Comments on: Atlas Is A Woman

By: Kate Rothwell

Kate Rothwell — Fri, 15 Oct 2004 14:51:45 +0000

what we mean is, we’re looking for ORIGINAL dudgeon. None of this old hat stuff.

By: Kate Rothwell

Kate Rothwell — Fri, 15 Oct 2004 14:50:40 +0000

Forget the analysis [speaking of dull trends: I’m tired of silly old attention-seekers poo-pooing literary trends. . . omigawdwhatistheworldofpublishingcomingto as if it is the WHOLE WORLD reading escapist fun and these books choke out every other form of litterachure like chick-lit is some kind of evil kudzu. Bah. BTDT.]

ANYWAY– we want to know which lists were buzzing with indignation. We’re suffering from a sad lack of dudgeon in our lives and wish to join a list where high horses gallop freely.

By: tvk

tvk — Fri, 15 Oct 2004 13:19:21 +0000

And? Dickens’ work was also serialized. I fail to see how this relates to the point of the article, or Booksquare’s commentary on it, unless you’ve never bothered to read any chick lit OTHER than BJ’sD. However it began its existence, BJ’sD made an entertaining read as a novel–if not for YOU, then for millions of other readers–and began a trend that’s grown into its own genre.

The larger point is that there IS plenty of chick lit out there that’s more meaty than frothy. Time Off For Good Behavior by Lani Diane Rich leaps to mind. So do Jenn Weiner’s Good In Bed, In Her Shoes and Little Earthquakes. Hanne Blank’s convenient exclusion of some of the heavier issues addressed in chick lit–issues like spousal abuse, parental abandonment, eating disorders, sex addiction, drug and alcohol dependency–leaves her wide open to the accusation of sour grapes.

And I’d hoped we’d finally gotten past the stage in our evolution as feminists when every woman had to be working 24/7 for “the cause”–preferably dressed in a gray smock, sensible shoes and no makeup–to be taken seriously by her sisters.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 15 Oct 2004 09:12:02 +0000

Although the article points out that there are many earlier examples of chicklit, I think many people (including me) trace the modern phenomenon to Bridget Jones’ Diary. There is a supreme irony: thousands of novels have followed, hoping to emulate the success and the quality of BJ’sD but the work itself was not a novel. It was a weekly column in The Independent. The ‘novel’ was in fact the collated columns put into a single volume. I read the column for nearly two years, giggling to myself in the corner of the staffroom (when I was still a teacher) and people would ask what it was, and I would read bits out. When it was put into book form I tried to read it but it was totally wrong – it just wasn’t the same as the newspaper column, and I don’t think it worked at all.

And yet ten thousand writers jumped on its band wagon…