Fuelled by Fiction: Non-Fiction November: Review of "Not that Kind of Girl"

I had not planned on reading this book. However, at the bookstore, I was inexplicably drawn to it and its simple cover. I had, of course, heard of the book, due to the loads of media attention— but I was rather indifferent to it.

Having read about the book, I knew that many people felt that you either love her or hate her, but everyone has an opinion on Lena Dunham. I personally found this to be incorrect. I knew very little about Dunham or her show (other than its graphic nature), and never felt the need to think about her at all, really, let alone have an opinion on her.

It seemed pretty apparent, even given the little I knew, that she and I have quite different world views. I think that this is what drew me to her book—at least in part. That, and its well written introduction.

In Not that Kind of Girl, Dunham tells her story. Many, at first, might be scratching their heads thinking, What on earth could a twenty-something girl possibly have to say that warrants a memoir? Dunham notes the grandeur of this undertaking in her introduction, but continues anyway:

Not that Kind of Girl doesn’t tell about a long life filled with momentous events. It’s just life—life in the small things, and sometimes big things, that make us who we are. Dunham’s a millennial talking about her experience, and I bet many people will read it and feel less alone. They will have Aha! moments when Dunham describes something that they can relate to (I know I did, even if it was a rare occurrence). As people love to quote, Hannah (Dunham’s character on Girls) once said (while on drugs, it should be noted), “I think that I may be the voice of my generation. Or at least a voice. Of a generation”—and that’s kind of what Dunham is here.

Dunham regales us with awkward and funny anecdotes about her family, her childhood, her university experience, her love life. She is unflinchingly honest, often uncomfortably so. But Dunham isn’t apologetic. She is who she is, and that’s that. She’ll talk about vaginas as much as she wants to (and it’s a lot). While that’s not really my kind of entertainment, she is rarely gratuitous or crass. She’s just simply herself, laid bare on the page. I didn’t always agree with or relate to her stories, but I revelled in getting an insiders perspective on the life of someone with vastly different experiences than my own.

I’ve read that many fans of Girls didn’t find anything new in Dunham’s book; it felt like a retelling of different episodes of the show. I, however, had never seen the show. To me, this book was refreshing, funny, honest, and wise. It turned me from indifferent to a fan. I’m probably never going to get into Girls, but as a person, I find Lena Dunham admirable. She is certainly controversial, and I don’t often agree with her, but she’s a strong, independent, creative leader of a woman, and that’s what I want to be. She may struggle and search, but at the core, she knows who she is and what she believes.

Before I picked up this book, I hardly knew anything about Lena Dunham. Through her essays and stories about life, I feel like I’ve gotten to know her, like I’ve made a friend over a cup of coffee. she has conveyed her thoughts and experiences with humour and insight, and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

I highly recommend this book—But only to people who have read the synopsis and know what they are getting themselves in to. It’s not for everyone and at times must be taken with a grain of salt and read with an open mind.