Rachel Unkefer reviewed Girls They Write Songs About by Carlene Bauer
The 2nd half is better than the 1st half
3 stars
This book is like a mashup of “Almost Famous” and Lena Dunham’s “Girls.” So, not great. The writing in the first half has a lot of run-on sentences and badly needed an editor. The last half is much better written, but doesn’t really make up for shaky start. Ultimately, the theme of the book is that even the most intense female friendship can’t survive one of the friends choosing marriage and children. The main character, first person narrator, who remains single, is supposed to be the wronged one here, but she comes off as whiny and immature. There is a romanticization of life as a couple of 20-something girls in late 1990s New York working for a music magazine, but it actually doesn’t seem like they’re having all that much fun. A bit mystifying why this book got good reviews.