How to Build a Girl: A Novel (P.S. (Paperback))

Like all Caitlin Moran books, this was fantastic. I laughed and cried along the way and now I have an all-time favorite quote that came from this book, "My hormones were rioting like a zoo on fire."

If you loved How to Be a Woman, you'll love How to Build a Girl.

Story about a self indulgent mess of a girl. After supposedly learning some hard lessons, in the end she continues
with her immoral, self indulgent life style. It was described as 'humorous' -- that reviewer obviously didn't read more
than the first few chapters. This seems to be common with some lazy reviewers.

Even as a formerly awkward teenaged girl, I found it hard to empathize with the main character. She was completely unappealing, and frankly came off as a bit mentally challenged. The best part of the book was the protagonist's reaction to her well-endowed hookup. There were laugh out loud moments. Then it spun into a ridiculous and unrealistic scene. That was a main flaw of the novel. The writer takes things too far. If Johanna/Dolly and the situations she got herself into were slightly less ridiculous, the book would have been more enjoyable. And she stayed ridiculous until the end.

A naughty naughty read....thoroughly entertaining. I wanted the book for the cover...not going to lie. I got so much more from it. Caitlin Moran is a writing beast and I am so excited to read all her other books thanks to this amazing book. She does not hold back and she tells it like it is...that's what makes her so addictive.

This was a very charming book. True, I found Johanna/Dolly a bit grating and annoying but I cared deeply for her life and her family and where she would end up and I wasn't disappointed. We live in a world where character development isn't as important and necessary as it's been in the past. Thank you, postmodernism.

Johanna is unapologetically herself throughout the novel. She made me mad and made me roll my eyes and I wanted to sit her down several times and guide her from the error of her ways. This is the genius in Moran's writing, the gutsy authenticity. We're there for every bodily fluid, every giant penis, every fold of baby fat. I couldn't stand this girl half the time but I rooted for her anyway. Her family is written wonderfully. Each of them was alive and angry and believable. I grew up as poor as they did and this novel smacked of the realism and sadness of poverty.

I'm sure much of this book was autobiographical. It was a fun read and actually educational as far as the trends and hypes of the time period (early to mid 90s). Some of the plot is so hard to believe that it has to be true, if that makes sense. Like you couldn't write that stuff. This book would work great as a TV series.

The ending it truly what made this book great. It was what I expected but it wasn't what I expected. Johanna learned her lesson but only changed enough to please herself, which is what we all do. I thought for sure there would be this big resolution with Johanna's hilariously present father at the end but instead the resolution was with her mother, who had been mostly relegated to the periphery of the text. And the passage was beautiful and masterfully done. Her resolution with her father was brief and fitting. I really liked this book.

Fourteen-year-old Johanna Morrigan lives in a working class hell neighborhood. Her father, prone to drink, tirades about Margaret Thatcher, and gets caught up in get-rich schemes that involve befriending dubious people in the "indie rock world." To be clear, the father is dragging his family into assisted living hell. Then Johanna has a revelation: She will change her identity to Dolly Wilde and become a teenage sensation rock critic, which will serve two purposes: It will allow her to immerse herself into the world she loves, music, and it will make money for her impoverished family. This plot outline is an opportunity for Caitlin Moran to exercise her gifts oft acerbic wit and humor, making great joy and laughter out of a morass of absurdity and helplessness, a real triumph.

As Joe Queenan's wonderful memoir Closing Time is about a boy seeking refuge from his hellish childhood by losing himself in a world of books, Moran's semiautobiographical novel How to Build a Girl is about a teenage girl seeking sanctuary from her bare-boned existence through the escape of music and flourishing as a writer. Highly recommended.

Post Script: I love the references to bands that I fell in love with over twenty years ago: Slowdive, Chapterhouse, Kitchens of Distinction, The Smiths, etc. Her tastes in music made me feel all the more connected to her comic novel.

