I am bias due to my ownership of all three GIRLS seasons and having an abnormal love for Lena Dunham, whose story telling I find astounding. Her candid nature and direct approach ironically makes her an extremist with our media’s current promotion of a constructed, scripted reality. So here are three reasons ‘Not That Kind of Girl’ is kind of a big deal to young women (maybe not everywhere, but no really everywhere):
- It’s ordinarily entertaining! Her novel provides a roller coaster of moments from a life lived by an admirable individual simply in the pursuit of happiness (which can be understanding, success in love, work, relationships; but really is all the above).
- Each story either being cringe worthy uncomfortable, surprisingly uplifting, or matter-of-fact sparks an internal conversation that soon is acceptable to discuss externally.
- Personally I found the novel thematically mirroring my own struggles, wins, and loses and I am sure I am not the only one to find it relatable. And that is her point – to make the female experience a norm.
Dunham effectively and whole heartily shares her self – transitioning her own words to the ownership of her audience. Bottom line is that Lena Dunham is the voice of her generation or at least a generation and this book is not only readable, but pretty great.
Slight Charm 