THOUGHTS ON CHICK LIT

It is a new/emerging genre, but it is HUGE right now in terms of sales growth and �buzz� about it.  They are novels about young women in their 20s and 30s who are establishing themselves in careers and relationships.  They are almost always funny and upbeat and there is often a gossip-y or confessional tone to them.  Key words are smart and sexy and trendy.   They are packaged in bright colors (often hot pink) and have a sort of cover iconography that involves high heels, rhinestone sunglasses, lipstick, martini glasses, etc.  To paraphrase one class member, it is like �Sex and the City,� except it�s a book. 

Many publishers have �Chick Lit� imprints now.  They include:

Harlequin � Read Dress Ink

Ballantine - XYZ Group

Pocket - Downtown Press

Kensington -Strapless

Some �classics� (if there is such a thing in a new genre):

Helen Fielding , Bridget Jones� Diary (1998)

Melissa Bank, The Girls� Guide to Hunting and Fishing (1999)

Emma Mc Laughlin and Nicola Kraus, The Nanny Diaries (2002)

Lauren Weisberger, The Devil Wears Prada (2004)

Meg Cabot, Boy Meets Girl (2004)

Emma Gold, Easy (2003)

Wendy Holden Farm Fatale (2002)

Websites to look at:

http://chicklitbooks.com/ -- HUGE Bibliography and reviews; can search by ethnicity of heroine, for Christian chick lit, etc. 

http://authorsontheweb.com/features/0402-chicklit/chicklit.asp -- Authors on the Web�Chick Lit roundtable � authors discussing their art

http://www.chicklit.us � online British Chick Lit store, useful glossary to Yankees

http://www.chicklitwriters.com/ -- Romance Writers of America Chick Lit Chapter

http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=5972 

�Chick Lit 101� Baltimore City Paper OnLine Edition  -- popular coverage of the genre

*much of the above cribbed from Genreflecting: a Guide to Popular Reading Interests, by Diana Tixier Herald (Libraries Unlimited 2006): 499-502.