Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Review of "Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What's She's 'Learned' " by Lena Dunham






Lena Dunham

I listened to the audio version of this book (read by the author). Lena Dunham is smart and talented and I like her TV show "Girls" - which is bold and clever.



That said, there were parts of the book I liked and parts I didn't. For me Dunham describes too many sexual exploits that don't provide enlightenment about anything. She seems to be a free spirit in this realm but I don't need the details - and too many of her sexual interactions go badly and provide pictures I don't need in my head.



More interesting were the descriptions of Dunham's demons. She was a troubled child, fearful of everything.


Young Lena Dunham

She disliked sleeping alone from childhood on - which eventually led to numerous sleeping companions, platonic and otherwise. Dunham was obsessed with death and felt compelled to spread the fear to everyone.



She was disorganized, hid half-finished homework under her bed, and couldn't make friends.



Her parents - a loving, caring couple - took her to analysts as needed and Dunham's closest relationship as a child/young adult was apparently with a professional who helped her complete assignments and cope with her life.



In the fifth grade Dunham's problems relating to peers led to a close relationship with her male teacher - a "friendship" that got too close and became slightly inappropriate. Dunham's irate mother descended on the school to straighten out the situation.



Dunham more or less ends the teacher story there (too bad, because I was curious to know more).

At one point Dunham had insufficiently safe sex with a bisexual guy who proceeded to tell her he'd recently slept with an AIDS patient. Being a hypochondriac anyway Dunham proceeded to live her life as an "AIDS victim" for months, until she got a clean bill of health.



She also describes a few anxiety-filled summers at sleepaway camps, where her biggest (maybe only) triumph was diving off a cliff with the help of a counselor.



There are plenty more such stories in the book.

Interspersed with the essay portions of the book are semi-humorous 'lists' of various kinds such as: things Dunham learned from her mother; things she learned from her father; e-mails she'd write if she had the nerve; things she was afraid of; etc.

Through all the stress and anxiety and crises however, Dunham seems to have recognized her gifts and talents. After a couple of mundane jobs performed poorly she learned to strive for and achieve success.



Even this wasn't all good however. Dunham provides a disheartening description of "Hollywood Men" that glom onto successful women to enhance themselves.



I imagine Dunham will have plenty more to say about her life in the future, which might be interesting to read about. I'm be looking out for another memoir.



Rating: 3 stars

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