BOOK REVIEW: This is Chick Lit edited by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

As I said on Wednesday, This is Chick Lit was created when its editor, the lovely Lauren Baratz- Logsted, read about the creation of an anti-Chick Lit book, This is Not Chick Lit. Thinking that sounded bizarre (no-one calls anthologies This is Not Sci-Fi, do they?) not to mention mean-spirited, she decided to help create a positive book showcasing great chick-lit writers.

This is Chick Lit is the result.

Featuring stories from authors including Johanna Edwards, Stephanie Lehmann, Karin Gillespie and Deanna Carlyle, it's fair to say that to British readers at least, we're talking up and comers or well-known but not super-famous chick-litters.  A small part of me felt that maybe a more mighty response to the "not" book would have included titans of the genre like Jennifer Weiner and Marian Keyes, but that's not to undermine any of the great writing found in this volume.

I found the book fun and easy to read, and unlike many short story collections, where I need to stop and read something else in between, I raced straight through this one, wanting to savour the next story, and the next. I really liked most of these stories, particularly Cafe Con Leche Crush by Heather Swain, Takeoffs and Landings by Johanna Edwards and Dead Friends and other Dating Dilemmas by Julie Kenner. I also really enjoyed the fact that at the start of each author's story was a brief paragraph of what chick-lit means to them, a celebration of the term. And Lauren Baratz-Logsted's introduction is positive, empowering and inspiring!

Unfortunately, I found the first story, about two writers on opposing sides of the chick-lit battleground, a great idea but handled in a rather heavy-handed way. I also felt the collection ended on quite a negative note, with a story about a spoiled whiny woman who no-one wants to marry...  (Bit cliched, no?) But there's mould-breaking fiction here too, and experimental pieces like Confessions of a Three Eyed Freak by Ariella Papa demonstrate that there's far more to the genre than shoes (although there is one on the cover!), sex and shopping.

A great effort, and a more than worthy defence of Chick-Lit, if such a defence is needed.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Like this? Try The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner.

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