Johanna Morrigan is a fourteen-year-old overweight “nothing” who recreates herself over the summer as Dolly Wilde, adventurous and fun-loving music critic. She is desperate to find a way to save her family after their government assistance is reduced and devises a plan to become a music critic to make money.

She is also obsessed with the idea of sex and losing her virginity, and begins to work hard at resolving this situation.

She builds herself, then rebuilds herself, and rebuilds again.

Johanna lives at home with her dysfunctional parents and siblings. Her father is an alcoholic dreamer who supports his family on government assistance while he drunkenly awaits his big break into music. Her mother appears to have given up on life, suffering from post-partum depression after the unexpected birth of twins. And she finds herself at an awkward stage with her brother Krissi, where he is pulling away into adulthood (and away from her oafish behavior), and Johanna finds she misses him.

The story starts when Johanna is fourteen, but fairly quickly it jumps a few years to Johanna at seventeen as her recreated self Dolly Wilde. I appreciated the idea of recreating yourself in this image of who you wish to be-- especially for a young person who hates themselves.

However this book felt annoyingly juvenile at times. It was a little too "YA" for my taste. I found myself being simultaneously amused and somewhat bored by both the characters and the story. When trying to put my finger on the the feeling, I thought, "It feels like laying around in a hammock on the weekend, bored with nothing better to do, and watching a bunch of pre-adolescent kids being obnoxious and entertaining themselves. If there were something better to do, I'd get up and leave."

The story was very crass and childish. I'm not saying that it was "offensive", as I'm not easily offended, and I in fact love a little crudity in my characters. However this story was just crass and juvenile, and I found myself mentally shaking my head as I would if this girl were talking to me in person, wishing she would mature, because despite her embellished accomplishments, she was very immature. Perhaps that is part of the problem for me. My mother always told me that I was "born to be 40" when I was a kid. I was always mature for my age. So while I "get" aspects of this novel and can see my juvenile-self in certain moments, overall I was never this immature and couldn't identify with much of it.

But I do issue a heavy warning to those who are easily offended. The book is full of vulgarity, distasteful references, coarse behavior, and sexual situations. So tread carefully.

This book actually consisted of some decent writing which had the ability to move the story along at a steady pace. And it was a peculiar story, which gave it a little interest, but I found it essentially lifeless. It was just "okay" for me-- a momentary distraction that I will quickly forget.

Johanna Morrigan is a fourteen-year-old overweight “nothing” who recreates herself over the summer as Dolly Wilde, adventurous and fun-loving music critic. She is desperate to find a way to save her family after their government assistance is reduced and devises a plan to become a music critic to make money.

She is also obsessed with the idea of sex and losing her virginity, and begins to work hard at resolving this situation.

She builds herself, then rebuilds herself, and rebuilds again.

Johanna lives at home with her dysfunctional parents and siblings. Her father is an alcoholic dreamer who supports his family on government assistance while he drunkenly awaits his big break into music. Her mother appears to have given up on life, suffering from post-partum depression after the unexpected birth of twins. And she finds herself at an awkward stage with her brother Krissi, where he is pulling away into adulthood (and away from her oafish behavior), and Johanna finds she misses him.

The story starts when Johanna is fourteen, but fairly quickly it jumps a few years to Johanna at seventeen as her recreated self Dolly Wilde. I appreciated the idea of recreating yourself in this image of who you wish to be-- especially for a young person who hates themselves.

However this book felt annoyingly juvenile at times. It was a little too "YA" for my taste. I found myself being simultaneously amused and somewhat bored by both the characters and the story. When trying to put my finger on the the feeling, I thought, "It feels like laying around in a hammock on the weekend, bored with nothing better to do, and watching a bunch of pre-adolescent kids being obnoxious and entertaining themselves. If there were something better to do, I'd get up and leave."

