Ah, I knew it sounded familiar!

I kind of missed that whole thing, so I'm glad you guys explained the joke. I mean, I was vaguely aware of it, but it was all just so ridiculous....she's quite clear in the book that the characters have different skin tones and colouring, that not everyone is white. It must be challenging to describe a less racist…

I love that she is pretending to fawn over these men, but is obviously totally in control at all times. And yeah, the faces she pulls are hilarious.

This is like Charlie and the Chocolate factory, only instead of an awesome, trippy adventure, they get to see a really lame band.

Nailed it.

Yeah, they are equivalent to chick flicks. The romance genre, though, is pretty specific, with conventions, and subgenres.

Was he a dick to her? I thought it was kind of unclear who was being the dick in that anecdote.

The problem is that loads of books by men are insubstantial and poorly written in the ways you describe, but that doesn't get them categorized as "dude lit". Genre fiction, as far as I can tell, describes a type of fiction that fulfills specific expectations of the reader, or (in the case of the best genre writers)…

Complaining about the quality of ketchup in France is like complaining that a vegetarian doesn't know how to cook a good steak.

I clicked on this thinking, "I wonder how many of the comments are about Ryan Gosling?"

My best friend's young daughter loves watching movies and dressing up like the main characters, so I pushed to offer her kids' movies that don't feature heteronormative, bastardized fairytale princess stories. Amazing how many feature kidnapping... (Rescuers, Annie, Oliver and Company...) to the point where she now…

I agree! Yuck.

Not a scholar, but stories like Beauty and the Beast or, my personal favourite, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, describe girls who were regretfully sold into marriage by their impoverished families. I am not sure who was being comforted...

Since lesbianism only exists in order to titillate men, any display of affection is obviously intended for an audience...

Cyclists wear superfine merino, and believe me, it is the best. NO B.O. Linen is amazing, too. Costs more, but it lasts well and well worth if to keep cool. I am not sure about silk, but I know there are other fibres that breathe well. Just not cotton.

(Could someone please allow my above comment, since in the 6 months since I was last on here, I have mysteriously lost my star and +300 followers? Obviously, you don't have to approve this comment...)

Cotton does not breathe, people. It absorbs. Linen or fine wool blends are your friend. As one sweaty woman to another.

It's kind of a male fantasy, but it's also a "comical" (read:cruel) stereotype about poor rural whites. Kind of an extension of the cliché about the guy whose car breaks down in the country and an old farmer invites him home so he can introduce him to a dirty, big-bosomed, and very horny daughter (if you haven't come…

@ardentlilac: Like Amelie! Although she is not exactly a career girl.