|
Chick lit: 25 stories, all about guys |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by asap
|
|
Tuesday, 11 July 2006 |
|
|
|
|
It’s a story as old as time: Girl falls in love, girl falls out of love, girl fights for love, girl finds love.
Now comes the updated story: Girl looks for love, girl finds love and somewhere along the way girl makes her own decision about whether the love is worth the heartache and the head games.
Those are the ideas behind “Girls Night Out,” a compilation of short stories from leading chick-lit authors who have made light, made fun and made for great reading about being a 20-something or 30-something single woman in search of love.
asap takes a look at a few of the stories:
STORY: “Wishing Carefully,” Marian Keyes
SYNOPSIS: Keyes is credited by many with starting the chick-lit genre with her 1995 book “Watermelon.” Here, Keyes tackles the story of Kate — a newly single woman who wishes upon an Aboriginal dreaming bowl for a “fairy-tale romance.” In search of her dream relationship, Kate meets a firefighter who doesn’t like anyone messing with his sleep, a party animal who’s got a short attention span and a proclivity for cocaine, a constantly flustered man and finally, a young man who thinks Jack Nicholson and Jack Nicklaus are related. Kate’s journey, of course, ends where it should have started — with the only man who made sense.
SISTERHOOD FACTOR: An easy, light read that may leave more than one single woman relating a little too closely to one of Kate’s dating experiences.
STORY: “Reunion,” Meg Cabot
SYNOPSIS: Written entirely as e-mail correspondence, this story tracks the communication of two women during one day as they lament about an upcoming 10-year reunion. Cabot, who wrote “The Princess Diaries,” kicks off the story with the email invitation to the reunion and tracks the two women’s responses. Though they try hard to distance themselves from their high school experiences marred by failed friendships and romances, they quickly return to the resentments of the time to their hopes long ago as young girls in high school.
SISTERHOOD FACTOR: Although the e-mail structure is unique, it takes a few entries to get into the story. However, e-mails between friends is something every 20-something or 30-something or even 40-something can relate to firsthand.
STORY: “Cinderella Gets a Brazilian,” Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
SYNOPSIS: This should be called “The Stupid Things Women Do For Men.” McLaughlin and Kraus, the authors of “The Nanny Diaries,” beautifully capture the insanity of women preparing for a date -- “You get yourself to a nail salon and are momentarily paralyzed in front of their price list ... Option A: The He’s Just Going to See Me for Five Minutes and Regret His Entire Existence Package -- above the neckline, below the ankle (manicure, pedicure and upper-lip wax.) Or Option B: The He’s So Overcome By My Smooth Upper Lip That We Have Mad Passionate Almost and I Leave Him at the Height of It All Regretting His Entire Experience Package (manicure, pedicure, wax everything.)”
SISTERHOOD FACTOR: Admit it, you know exactly what McLaughlin and Kraus are talking about. (OK, maybe without the Brazilian.)
———
The authors receive no money for their contributions — all proceeds go to benefit the charities War Child and No Strings Attached, organizations that help children in war torn countries. Find out more: http://www.RedDressInk.com or http://www.girlsnightin.info
———
asap reporter Chelsea J. Carter is still single. | Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