The story was very crass and childish. I'm not saying that it was "offensive", as I'm not easily offended, and I in fact love a little crudity in my characters. However this story was just crass and juvenile, and I found myself mentally shaking my head as I would if this girl were talking to me in person, wishing she would mature, because despite her embellished accomplishments, she was very immature. Perhaps that is part of the problem for me. My mother always told me that I was "born to be 40" when I was a kid. I was always mature for my age. So while I "get" aspects of this novel and can see my juvenile-self in certain moments, overall I was never this immature and couldn't identify with much of it.

But I do issue a heavy warning to those who are easily offended. The book is full of vulgarity, distasteful references, coarse behavior, and sexual situations. So tread carefully.

This book actually consisted of some decent writing which had the ability to move the story along at a steady pace. And it was a peculiar story, which gave it a little interest, but I found it essentially lifeless. It was just "okay" for me-- a momentary distraction that I will quickly forget.

Caitlin Moran’s books aren’t for everyone. Moran is a British columnist, interviewer and broadcaster who authored How To Be A Woman, an account of her life growing up in the Midlands in northern England. She dropped out of high school and became a rock music critic in London. Her latest fictional book entitled How to Build a Girl draws heavily on this background of working class family with many children. This book is not for the squeamish. Moran’s main character, Johanna Morrigan is an exceptionally precocious overweight fourteen-year-old who uses her intellect and determination to grow her brand beyond Wolverhampton. Johanna earns a position writing critical reviews of alternative music groups for an underground publication in London and over a three-year period experiences a lifetime’s quotient of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. At times I felt the graphic narrative as being a tad gratuitous but then again, that’s the essence of the book.

Moran is a brilliant writer. She has a wonderful command of slang and idiom peculiar to the northern working class and indie music insiders. While I enjoyed the book it was mainly because of her writing style rather than the story itself. The pace of the narrative is like a bell-jar; it begins at a nice even pace, picks up speed in the middle and tapers off toward the end without actually blowing me away. I would love to see her write about something outside her usual scope but writers are advised to write about what they know and that’s what she knows. Moran views life from a unique perspective and the words she uses to describe what she sees are amazing. I’m definitely looking forward to her next project which I hope will branch out to include a wider range of life experiences.

If you don’t get offended by graphic descriptions of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll scene, then you’ll enjoy the book. If you’re a bit sensitive, then I’d skip it. But, as I said, I love the way she writes regardless of what she writes.

This book bears little resemblance to Almost Famous but for whatever reason my mind kept going there. This is definitely a coming of age story set in the grungy 1990s. Our awkward heroine Johanna lives in a housing project, is a little chubby, sort of lonely, smart, and darkly humorous. Her parents are pretty much checked out (dad is disabled, alcoholic and the mom is emotionally checked out post-partum with her much younger twin siblings). I also see her as a bit of a genius for doing what everyone wants to do at some point - become a new person. To me this was an act of survival amidst the drabness of a desperate life. That and because of the mistake of making a statement about the family's use of disability benefits that has dire consequences. A new person named Dolly emerges with a sassy grunge rocker look and persona complete with substantial eyeliner.

By 16, Dolly is knee deep in a writing gig (as a music critic) for a London publication to help with family finances. But this gig also creates a portal into the world of sex (S.E.X.), drugs, and alcohol. In other words, "fake it `til you make it." But the fun of the rock'n'roll lifestyle comes with a price and brings Dolly back to ground zero. Time to rebuild on a better foundation.

But, let me just say that despite the humor and diary-like narrative, there is a darker subtext that relates the reality of life as a teenaged girl (or even a grown up woman). It feels as lonely and as confusing as it actually is (and was for many of us older "girls"). Much of it speaks to the fact that the world is really still a man's world, despite feminism. Girls are judged on the things most boys get away with without the bat of an eye.

Although the last quarter of the book seems to meander off course a bit, everything eventually gets tied up with a tidy, non-cliché ribbon.

I liked this a lot but definitely get the sense that it's not for everyone.

