The Go-Girl Guide : Surviving Your 20s with Savvy, Soul, and Style [Paperback]

Julia Bourland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

A woman's 20s are a roller coaster of highs and lows, unseen twists, and frustrating turns. Irreverent yet helpful and information, The Go-Girl Guide covers everything from dating to climbing the career ladder to dealing with a body that has packed on some pounds, exactly what girls just entering or already swimming in this brave new world need to know. Julia Bourland's straight-talking survival guide puts the entire decade in perspective, giving you a sense that the uncensored insider's scoop from an older, more worldly sister.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Julia Bourland is a 20-something freelance writer who has written dozens of articles on women's health, fitness, and lifestyle for such national magazines as Shape, Woman's Day, Conde Nast Women's Sports and Fitness, Parenting, and Rebecca's Garden. Prior to freelancing, she worked as an associate editor at Parenting.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809224763
• ISBN-13: 978-0809224760
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #890,468 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but not what I expected, May 18, 2004

By 

Lisa Gansky (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Go-Girl Guide : Surviving Your 20s with Savvy, Soul, and Style (Paperback)

I liked this book... There is insightful information on finding a job. It made me feel better when I had a hard time finding a job. But some of it got a little blah. I found myself skipping pages out of boredom, which is never a good sign. Sadly, Bourland spends a majority of the book on dating. This is what I ended up skipping a lot of. That said, there are definitely parts that I am sure I will go back and re-read whenever I'm down.

Recommended for those who are recent graduates without a job and/or boyfriend!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book no twenty-something woman should be without, November 14, 2002

By 

Staci (Alabama) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Go-Girl Guide : Surviving Your 20s with Savvy, Soul, and Style (Paperback)

Society tells us our 20s are filled with fun, freedom and fearlessness...well don't believe everything that you're told! Us twenty-something gals are not advised that life isn't one long party, freedom is expensive and stress is normal. Thank heaven for Julia Bourland's book, "The Go-Girl Guide." Bourland leaves nothing unsolved, she covers every issue from body image to boyfriends with humor and realistic advice. Bourland's honesty about her own mental meltdowns during her 20s make her words credible,
"To every other twenty-something out there, I offer this reassuring bit of reality: despite the lack of evidence from the media, most of us are just as lost, stressed, lonely, angry, envious, confused and neurotic as you."
Our 20s are by no means as glamorous as a music video, but we don't have to be victims of the 20-something blues. Bourland reminds us models are airbrushed, foreign films cast healthier looking woman and you're not a hairy beast if your bikini line doesn't look like the advertisement model's.
If it's money (or lack there of) that makes you want to scream, "The Go-Girl Guide" holds the answers to avoiding credit debt and saving a few pennies. After reading the chapter, "Our Finances and Other Loose Ends," you'll vow never to charge the credits cards that come so conveniently in the mail.
But if it's the job hunt that has you frazzled, have no fear, Bourland's book is here. She puts into perspective the months it takes to apply, the significance of contacts, the act of good resume writing and the emotions of a first interview. When finishing the chapter, "The Job Hunt," even rejection doesn't seem so scary.
"The Go-Girl Guide," makes a great gift for any girl who is figuring herself out in college, struggling with her first career or who needs a little reassurance that her feelings aren't unheard of.
Bourland's book is extremely reader-friendly, so feel free to open up to any chapter that interests you. No matter what order it's read, you can find helpful advice from front to back.
Bourland reminds her readers, "twenty-something turbulence is all part of the flight toward becoming an emotionally rich woman," and that's where she can help!
If you know a girl in her 20s, do her a favor and buy her this book!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very practical and applicable suggestions - worth reading, November 7, 2004

By 

Gagewyn (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Go-Girl Guide : Surviving Your 20s with Savvy, Soul, and Style (Paperback)

The Go-Girl Guide is an excellent book to turn to in times of emotional what-to-do what-to-do crisis. Why? Because the advice here is specific enough to follow and therefore help you focus on doing something.

As opposed to many self help books which offer general advice, the advice in The Go-Girl Guide is specific and can be acted on now. And you don't have to know where you want to go. The advice for that is on how to try new things and get the most from internships - a kind of career sampler.

For example what I'm most interested in right about now is career. Bourland's discussion of things to think about when you are considering careers is very nicely balanced and includes some good suggestions that wouldn't necessarily just occur to someone in my demographic. For example she advises contacting an older woman in the prospective field and interviewing her about her career. The questions she suggests are wise and include ones dealing with balancing work and family which isn't something the average career orient 20 something woman thinks hard about.

One big flaw with The Go-Girl Guide is the very heavy focus on sex (and the author's tendency to define herself in terms of her present boyfriend). There is so much focus on sex. For example the chapter I liked so much and discussed above is 16 pages long, while the chapter on having an orgasm is 18 pages long. There is also a discussion of one-night-stands and other advice that maybe isn't the best plan for every girl in her 20's. Four of fourteen chapters are dedicated to dating and sex. Advice about boys isn't a bad thing, but the advice isn't coming from the best person. I skimmed over the dating sections, because elsewhere in the book Bourland has a tendency to refer to her present boyfriend WAY TOO MUCH. Being in love is great and all but it is so important to be sovereign and I get the feeling that she isn't. Probably it is a personal weakness of the author to define herself in terms of men and only to see it later. In fact she expresses sadness over past failed relationships.

The advice put forward in Go-Girl Guide is either very practical and helpful in that it can be put into action immediately, or it is about boys and not such good advice because it comes from an insecure person. The book is definitely worth getting and taking advice from. Just ignore the advice about boys. And as for sex advice, you are on the internet aren't you?