Not That Kind of Girl

I blame my book club for this one. I didn't love this book, but it was fun to listen to on my morning walk to work. (I listened to the audiobook.) Lena Dunham has a great ability to describe her experiences in a way that seem to provide more generalizable insights on what it's like to grow up as an awkward, anxious, and privileged young woman in our culture. The scope of her insights may be narrow, but it is nonetheless informative, and parts of the book made me chuckle or cringe as I remembered the similarly dumb ways that have I navigated similar social and professional pressures.

Navel gazing at its worst. After forcing myself through approximately 50 pages of this vapid “memoir,” I couldn't stomach anymore - even as a hate read. We get it, Lena. You're the smartest, funniest girl in the room and you don't give a damn what people think about your body or your love life.

The best part of the book (by far) was the illustration work at the start of each chapter.

I'm glad I heard not-so-great reviews about this book, because I came into it with low expectations.

I can see how it would be harder to enjoy if you are not a woman in your 20's, because a lot like Girls, it is very essentially mid twenties: a young women grappling with childhood as much as recent adult years, unsure of how to move forward doing what she knows she wants to do, uncompromising, in both personal and professional life. Isn't that true of all of us young females? There's a certain hopeful terror for people our age. I found the essays relatable; her feelings and her takeaways are not ones of a wisened woman, just a girl who grew up and is still growing up.

I love the writing style. It's hilariously neurotic, brutally honest and at times, startlingly poetic. But it's not pretty. It's not always funny. I like that. It's unabashedly self-absorbed. We're all self-absorbed. It's a little weird, and a little dramatic, but mostly it's real and very poignant for the confused 20-something. I truly think it touches something in all of us, artists especially.