Johanna Morrigan lives in the council estates, a train ride away from London (aka "the projects" where the struggling and nearly destitute lower economic classes live) with her unemployed parents and 4 siblings. Her Dad is a wannabe musician, now on disability income, a large portion of which he spends down at the pub. Her mom is suffering from a debilitating case of post-partum depression after the arrival of unplanned/unwanted twins. The household is barely clinging to the lowest rung of the economic ladder, particularly after their benefits are reduced by 11% - an act which Johanna blames herself for because she casually mentioned to a neighbor that her dad was on disability.

At age 14, Johanna appeared on a local tv show and acted out in a weird manner, and has been trying ever since to recover from that embarrassment. At age 16, she decides to make herself over into a rock music writer/critic, and to her credit, goes about it in a very thorough manner - she borrows CD's from the library, reads all the music magazines extensively and practices her writing skill. When she gets a writing gig for a London paper, she impresses them with her observations and writing, and starts to get more assignments. But here's where she starts to go off track. When she starts to make money, she decides to drop out of the last year of high school, and shockingly her parents allow this - she is giving part of her income to the household fund after all.

Johanna makes herself over into a rock/goth/ foul-talking, drinking, smoking, drug-experimenting, sex-addicted "cool" girl. Her parents either don't realize the extent of her depravity, or can't reel her in. Eventually she "builds a girl" that she doesn't even recognize - it's as if she's standing outside of her body observing another person. She lacerates nearly every band that she reviews in the most sarcastic and offensive language possible, and finally starts to realize that she is making herself very unlikeable.

The process of Johanna "building a girl" (who she calls Dolly Wilde after her favorite author Oscar Wilde) is at times hilarious, at times horrifying (why didn't anyone offer her guidance?), and even occasionally sickening. The language is foul and gritty and at times unbelievably graphic and crude. There is also a considerable amount of slang, some of it probably particular to the Midlands in the early 1990's, and numerous mentions of bands that you won't have heard of. As noted in some other reviews, some readers just won't be able to get past the grittiness of the novel and will give it up. But if you're willing to slog through that part (which is at least 50% of the book), you will be rewarded at the end when Johanna reboots and learns to "build a girl" that she'll be able to live with in the long term.

The language and situations are so over-the-top that they seem unreal (no one would really do all of that stuff would they?), which is a good reminder that this is just fiction - or is it?

Caitlin Moran first came onto my radar with 'How to Be a Woman.' I'd been eagerly looking forward to this novel, and was thrilled when given the opportunity to read it for Vine.

'How to Build a Girl' is a young woman's coming-of-age: Johanna is the expected bundle of insecurities, insights, and burgeoning sexuality. She navigates the creation (and destruction) of her identity, admonishing her weight and conventional outlook -- and slowly creates the self-identity she desires. Parts are hilariously funny without being vacant or superficial; Moran is able to navigate a teenage girl's diary without slipping into cliche adolescent stereotypes and anguish. Johanna has depth, insight, and enlightenment -- or, she at least develops them over the course of the book.

Moran is a wonderful writer, hiding pieces of herself and values in the heroine's ventures; her style is impeccably on-point, with 90s cultural references (sure to be nostalgic for her targeted late 20s/early 30-something audience).

I purchased “How to Build a Girl” by Caitlin Moran on e-book at the recommendation of a friend. She has been a fan of Caitlin Moran and has been trying to convince me to read her for some time, and I finally caved in.

The story starts off as what seems to be a coming of age story staring Johanna Morrigan. She is a fourteen year old girl who feels that she has let down her family and is going to cause them to lose their, already to small, home and leave them homeless and penniless. Because she feels that she is the cause of her family downfall, she decides its’s her responsibility to fix the situation. One of these attempts happens to be on local TV show where she completely humiliates herself. This local humiliation gives her and idea to re-invent her and she becomes Dolly Wilde. However, to become Dolly Wilde, Johanna has to grow up way to quick and change everything about herself. This is where we lose that coming to age feeling in this story, and we watch Johanna become a sex crazed ‘bitch’ for lack of a better word.

