Edited by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, This Is Chick-Lit

This Is Chick-Lit

Edited by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Benbella, September 2006, $14.95

ISBN: 1933771014

There are few sub-genres, if any, more suited to the short story format than chick-lit, as this superb anthology proves. Each of the eighteen entries are fun with no duds, as female protagonists struggle with everyday relationships while providing "wisdom" in asides to the audience. All the tales are new, having been written in 2005, and as far as this reviewer knows never published before. How can fans not enjoy tales like "Secret Agent Chick" starring a woman who enjoys girl fights, or the satirical "How To Be a Millionaire". Fans of the sub-genre will appreciate this entertaining anthology that is unabashedly pleasant reading, as each entry showcases the sub-genre at its strongest. To be honest, I believe this is the format (more so than the novel) where chick-lit is at its best; where one finds humor, jabs, irony and satire like a woman dreaming of becoming a pumpkin wife in a "Shell Game". Ladies - you have done a great job with THIS IS CHICK-LIT anthology that requires no further defense of the maligned sub-genre because of the contributions.