Chick Lit Again...

My underwhelming experience with chick lit (“I Tried…” July 21 entry) generated a reader response suggesting that I try chick lit author Marian Keyes; especially her book Last Chance Saloon. I find it interesting that Marian Keyes is from the UK, as is Helen Fielding of Bridget Jones acclaim. According to an article in Poets & Writers (Jan/Feb, 2005), chick lit originated in the US as post-feminist fiction about women responding to predicaments they encountered in their newly liberated environment. The term first appeared in the titles of two anthologies: Chick-Lit: Postfeminist Fiction and Chick-Lit 2: No Chick Vics in 1995. Two years later, according to Cris Mazza, author of the article and editor of both chick lit anthologies, it was the British book industry that “took the genre and ran with it.” Maybe experience accounts for stories by UK writers being the more popular and highly recommended. Clearly, today's chick lit is a departure from the content of the more socio-politically themed original; today's offerings are sometimes referred to as “commercial chick-lit.” As of 2004, though, five mainstream publishers have chick lit imprints which account for 240 new novels each year—a trend that is fueling the publishing industry. What can I say? At least we’re reading something!

Finally...

After years of being told that Alice Munro is the master of women’s short fiction, I finally delved into her latest short story collection, Runaway. There is something eerie and unsettling about each of these stories; there is an element that at once drew me in and made me want to turn away. As I proceeded through each tale I found myself not particularly enamored by any of the main characters, but almost reluctantly identifying with their thoughts and observations and self-serving actions. I don’t know if it is the rural Canadian setting that makes the stories seem stark or the mood and emotion of the people they are about These characters are all women at various stages of life: one trying to escape a disappointing marital relationship, one returning to her childhood home with her infant daughter for a visit with her aging parents, one trying to understand the disappearance of her young adult daughter, one who spends the day with her fiancé’s alcoholic brother who ultimately takes her home and continues on to commit suicide by driving his car into a bridge abutment. There are others: a child, an old woman. Each story is clear, vivid, deep, and complicated….I am haunted by this book. I see bits of these stories in my mind even now, days after completing it. And there are moments in those reflections that I feel the need to revisit the story to see if I understood it correctly. Not many authors evoke that kind of response from me. This writing is powerful and compelling. The “master?” I guess so.

I Tried…

I know nothing about the ChickLit genre, but it is infiltrating the bookstores and it was prevalent at Book Expo so I decided I must be missing something. I’ve heard the rumors about it—"shallow", "trashy", but I am open minded. I understand cultural evolution, and I am determined to stay current particularly in the world of literature. So I checked out the ChickLitBooks website looking for a frame of reference and direction. The homepage provides a great, although broad, definition—“hip, bright literature for today’s modern women.” They suggest withholding judgment of the genre until you’ve read a few….seemed like sensible and appropriate advice. So I took up two titles I acquired this past year: Bling by Erica Kennedy and Starter Wife by Gigi Levangi Granger. Bling is set in New York City and Starter Wife in LA.

Here’s the scoop: the characters are all about shedding their excessive vanity, rejecting materialism, and escaping the superficial demands placed on them by their high society boyfriend or husband. This metamorphosis, though heartbreaking and difficult, promises to open the gates to personal success and independence. This "independence" ultimately leads to the real love and admiration of a new man who is STILL a member of high society but is NOT superficial, i.e., he will not leave her to chase after a younger, prettier version of herself and he will not suggest dieting or dental work or a boob job because he loves her just the way she is.

To understand these novels you must be up-to-date on the most recent beauty regimes, cosmetic surgeries, fashion and jewelry designers, and the latest makes and models of luxury vehicles. If you don’t know these things, you will be lost in an endless stream of proper nouns that will make no sense and you will lose the story completely. At least I think that’s why I missed the stories. I’m sure there was a plot in there somewhere. Anyway, I gave it a shot…I’m heading back to what I know. Maybe I’ll join Oprah and re-read Faulkner.

Occupational Hazzard?

Awwwww....President Bush had a bicycle accident today at the Gleneagles Golf Resort in Scotland. Rest assured he WAS wearing a helmet (as if that would matter) and the only damage reported was to his ankle. Interesting tidbit though...a year ago the President "sailed over the handlebars while riding a mountain bike at his Texas ranch." That could explain a lot.....