Getting tired of the typical girly-girls in movies, TV, magazines and books? If so, or even if you happen to like “Sex and the City,” “THIS IS NOT CHICK LIT: Original Stories by America’s Best Women Writers” will be an eye-opening and enjoyable read. Between the pages of this book you will not find one woman tired of last season’s Prada bag or worried that her shade of lipstick doesn’t match her shoes.
Instead, you will find women writing smartly and honestly about a variety of issues that affect both sexes across the book’s 313 pages. Free of many preconceptions that surround women, these writers expand the scope of their inquiry beyond dating, drinking, and fashion.
In “THIS IS NOT CHICK LIT,” 18 established and up-and-coming female writers prove that there is reason to hope that the fine art of the short story is not yet dead.
From stories concerning issues of race and class, stories from a man’s point of view, a story from the perspective of a 9/11 victim, and a story about a woman’s struggle with a 72-ounce steak, this book has something to offer everyone. The quick-reading nature of most of these stories makes this compilation of literature, published in 2006, the perfect bedtime reading that will make you think about social issues, ask you to empathize with the characters and the authors, and force you to examine your own life before you turn out the lights.
While some of the stories are better than others, the overall quality of the book is high and definitely worth recommending to your friends. Several of the authors included in the anthology are published novelists or have contributed to such reputable magazines as The New Yorker.
One particularly poignant story, “The Red Coat” by Caitlin Macy, details the inner struggle of a woman who is insanely jealous of her Ukrainian housekeeper. The housekeeper’s prize possession, a flamboyant red coat, is a symbol to the narrator of everything she envies about the other woman. In a chance encounter in a fancy restaurant, she steals the housekeeper’s red coat from the coat check while the housekeeper parties at the bar and pretends to feel sorry when the woman mourns the loss of the coat. Despite feeling pangs of guilt, she never returns the coat. Like many stories in the compilation, “The Red Coat” does not have a happy ending. The narrator does not ride off into the sunset with her true love and world peace is not realized. But then again, that is life.
If you need a good book to read for pleasure or to pick up between classes, check out “THIS IS NOT CHICK LIT.” The honesty and passion imbued by the authors will provide you with a much more fulfilling reading experience than if you had just picked up the latest cookie-cutter bestseller.
“THIS IS NOT CHICK LIT” retails for $13.95 and can be purchased locally from Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million and online from Amazon at www.amazon.com.

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