I liked reading about Johanna Morrigan, and was sad to lose her in the story when Dolly started making more appearances. However, I was also able to relate with Johanna about wanting to re-invent herself and become someone else. I’ve been there; I think we all have at least once in our lives. I even enjoyed following Dolly around seeing what crazy thing she would do next. Sometimes I even found myself embarrassed for her with some of the things she said and did. I also really enjoyed her father and her brother Krissi’s charters as well. I feel that they kept the book light.

What I could have gone without is the over defined and raunchy details of Dolly’s sexually escapades. Thankfully, this did not start until closer to end of the book. It’s not that I do not enjoy sex scenes; about half of the books I read are detailed about sexual encounters of the characters. My problem with the scenes in this book was that they just seemed so overly juvenile and crude, that it almost seemed wrong to read.

I cannot say that I was disappointed with the book, because I actually did like it for the most part. I did not find it to be too easy of a read, nor was it held down by too much useless dribble, that I easily became invested in the story. This is not a book that I would recommend to everyone, however, if you ever felt the need to re-invent yourself, this is a must read.

Fabulous, original, very funny coming of age book with a dark undercurrent that makes it a serious, poignant novel. Johanna Morrigan is 14 years old, fat, rock-bottom poor, and lives with her parents and four brothers in Wolverhampton, England. Rather than wallowing in her dire straits, she uses her writing talent and optimism to reinvent herself as an outspoken music critic named Dolly Wilde.

What I loved most is the way Johanna is able to take horribly embarrassing situations, learn from them, and use her powers of reinvention to take her life in another direction. It's not often a wholesome direction, but Johanna is indomitable. The author has a unique voice and perspective -- the book is unlike anything I've read before.

The discussion of masturbation, losing her virginity, and lots of cussing by just about everyone would make me recommend this book only to late teens. Also, it helps to have been to England, watched a lot of British tv, or to have read other British novels to understand much of the slang she uses.

Warning! This novel leads to a particular life style model that most may not consider ideal for many chapters. Picked this book up on seeing in the new book shelf at the library and it took a while for me to dive into it. There is just so much else to read! But knowing it would be coming due soon I started it today and can't put it down. (No, the cover is not sticky.) At first reading the opening I thought I was going to be out of my element in the same way I was with Fifty Shades of Grey (The Fifty Shades Trilogy)- a confession! I never read past the first encounter finding it too - well, just not me. But this read by Caitlin Moran is hilarious and lively and well, just the sort of book I would have wanted Lady Rowling to have penned after the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone series so that we would actually think of her as a good author and not just someone who luckily stumbled on a great plot, great characters, great dialog, and great everything, but then left it to go on and be completely ordinary after. How to Build is clearly a series worth reading and the family may be a typical British family but they are super in exposition. I am having a blast with this book. But beware it gets rough for awhile and while there is certainly a lesson in this it may not be the sort of lesson you want to hear about or imagine. Sort of a Fifty Shades of Grey in comic reversal.

I just finished this yesterday and I really enjoyed it. At first I was a bit put off because the character is either 14 or 15 when it starts and goes on until she's 17. The reason I was put off was because I wondered if it was normal that she thought about s-e-x so much so I asked a few of my girlfriends if they thought it normal and we basically agreed that at that age we were sneak reading Harlequin romance novels so yeah...we were thinking about it that much too. The writer is extremely talented in that she really weaves this stream of consciousness in and out, up and down in a way that kind of controls your emotions and you just sink into it. The family is poor and trying to work that out but they are poor, GOOD people. Like...the parents are doing everything they can do to stay afloat and still do right by their children's opportunities. There was enough unsaid that allowed the reader to imply and therefore imagine the story playing out before them as in a movie. It was different...but GOOD different. Made me really think and empathize with a lot of things that I probably pre-judged before because those experiences were not mine. Seems to me she had good solid reasons for being the way she was.

A certain kind of reader will love this book, but several other types of readers will dislike it. The Trick? Knowing which type you are. If you love to laugh, have a dark or off color sense of humor, you are the kind of reader this is written for. If, however, your tastes run to more straight lace or middle of the road, pass this by, you won't like it or find it even remotely funny.

