#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MICHIKO KAKUTANI‎,‎ THE NEW YORK TIMES NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BUZZFEED‎,‎ THE GLOBE AND MAIL‎,‎ AND LIBRARY JOURNAL For readers of Nora Ephron‎,‎ Tina Fey‎,‎ and David Sedaris‎,‎ this hilarious‎,‎ wise‎,‎ and fiercely candid collection of personal essays establishes Lena Dunham—the acclaimed creator‎,‎ producer‎,‎ and star of HBO’s Girls—as one of the most original young talents writing today‎.‎ In Not That Kind of Girl‎,‎ Dunham illuminates the experiences that are part of making one’s way in the world‎:‎ falling in love‎,‎ feeling alone‎,‎ being ten pounds overweight despite eating only health food‎,‎ having to prove yourself in a room full of men twice your age‎,‎ finding true love‎,‎ and most of all‎,‎ having the guts to believe that your story is one that deserves to be told‎.‎ “Take My Virginity ‎(‎No Really‎,‎ Take It‎)‎” is the account of Dunham’s first time‎,‎ and how her expectations of sex didn’t quite live up to the actual event ‎(‎“No floodgate had been opened‎,‎ no vault of true womanhood unlocked”‎)‎‎;‎ “Girls & Jerks” explores her former attraction to less‎-than‎-nice guys—guys who had perfected the “dynamic of disrespect” she found so intriguing‎;‎ “Is This Even Real‎?‎” is a meditation on her lifelong obsession with death and dying—what she calls her “genetically predestined morbidity‎.‎” And in “I Didn’t F*** Them‎,‎ but They Yelled at Me‎,‎” she imagines the tell‎-all she will write when she is eighty and past caring‎,‎ able to reflect honestly on the sexism and condescension she has encountered in Hollywood‎,‎ where women are “treated like the paper thingies that protect glasses in hotel bathrooms—necessary but infinitely disposable‎.‎” Exuberant‎,‎ moving‎,‎ and keenly observed‎,‎ Not That Kind of Girl is a series of dispatches from the frontlines of the struggle that is growing up‎.‎ “I’m already predicting my future shame at thinking I had anything to offer you‎,‎” Dunham writes‎.‎ “But if I can take what I’ve learned and make one menial job easier for you‎,‎ or prevent you from having the kind of sex where you feel you must keep your sneakers on in case you want to run away during the act‎,‎ then every misstep of mine will have been worthwhile‎.‎” Praise for Not That Kind of Girl “The gifted Ms‎.‎ Dunham not only writes with observant precision‎,‎ but also brings a measure of perspective‎,‎ nostalgia and an older person’s sort of wisdom to her portrait of her ‎(‎not all that much‎)‎ younger self and her world‎.‎ ‎.‎ ‎.‎ ‎.‎ As acute and heartfelt as it is funny‎.‎”—Michiko Kakutani‎,‎ The New York Times “It’s not Lena Dunham’s candor that makes me gasp‎.‎ Rather‎,‎ it’s her writing—which is full of surprises where you least expect them‎.‎ A fine‎,‎ subversive book‎.‎”—David Sedaris “This book should be required reading for anyone who thinks they understand the experience of being a young woman in our culture‎.‎ I thought I knew the author rather well‎,‎ and I found many ‎(‎not altogether welcome‎)‎ surprises‎.‎”—Carroll Dunham “Witty‎,‎ illuminating‎,‎ maddening‎,‎ bracingly bleak ‎.‎ ‎.‎ ‎.‎ [Dunham] is a genuine artist‎,‎ and a disturber of the order‎.‎”—The Atlantic “As Dunham proves beyond a shadow of a doubt in Not That Kind of Girl‎,‎ she’s not remotely at risk of offering up the same old sentimental tales we’ve read dozens of times‎.‎”—The Los Angeles Review of Books From the Hardcover edition‎.‎