Melissa Bank

Through the eyes of a compelling outsider, this title captures the life cycle of a family and watches their lives--and the outsider's--unfold over the ensuing two decades. Melissa Bankas debut, "The Girlsa Guide to Hunting and Fishing," was a literary landmark and a runaway bestseller. Now, in "The Wonder Spot," she reminds us why she has been compared to John Cheever and Raymond Carver. Shaped by Bankas trademark blend of emotional depth and wry humor, "The Wonder Spot" traces the coming-of-age of Sophie, black sheep of the Applebaum family of Surrey, Pennsylvania. As we follow her from the sweet bewildering moments of adolescence through the rigors of life and love in New York City, we are treated to a profoundly intelligent, page-turning triumph that confirms Melissa Bankas reputation as a singular talent.

Through the eyes of a compelling outsider, this title captures the life cycle of a family and watches their lives--and the outsider's--unfold over the ensuing two decades. Through the eyes of a compelling outsider, this title captures the life cycle of a family and watches their lives--and the outsider's--unfold over the ensuing two decades.

Meet Sophie Applebaum - as enchanting a heroine as Jane in The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing. Sophie is an outsider and an inventor of rules, simply because she does not fit into any neat description of who she might be: she's Jewish, but lacks religious feeling; a book-lover but a mediocre student; a loyal friend often unpleasantly surprised and a less-than-devoted employee. She falls in love precipitously but isn't sure whom she should marry - or if she wants to marry at all despite all the family pressures and social clamour on this subject. We follow the life cycle of her family, and we follow her to school, through college, to her first job with terrible typing skills, through to the realisation that work isn't fulfilment, that your parents aren't quite what you thought and that Mr. Right is sometimes only all right...Readers who loved The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing won't be disappointed; this is a sparkling, heartfelt, deeply explorative book characterized, as always, by Melissa Bank's light touch, signature humour, and her vast talent for capturing a moment, taking it to heart, and giving it back to her readers.

Melissa Bank's runaway bestseller, The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, charmed readers and critics alike with its wickedly insightful, tender look at a young woman's forays into love, work, and friendship. Now, with The Wonder Spot, Bank is back with her signature combination of devilishly self-deprecating humor, seriousness and wisdom. Nothing comes easily to Sophie Applebaum, the black sheep of her family trying to blend in with the herd. Uneasily situated between two brothers, Sophie first appears as the fulcrum and observer of her clan in "Boss of the World." Then, at college, in "The Toy Bar," she faces a gauntlet of challenges as Best Friend to the dramatic and beautiful Venice Lambourne, curator of "perfect things." In her early twenties, Sophie is dazzled by the possibilities of New York City during the Selectric typewriter era—only to land solidly back in Surrey, PA after her father's death. The Wonder Spot follows Sophie's quest for her own identity—who she is, what she loves, whom she loves, and occasionally whom she feels others should love—over the course of 25 years. In an often-disappointing world, Sophie listens closely to her own heart. And when she experiences her 'Aha!' moments—her own personal wonder spots—it's the real thing. In this tremendous follow-up to The Girls' Guide To Hunting And Fishing, Bank again shares her vast talent for capturing a moment, taking it to heart, and giving it back to her readers.

Generous-hearted and wickedly insightful, The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing is the New York Times bestselling novel by Melissa Bank The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing maps the progress of Jane Rosenal as she sets out on a personal and spirited expedition through the perilous terrain of sex, love, relationships, and the treacherous waters of the workplace. Soon Jane is swept off her feet by an older man and into a Fitzgeraldesque whirl of cocktail parties, country houses, and rules that were made to be broken, but comes to realise that its a world where the stakes are much too high for comfort.With an unforgettable comic touch, Bank skilfully teases out universal issues, puts a clever new spin on the mating dance, and captures in perfect pitch what its like to come of age as a young woman.This chronicle of a New Yorkers relationships has a wit and perceptiveness that singles it out from the crowd GuardianAs hilarious as Girls Guide is, theres a wise, serious core here Wall Street JournalA sexy, pour-your-heart-out, champagne tingle of a read-thoughtful, wise, and tell-all honest. Banks is a voice that youll remember Cosmopolitan

As a teenager she watched her elder brother falling in and out of love. Now she's embarking on her own affairs. There's the boyfriend with the irritatingly beautiful ex; the worldly Older Man; the commitment-phobe who calls her honey but never uses her name. Plenty of fish in the sea - but how do you find a man worth catching? When she finally resorts to 'How to Meet and Marry Mr Right', a hilarious guide to hunting out and reeling in the man of your dreams, Jane discovers that with love, life and men, a girl doesn't need rules ...