It's the story of an awkward teen, growing up overweight and insecure in a suburban England public housing project. She hates her life and where it's going, and decides to reinvent herself. She does so in a big way, and the book tells the story of Johanna, now Dolly, larger than life and making waves. The problem is, underneath it all, she's still the same insecure girl from the housing project. I laughed alot, and enjoyed the book immensely. It was a fun riot with a wonderful literary character I would follow anywhere.

A naughty naughty read....thoroughly entertaining. I wanted the book for the cover...not going to lie. I got so much more from it. Caitlin Moran is a writing beast and I am so excited to read all her other books thanks to this amazing book. She does not hold back and she tells it like it is...that's what makes her so addictive.

I first came across Caitlin Moran when I reviewed her book, "How to be a Woman.' Modesty forbids but megalomania insists on revealing my reviewing of that book - the highest placed with over 100 "Helpful" votes.

I looked in vain for some sort of "Thank You" for my review. A Rolls-Royce in my driveway, or even a few packets of McVitie's Chocolate Digestive Biscuits (sort of large Graham Crackers with one side thickly covered in chocolate). But nothing.

So without any sort of a bribe (not that I'd accept them, but it would have been nice to eat Chocolate Biscuits in the back of the Rolls), I have to review this book. And unbribed, I have to say that this book is even better than "How to be a Woman."

If you recall, Caitlin's first book was about her life, from around a thirteen-year-old to an adult. She's really broadened her scope with this book, which is about her life, from around a thirteen-year-old to an adult. The difference is that this story is the same, but largely fictional.

In this book, she can use her imagination along with other people's experience. She goes to the pop record paper in London, gets a job writing reviews of bands playing in her local area, which she does without attending the concerts, but buy listening to their albums that she has to loan from the local library.

Born Johanna Morrigan, she reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde, along with a "Who-gives-a-F***" attitude. Of course, Dolly never was a virgin, but Johanna spends a great deal of time trying to get into bed with anyone - with everyone, in fact. She muddles through her sex life, but does have words of advice on how to deal with an incredibly well-endowed man. In fact, a "thing" which has to live in two post codes at once.

Johanna has the solution to this. She advises doing it doggy-style and then crawling away from it, round and round the bed. The whole book is full of hilarious moments like this, and even better because she's writing fiction.

If you've read her earlier book, you'll know what I mean. If you're new to Caitlin, buy it anyway.

3+ stars
Like another reviewer, I wanted to like this book so much more than I did and I am having a hard time trying to put my finger on why. I loved her first book and I enjoyed a great deal about this book, but it seemed that I had read something similar in the past.

She is witty and tells a great story, but I kept putting this book down and nothing compelling was making me pick it back up again. I think she deserves all the accolades for what she has accomplished thus far, perhaps it was the hype of this book that set my expectations too high (NY Times etc.)

If this is a new genre for you and you are open minded and especially if you grew up in the 70's you will probably love this book. Again, I enjoyed it but I guess I was looking for so much more.

A girl walks into a Wolverhampton chemist to shoplift make up. The only security appears to consist of a sign that says Shoplifters: Will Be Prosecuted. Someone has scribbled over it with felt pen to read Hope: Be Cute--which she adopts as her new motto. She was only trying to fit in with her cousin's Goth gang, but she's failing the entrance exam miserably. Seems she's not up on the latest music. Plus, she might not even be Goth--merely Goth Curious. She really belongs with Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woollcott at the Algonquin Roundtable. Or with Oscar Wilde, or at least with her alcoholic niece, Dolly Wilde, whose name she appropriates, along with the purloined make up and Slash's Child Catcher top hat.

She is going to build herself a whole new persona, from the ground up. She tunes into John Peel's show on Radio 1, and orders records from the library. On her wall she tacks up images of cool people she wishes to emulate: Dylan Thomas. Elizabeth Taylor. Orson Welles. Dorothy Parker. Barbra Streisand. Rik Mayall as Lordflashheart on Blackadder, kicking down the door, storming through it, and shouting "Woof!" Or alternatively "Let's do-oo-ooooo it!"

