Caitlin Moran's How to Be a Woman is touted as the British version of Tina Fey's Bossypants, but it is far from the comedic masterpiece of Bossypants. The difference is that while both Fey and Moran use their personal experiences to make a point about modern day feminism, the takeaway from Bossypants is, "That was a funny story, and I can't believe women are treated that way!" Whereas the dialog after a How to Be a Woman diatribe is more likely, "I wish she had told more of the funny story instead of ranting about feminism for so long." Not that I am against a feminist message. What I am against is being hit over the head with a feminist message that the author is just going to rescind or revise a few pages later.
The book is a humorous read though. Moran's stories show her quite unique upbringing in a poor British family, how she broke into music journalism, and other womanly experience such as having children. There were many times where I could feel for the gawky young Caitlin as she tried to figure things out with very few resources. The dialogs between her sister, who she seems to abhor in a violent way, but who she also seems to have a tiny softspot for, was the height of hilarity in the book. It is certainly worth a read. All of the stories were great, but the feminist messages between stories were a bit long-winded.
The book is a humorous read though. Moran's stories show her quite unique upbringing in a poor British family, how she broke into music journalism, and other womanly experience such as having children. There were many times where I could feel for the gawky young Caitlin as she tried to figure things out with very few resources. The dialogs between her sister, who she seems to abhor in a violent way, but who she also seems to have a tiny softspot for, was the height of hilarity in the book. It is certainly worth a read. All of the stories were great, but the feminist messages between stories were a bit long-winded.
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