Not That Kind of Girl (Dunham) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
[S]mart, funny…creator of the critically acclaimed HBO series Girls…Ms. Dunham brings a similar candor to the story of her own life, getting as naked in print as her alter ego Hannah often does in the flesh…while Hannah, an aspiring author, is constantly putting her foot in her mouth and prattling on about herself, the gifted Ms. Dunham not only writes with observant precision, but also brings a measure of perspective, nostalgia and an older person's sort of wisdom to her portrait of her (not all that much) younger self and her world…Ms. Dunham doesn't presume to be "the voice of my generation" or even "a voice of a generation," as Hannah does in the show. Instead, by simply telling her own story in all its specificity and sometimes embarrassing detail, she has written a book that's as acute and heartfelt as it is
Michiko Kakutani - New York Times


Not That Kind of Girl is familiar fare. Dunham chronicles her attempts to lose her virginity and lose weight. She tells gut-wrenching stories of sex. She gets a job, goes to camp, grapples with a medical diagnosis and experiments with early iterations of technology. When her sister is born, she wails “Intruder! Return Her!” As Nora Ephron said, ­“everything is copy,” and though such topics are well trodden, Dunham makes them shine.
Michelle Goldberg - New York Times Book Review


[W]itty and wise and rife with the kind of pacing and comedic flourishes that characterize early Woody Allen books.... Dunham is an extraordinary talent, and her vision...is stunningly original
Meghan Daum - New York Times Magazine
 

There’s a lot of power in retelling your mistakes so people can see what’s funny about them—and so that you are in control. Dunham knows about this power, and she has harnessed it.
Washington Post


A lovely, touching, surprisingly sentimental portrait of a woman who, despite repeatedly baring her body and soul to audiences, remains a bit of an enigma: a young woman who sets the agenda, defies classification and seems utterly at home in her own skin.
Chicago Tribune


Reading this book is a pleasure.... [These essays] exude brilliance and insight well beyond Dunham’s twenty-eight years.
Philadelphia Inquirer


Dunham has crafted warm, intelligent writing that is both deeply personal and engaging. . . . [Hers] is not only a voice who deserves to be heard but also one who will inspire other important voices to tell their stories too.
Roxane Gay - Time
 

Witty, illuminating, maddening, bracingly bleak . . . That great feminist icon Norman Mailer was very careful, through a lifetime’s work, not to unbury his ‘crystals,’ his prismatic lodes of psychic material: it’s the reason (he claimed) he never wrote an autobiography. Dunham’s crystals are on perpetual display, sending light shafts everywhere. . . . [She’s] a genuine artist, and a disturber of the order.
Atlantic


A lot of us fear we don’t measure up beautywise and that we endure too much crummy treatment from men. On these topics, Dunham is funny, wise, and, yes, brave.... Among Dunham’s gifts to womankind is her frontline example that some asshole may call you undesirable or worse, and it won’t kill you. Your version matters more.
Elle


(Starred review.) Touching, at times profound, and deeply funny . . . Dunham is expert at combining despair and humor.
Publishers Weekly


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Library Journal


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Kirkus Reviews