Hailed by critics as the debut of a major literary voice, The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing has captivated readers and dominated bestseller lists. Generous-hearted and wickedly insightful, it maps the progress of Jane Rosenal as she sets out on a personal and spirited expedition through the perilous terrain of sex, love, relationships, and the treacherous waters of the workplace. With an unforgettable comic touch, Bank skillfully teases out universal issues, puts a clever, new spin on the mating dance, and captures in perfect pitch what it's like to be a young woman coming of age in America today.
Melissa Bank won the 1993 Nelson Algren Award for short fiction. She has published stories in the Chicago Tribune, Zoetrope, The North American Review, Other Voices, and Ascent. Her work has also been heard on "Selected Shorts" on National Public Radio. She holds an MFA from Cornell University and divides her time between New York City and Sag Harbor, Long Island.
"Bank writes like John Cheever, but funnier." –Los Angeles Times
"Captivating." –Newsweek
"Truly poignant? There is an exquisite honesty to Jane's relationships." –Time Magazine
"In this swinging, funny, and tender study of contemporary relationships, Bank refutes once and for all the popular notion of neurotic thirtysomething single women." –Entertainment Weekly
"A funny, fresh Baedeker of the alternately confusing and empowering state of being female in the late 20th-century America." –Elle
"Worth its weight in gold wedding bands." –The New Yorker
"Charming and funny." –New York Times
"Gorgeous and wise." –Mademoiselle
- Jane says, "You get all these voices about what a woman is supposed to be like – you know, feminine...and I've spent my whole life trying not to hear them." Do men hear voices telling them what a man is supposed to be like? What is significant about Jane's attempt to ignore them? Where do these voices come from? Are they saying the same thing today as 20 years ago?
- Imagine this book had been called something less gender-specific and romance-related than The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, for example The Best Possible Light. How would you have read it differently? What if it were called Every Man's Guide to Hunting and Fishing?
- Jane calls the era when she and her friend Sophie were between boyfriends their sea-horse period, "when we were told that we didn't need mates; we were supposed to make ourselves happy just bobbing around in careers." What role does work play in Jane's life? What is the ideal role of work? How have women's expectations of their professional life changed since they first entered the workplace?
- How does The Girls' Guide work as an overall story? What do the two stories that Jane doesn't narrate, "The Best Possible Light" and "You Could Be Anyone," add to the book?
- Jane is attracted to Archie Knox from the first time she sees him, at the theater with her great-aunt when she is only 16. What is it about Archie that appeals to her?
- Religion doesn't seem to play a significant role in Jane's life. If you could make up a religion for Jane, what would it be, and how would it change her life?
- Jane seems to have a stronger bond with her father and her great-aunt than with her mother. Is there something lacking in her mom? What is it?
- In an interview, Melissa Bank commented that "Nobody can actually be funny and erotic at the same time. . . . When you're being erotic, you're creating a spell; when you're making a joke, you're breaking it." What does being funny do for Jane?
- What significance does cancer have in the book? What about smoking?
- How big of a role does New York City play in The Girls' Guide? Could the stories have been set in your hometown? How would they be different?
Brought to you by
Penguin Young Readers Group
