shelly shuey

I am nothing if not hip & happening.  I think.  I thought. That’s why I was completely surprised that I was a little too… prissy… for Lena Dunham’s new book:

 Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned”

Here’s a little background on my Lena Love for you:

• I’m obsessed with her show, GIRLS
• I’m similarly intrigued by her fictitious love interest,  Adam Driver
• We’re both narcissists
• We both have tattoos that people ask us to explain
• We’re both sort of clutzy and word-vomitish
• We’re both really good dancers.

When I heard about the book, I immediately preordered.  When it became available this week, I jumped into my fluffy white bed with pillows and coffee, got completely curled up and zoned in.  I was expecting a quippy, real-life version of her HBO show.

Dudes.  It’s been a long time since I was 20-something.  Let’s face it, it’s been a few moments since I was 30-something.  I can barely remember the sort of  ‘romances’ she refers to in this book.  Unfortunately, reading her essays reminded me of a few guys I’d suppressed intentionally forgotten for more than twenty years.  Maybe that was my problem.

There are many essays — I counted 29 — but this is the one garnering all the attention and conversation:

“The day after Barry, Audrey and I meet up to do homework in the computer lab. We are both still in our pajamas, layers and layers to guard against the cold. In the bathroom we are washing our hands, letting them linger in the hot water, and I say, “I have to tell you something.” We crawl up onto the ledge above the radiator, and we huddle together, and I describe the events of the night before, finishing with “I’m sorry about your wrap dress.”
Audrey’s pale little face goes blank. She clutches my hand and, in a voice reserved for moms in Lifetime movies, whispers, “You were raped.”
I burst out laughing.”  –Excerpt From: Lena Dunham. “Not That Kind of Girl.” 

So, she’s bringing attention to date rape.  Which is needed, for sure, but I have a kid in college and I’m so not ready to discuss that.

I realize in writing this down how dumb I sound… “I wanted to be entertained and you made me feel something, you mean author, you…”

Am I still a fan?  Of course.  She’s changing mindsets.  This is more about my faults as a reader than it is her fault for being born in 1986.  Also known as the year I graduated from high school.  She could be my daughter, which sucks.  Getting old sucks, but being 20 sucks in some ways, too, as graphically outlined in this book.

I give her:

• huge props for honesty
• huge props for perspective
• a big ole cringe for her graphic delivery
• an apology for using the word, “props”

And yes, I’ll be buying her next book.  Which will probably be about her experiences as a 30-year old, which I will also be too old for.  Turns out I’m not that kind of girl.

So, there’s that.

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