Desde los once años, cuando descubrió que el chico que a ella le gustaba no podía ni verla, Jane Rosenal ha navegado intrepidamente por las procelosas aguas del sexo, el amor, las relaciones. Aquella vez, cuando le pregunto a su madre que podia hacer para que la amaran, ella le contesto "Se tu misma". Y Jane, con su irreverente sentido del humor y su incomoda franqueza, ha sido siempre ella misma con todos los hombres que han pasado por su vida: Jamie, su novio de la universidad, con quien descubrio los peligros de un strip poquer en el que se desnudaban cuerpos y almas; Archie, el fitzgeraldiano, seductor, celebre editor que conocio cuando ella tenia veintipocos años y el bastante mas del doble, y le enseño mucho sobre el arte de editar y las politicas del mundo laboral; y años mas tarde, el agresivo, sofisticado manhattanita del que no nos dice el nombre, pero si que su unica religion era el psicoanalisis, que la llevo a Paris y la amaba, pero no sabia quien era ella realmente... Pero cuando Jane encuentra en la boda de su mejor amiga a Robert, un dibujante de comics capaz de hacer vibrar su cuerpo y hacerla reir al mismo tiempo, comienza a preguntarse si, para que esta relacion no acabe en un desastre, no debera aprender a ser menos ella misma y mas esa otra, de cabello

Desde los once años Jane Rosenal ha navegado intrepidamente por las procelosas aguas del sexo, el amor, las relaciones. Con su irreverente sentido del humor y su incómoda franqueza, ha sido siempre ella misma con todos los hombres: Jamie, su novio de la universidad, con quien descubrio los peligros de un strip poquer; Archie, el celebre editor que le enseño mucho sobre el arte de editar; y el agresivo, sofisticado manhattanita del que no nos dice el nombre, pero si que su unica religion era el psicoanalisis, que la llevo a Paris pero no sabia quien era ella realmente...Pero cuando Jane encuentra a Robert, un dibujante de comics capaz de hacer vibrar su cuerpo y hacerla reir al mismo tiempo, comienza a preguntarse si, para que esta relacion no acabe en un desastre, no debera aprender a ser menos ella misma y mas esa otra, con un objetivo, muy definido & x02013;el altar& x02013; que propugnan los manuales de caza y pesca para chicas...

Sophie Applebaum sabe muy bien que la vida te da sorpresas, y que no hay que dar nada por sentado. A los doce años, convencida de que su madre le había arruinado el último y maravilloso día de vacaciones obligándola a ir a la fiesta de la hija de su mejor amiga, un festival kitsch todo decorado en rosa, huyó al aparcamiento. Y allí conoció al chico más interesante de la fiesta. Pero Sophie, a pesar de su sentido del humor, también tendrá que aprender que la vida no es fácil. Y cuando sus padres la obligan -cariñosamente, claro, porque los Applebaum son una familia muy ¡lustrada y progresista judeoamericana de clase media- a aprender hebreo por las tardes, comenzará un período de resistencia pasiva, y acabará como cómplice involuntaria de Margie, la más rebelde de las Zorras, el grupo de chicas que le ha hecho la vida imposible en el colegio. Pero la deliciosa novela de Melissa Bank sigue a su antiheroína a lo largo de muchos años: la encontramos en la universidad, compartiendo habitación con la glamourosa Vence, y aprendiendo los juegos de la seducción y del poder; en Nueva York, a los veintipocos años, navegando con una brújula muy incierta en busca de sí misma, de una vocación, de un hombre, de un trabajo. Los trabajos, los encontrará en una editorial, donde lee manuscritos en la Batcueva, junto a la extraña Francine, que piensa que todo aspirante a escritor, por ilegible, insoportable o impublicable que sea, merece que al menos una vez en la vida alguien lo lea; y en diversas agencias de publicidad, donde escribe anuncios, folletos, eslóganes, ficciones sobre toallitas para niños y productos de belleza para adultos. Y los hombres serán unos cuantos: Josh, un joven poeta judío que huele como una biblioteca pública; el inasible, peligroso Bobby Guest; Neil, un médico divorciado que había sido el chico más plasta del instituto, y ahora habla de sus pacientes famosos para impresionar a los amigos de Sophie; y Chris, el que muere, y Seth, el que la lleva a un lugar maravilloso...

Generous-hearted and wickedly insightful, The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing is the New York Times bestselling novel by Melissa Bank and part of the Penguin Essentials, a series which spotlights the very best of our modern classics The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing maps the progress of Jane Rosenal as she sets out on a personal and spirited expedition through the perilous terrain of sex, love, relationships, and the treacherous waters of the workplace. Soon Jane is swept off her feet by an older man and into a Fitzgeraldesque whirl of cocktail parties, country houses, and rules that were made to be broken, but comes to realise that its a world where the stakes are much too high for comfort. With an unforgettable comic touch, Bank skilfully teases out universal issues, puts a clever new spin on the mating dance, and captures in perfect pitch what its like to come of age as a young woman.This chronicle of a New Yorkers relationships has a wit and perceptiveness that singles it out from the crowd GuardianAs hilarious as Girls Guide is, theres a wise, serious core here Wall Street JournalA sexy, pour-your-heart-out, champagne tingle of a read-thoughtful, wise, and tell-a