Customer Reviews

Why Girls Are Weird

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

A few months ago I discovered the author's web site, and on a whim bought the book. The chapter on how six-year-old girls *really* play with Barbies is reason alone to read it. Her writing style is very accessible, making this 300-page book a fast read. The story itself is entertaining, touching, funny, and true; there were so many moments I went, "I do that! I know that! I thought I was the only person who ever <fill in the blank>!" Perhaps that is why people who follow online journals feel like we "know" the people writing them, since they write about everyday stuff and we eagerly identify. The more interesting parts are the protagonist Anna's thoughts on the web journaling phenomenon: why people do it; how much of what's written in online journals is true; just how much of her life should be accesible to her readers; and where to draw the boundaries between a person's on-line and off-line lives. An entertaining read, and the chapters are short so it's a good book for people who can only read a few pages in one sitting. (I have friends with kids and businesses to run, so this factor is important when choosing books.)

....

Those of us who have been following pamie.com for some time have known that Pamela Ribon is a talented writer. She'll make you laugh until your sides ache, and then she'll turn around and break your heart and leave you trying to wipe the tears out of your eyes before the person in the cube across from yours realizes you're crying. So when I heard she had written a book, I couldn't wait to read it.

Once I actually got my hands on the book, I couldn't put it down. I read it in one sitting, and I was again reminded of why she's one of my favorite writers.

This is a terrifically crafted story. While it may appeal to the same demographic as Bridget Jones, don't be fooled into thinking it's another knock off. Reading this book was like hanging out with your best friend and getting to read her journal all at the same time. It's funny, it's touching, and it has a lot of heart.

Girls - this should be required reading. You should buy this book just for the piece on "How to Fake a Football Orgasm" alone (if I'd read that before last year's football season I might have saved a relationship). Guys, if you want to know how to get to us - read this book.

The good: Pamela Ribon does bring the funny. In several places, this book is laugh-out-loud hilarious.

The bad: if you've read her website (pamie.com), you've already read many of these jokes. There's lots of new stuff...but I found myself skimming over a fair amount of material that I'd read before years earlier. My girlfriend thought the entire book was drop-dead funny from start to finish and I was painfully jealous that I couldn't have the same reaction since many of the bits were old hat to me already.

the good: The author has keen observations about modern dating and the relationships (romantic or platonic) that spawn from the internet. In some ways, it could be read as a cautionary tale about who is online. Through her web-site, the main character (Anna) attracts legions of readers, including an ex of her ex-boyfriend, a moderately disturbed girl who seems obsessed with Anna and another who, infatuated with Anna's description of her old boyfriend, sets out to make him her own.

Some of the funniest and best written parts of the book are the chain of flirting emails between Anna and a boy who lives far way that she's falling in love with. This might be the best romantic comedy dialogue (OK, truthfully it's correspondence, but it packs the emotional intensity of dialogue) that's been seen in years. This is where Why Girls are Weird really shines. The rhythm and dynamic of email relationships as presented here ring true and I don't think anyone has ever captured this in print quite so well.

the bad:
For the first 100 pages or so, I found Anna depressed, slightly mean-spirited and rather unlikeable. The junkies in Trainspotting seem warm and compassionate by comparison to Anna in the first third of this book. I kept hoping she'd get a prescription for Zoloft or make some kind of positive changes and stop being so tediously self-absorbed. It's only after change does enter her life ( albeit tragically, through the death of her father) that Anna seems to wake up and becomes a sympathetic character who is invested in something other than her own troubles.

Some of the secondary characters are jarringly two dimensional. For example, her best friend and confidant comes off as little more than a quirky homosexual stereotype who spouts catty jabs or pop-culture references every third line.

Overall: it's a worthy and often clever first novel that captures the zeitgeist much like Douglas Coupland did years ago with Generation X and Microserfs.

There are some genuinely amusing and touching moments, and it's nice to read a book that incorporates some common language and experiences amongst young women in my generation. At first I sympathized with the character of Anna, who is experiencing something of an identity crisis after a bad breakup and a family tragedy. However, after a while Anna becomes completely unsympathetic as she basically lies and deceives her way through most of the book. The ending was completely unbelievable--straight out of Sex and the City or some other horrible romantic comedy. Insecurity and the need for human love and contact are issues that I think most people can empathize with; the length of deception to which Anna goes, however, was not a quality I could admire at all.

Purchasing "Why Girls are Weird" was a surreal experience. For the past through years I have gotten to know Pamela Ribbon, aka pamie through her work on various websites, notably pamie.com. To be able to purchase a book that she had written when I had been able to read her hilarious writings for free made me feel so happy and excited that such a talented writer was finally getting what she deserved.

