” Imogen Russell Williams from the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper finds it “almost impossible” to pick up a pink, “candy coated” book. Particularly when the book in question is being marketed to teen girls, Williams writes, “This kind of packaging often does a disservice to thought-provoking content, because knee-jerk anti-pinkers like me assume whatever’s inside must match the cover for ersatz, grinning emptiness.” Keep reading »

Will Chick Lit Survive The Recession?

Catherine StrawnAugust 13, 2009 //

Chick lit just got a whole lot less expensive. No, the price of the sometimes throwaway-quality books hasn’t gone down, but many recently published and upcoming books in this genre take the recession into account. Storylines in recession chick-lit books include dealing with a husband being investigated for embezzlement, scrimping on extravagant expenses after going through a divorce, and wearing less expensive clothes. Dang! Is nothing sacred? Keep reading »

Chick Lit, Summed Up In 140-Character Tweets

Jessica WakemanJune 23, 2009 //

Earlier this week, two 19-year-old college freshmen received a book deal for an idea you could have thought of: Twitterature: The World’s Greatest Books, Now Presented in Twenty Tweets or Less.

(Forget for a moment that we aren’t sure how we feel about the phrase “chick lit.”) Keep reading »

Quickies!: Lady Bunny’s PETA Billboard, Summer Reading, & Boozing

Annika HarrisJuly 22, 2008 //
  • Drag queen Lady Bunny unveiled a huge anti-KFC PETA billboard in NYC’s Soho neighborhood, in which she is holding one of the Colonel’s famous buckets with a dead chicken hanging out of it. So hungry. [Popbytes]
  • A French study has found that loud music encourages young men to drink more and at a faster rate. WHAT?! [Asylum]
  • Finding a mate is easy for men, but women tend to have a list of unachievable characteristics. I’m sorry, but what about “Brad Pitt twin” is so difficult? [College Candy]
  • Summer reading can be extremely relaxing on a sunny day. Here are some great chick lit reads to add to the lists we posted last month. [College Candy]
  • Alcohol consumption among young people under 21 is the leading drug problem in the U.S., yet parents seem to be in denial. [Shine.yahoo]

    • Keep reading »

    Thursday Quickies!

    The FriskyJune 12, 2008 //
  • Chick lit trend: heroines without heads! [Bookslut]
  • The eight places you probably lost your virginity: his and her perspectives. [Holy Taco]
  • ZOMG, Anya Hindmarch and Sigerson Morrison for Target! [The Budget Fashionista]
  • Gold diggers are ubiquitous. [The Guardian, U.K.]
  • There’s a new washing machine that only uses one cup of water per load. [AHN]

    • Keep reading »

    Real Chick Lit: Confessions Of A Female Cabbie

    Lucile ScottApril 10, 2008 //

    Melissa Plaut, author of Hack: How I Stopped Worrying About What To Do With My Life and Started Driving a Yellow Cab talks about passengers’ pick-up lines, fare beaters, and sex in the backseat.

    How’d you start driving a cab, anyway?
    I was about to turn 29 and had been laid off from my corporate office job, which was never fulfilling. I was collecting my unemployment benefits and thinking about what I was going to do for the rest of my life, and it was sending me into a panic. Finally I realized that I didn’t know whether I was ever going to be able to do any one thing with the rest of my life. Instead, I decided that I would live my life as a series of adventures, and my first would be getting behind the wheel of a yellow cab.
    Keep reading »

    Feature: For Every Woman’s Bookshelf

    Amelia McDonell-ParryFebruary 6, 2008 //

    We asked The Frisky‘s readers for the books that really affected them, both as people and as women. These are their picks, along with some of their thoughts!

    A to B and Back Again by Andy Warhol
    The private Andy Warhol talks: about love, sex, food, beauty, fame, work, money, success; about New York and America; and about himself–his childhood in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, good times and bad times in the Big Apple, the explosion of his career in the sixties, and life among celebrities.

    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
    Vladimir Nabokov called Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina “one of the greatest love stories in world literature.” Set in imperial Russia, Anna Karenina is a rich and complex meditation on passionate love and disastrous infidelity.
    “As a piece of literature, virtually every aspect of that book is wonderful; as an example of ‘women’s literature,’ it is just intensely romantic, politically astute, and I mean, the fashion is unparelled: who didn’t imagine herself in Anna’s perfect black velvet dress?” — Reader

    Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
    A novel for young adults, about a preteen girl in sixth grade who grew up with no religion confronting such problems as buying her first bra, having her first period (not to mention coping with belted sanitary napkins), liking boys, and whether to voice her opinion if it differs from what her girlfriends seem to believe.
    “The part where she gets her period is appropriately mortifying.” — Reader

    The Babysitter’s Club series by Ann M. Martin
    In the course of the operation of the Babysitter’s Club, Kristy comes to terms with her mother’s engagement, Stacey confides to her new friends that she has diabetes, Claudia learns to tolerate and even appreciate her gifted older sister, and Mary Anne makes some compromises with her over-protective father.
    “I wanted to be Stacy/Claudia. My favorite was the one where they babysit for the racist family.” — Reader

    The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf
    Feminist Naomi Wolf argues that women’s insecurities are heightened by unrealistic images of beauty , then exploited by the diet, cosmetic, and plastic surgery industries.
    “I read this, and my world view changed. American standards of beauty are crap, and this backs that up. I met Naomi Wolf in October, and I could not stop blubbering about how much I loved it.” — Reader
    Keep reading »