Not long ago Bank, 38, was just an ad copywriter who published droll stories in mostly obscure publications. Though her success may owe something to good timing, the bottom line is that Bank has written a captivating book, fast and funny with real moments of poignancy. Jane, who narrates six of the seven stories, starts off as a 14-year-old smartass and ends up a 35-year-old failed book editor working in advertising. Along the way she stumbles through some spectacularly bad relationships–one with an impotent alcoholic 28 years her senior. Jane loses her self-assurance bit by bit, all the while sharpening her sense of humor. But unlike cousin Bridget, she doesn’t just sit around pining for a man. She’s usually got one–and she’s still blue. Bank draws exquisite portraits of loneliness, and she can do it in a sentence: “He gave me a kiss on the cheek, as though he always had.”
The only real downer here is the dutiful story (written for Coppola’s Zoetrope magazine) in which Jane uses a book called “How to Meet and Marry Mr. Right.” It almost reads like a movie treatment–which, in a way, it is. The Jane we know is too smart for this fairy tale’s cheap lessons. Our Jane is bad at love–comically, triumphantly bad–and that’s what makes her so endearing.
The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing.Viking.