I found Why Girls are Weird to be pretty uneven novel. I loved all of Anna's website entries from the secret sex life of Barbie dolls, her exercise tape hallucinations, and of course the comedy gold held inside a tiny wooden hand. However the actual story of Anna K felt less interesting. I liked her email flirtation with LDobbler and I felt let down in how that plotline developed. The Tess storyline felt annoying and I found Dale the "gay best friend" to be too much of a cliché. Despite my small disappointments I still enjoyed this book and I hope pamie continues to write more stories both online and off.

I found the book on the new paperback section and was immediately taken with the cute cover and catchy title. I got home and cracked it open meaning to just sample a few pages before dinner. But at 1am I finished, neck sore, hungry, and the dog unwalked. I'm not a big fan of chick lit. It seems to me that the market has been saturated to the point of brain freeze -- seeing all those similarly-covered books. But Why Girls Are Weird rises far above. Mostly for two reasons that I can figure out.

1 -- The narrative voice of Anna K. is not the whiny simpering heroine of most. Sure she has man trouble and body issues, but hers is the voice of the smart girl. The girl who doesn't necessarily wholeheartedly embrace part and parcle the girlishness being a girl, but still remains firmly feminine. She is what I would want my daughter to be. Thoughtful and introspective, even when girly or man-crazy.

2 -- Ribon is funny. She has funny-chops the likes of which I haven't come across in a while. I discovered her website after reading the book and am very glad to have more of her to read. Ribon should be taking the SNL or Friends writing room by storm and kicking out the hacks, if there is any justice in the world for funny women.

Why Girls Are Weird will make you feel cuddly and empowered at the same time. And that's a rare feat.

I should stop reading books marketed as "chick lit," because books that set up a sharp dichotomy between men and women and that purport to tell "this is how women are" never fail to annoy me. This book is at least upfront about where it's going: it's all right there in the title. So if you find the title off-putting, that's about all you need to know.

Part of my problem with this story was that I never really cared about Anna. She struck me as unlikeable and full of herself, and I kept waiting for the story to turn to some sort of self-awareness that would lead her out of her bubble of self-absorption. But it never happens, and in fact the book seems to celebrate that self-absorption. The central love story is all based on Anna finding a guy who thinks she is the center of the universe just like she does, and that's really not the kind of love story that keeps my attention.

Parts of the book are very funny, but those parts seem tacked on. The stories Anna tells don't seem to fit with the character as she is presented by the narrative, which means that the journal excerpts are jarring and out of place. It might have been interesting to explore the gap between Anna and her online persona, but that exploration only takes place in the most superficial way. The novel looks at Anna K's surface-level lies without acknowledging the fundamental disconnect between her character and the persona she presents through the entries.

In all, Why Girls Are Weird is too shallow to be compelling, too disjointed in tone to be consistently funny. The book goes for the easy answers every time, so it winds up reading like a rough draft of a much better book.

I really do identify with Anna K. - or is it Pamela Ribon that I identify with???????? Since I am also a Pamela and live in Austin, perhaps it's only the Pam Girls in Austin who are the strange ones. Honestly, Why Girls Are Weird was a fun read. I laughed so loud that I woke up both my dog and my husband! Whether or not you're female and whether or not you're a "Pam" - you will enjoy this book about relationships with our friends, lovers, siblings, and parents. There will be at least one character that everyone can relate to and say, "Oh my, that's just exactly like someone in my life."

I've read dozens of the twenty/thirty-something girl books. You know, where she has a crappy job and lusts after a gay or unworthy guy, drinks to excess with her girlfriends, and possibly shops too much. Usually I skip entire paragraphs, just praying the end will come quickly so she can pay down her debt and hook up with Mr. Wonderful.

I promise you, this book, while similar in plot, is legitimately funny. I barely skipped any pages! Read it on a plane or by the pool. I sincerely hope to see more from Pamela Ribon, and less from the shopaholics.

Every summer, my guilty pleasure is to stock up on these single girl/chic lit sort of books to read while sitting on the beach. This summer was no exception. This book has quickly surpassed any other chic lit I've read so far this year. The character of Anna is somebody I felt I could really relate with. The development she goes through is incredible. You laughed with her, you cried with her, your heart broke with her. Anna grows by the end of the book. She has learned from her experiences and from her mistakes and is a better character because of it.

If you have ever kept an online journal (guilty), or read somebody else's (again, guilty), you will enjoy this story. Anna puts up some stories on a website for a friend. When she discovers that she has unsolicited fans, she feels the need to add more daily stories. She elaborates on stories, making it sound like relationships that have been over for quite some time are currently intact. Her web of lies she has spun in her online life eventually begins to effect her real life. Anna suffers terrible loss, learns how to let go, learns how to care about others, and all in all, grows significantly as a person. She is so likeable and so real that you just can't help but to root for her.

Go figure - good writing in reading that I purchased expecting no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Great book for the beach!