She posts this quotation:

"the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars."

If you don't know this quotation by heart, and that it's from On the Road by Jack Kerouac, stop reading this review at once! Do not pass "Go." Do not collect $200. There is nothing for you here, O, L7. Move along, citizen.

Unless you are one of the mad ones, then by all means, please come right in. But Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here.* Unless it's Hope: Be Cute.

What we have here is a Bildungsroman. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with coming-of-age novel. It was Johann Wolfgang Goethe who wrote the first Bildungsroman, published in 1795-96: Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. Philologist Karl Morgenstern used the word in his university lectures in 1819, and Wilhelm Dilthey legitimized and popularized the term in 1870 and 1905. Caitlin Moran never uses this word per se, but the title: How To Build a Girl, seems to suggest a Bildungsroman--and the content confirms it. Or perhaps it is more of a Künstlerroman--which concerns the growth and development of an Artist?

Apart from the gender of the protagonist and the location, the story is almost Almost Famous by Cameron Crowe, because it tells the story of a young and precocious Rock Journalist--but female and in the UK. Also it is from a later era. 90s as opposed to 70s. Here is a sample review of Smashing Pumpkins that shows the developing knack and flair of the fledgling critic:

Every cool kid in the Midlands has come to pay obeisance to the new Emperors of Mournful Grunge. Little matter that Billy Corgan's singing style is somewhat yowling--that of a cat out in the rain who has just realized the cat flap is locked against him. From the first crashing chords of "Siva," every kid in the venue has the same look on their face: "I, too, have felt like a cat locked out in the rain, Billy Corgan! I live in Bilston! You have to wait forty-five minutes for the 79 bus! Thank you for writing a song that finally expresses how that feels!"

With writing in her novel as good as this review I really believed all the characters were real, even the ones that were fictional. Her father and brothers, Lupin and Krissi, were especially vivid. I googled John Kite and was surprised to find there was no such person. John Kite, described as a Welsh Nick Drake or a Welsh American Music Club (I once tried to interview Mark Eitzel of AMC, but my interview didn't go nearly as well as hers did with John Kite). The real and fictional were well blended. The protagonist was very similar to the author, so I was thinking it was just a memoir, but it was all fiction--or was it? I was caught up in the story, feeling along with her all the laughter and the tears--especially the laughter. Moran has a great sense of humor, wasted for the most part on people in the blighted post-industrial wasteland of Wolverhampton, who just don't get her, don't know when she is doing an allusion to Alexander Woollcott, or a scene from the Broadway Musical, Annie. Her humour could be semantic deconstruction, and that just didn't go over so well in Wolverhampton. I could really relate to her feelings of isolation and alienation and her joy at finally finding someone like Kite who 'got' her.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Harlot: She is honing her skills, and burning with talent. She shows all the evidence of being a budding writer, in love with words, such as basorexia: the overwhelming need to be kissed. Like Rimbaud, she is like a drunk in love with drunkenness. Figuratively and literally. She teaches herself the definition of "autodidact" but ironically, being an autodidact herself, has never heard it pronounced and doesn't know how to say it. In her reviews she is master of her domain: "All my best words and phrases deployed like bonnets, tippets, and jewels to fascinate the eye, and inspire wonder."

It was a lot of fun reading this book. I enjoyed the whole milieu of rock journalism in the final days of the last millennium in the Midlands and London, as seen through the eyes of a young woman, discovering her emergent powers. Learning about shagging, smoking, drinking, cutting, all that, and also that there is a price for it all and consequences. That with great power comes great responsibility.

Come, as Alexander Woollcott would have it. We must away, to pastures new.

* Bet you thought I was trying to show off by slipping in a quote from The Divine Comedy by Dante, but this is actually from the door on the coffee house where Peter Parker hung out while going to college--which was admittedly a quote from Dante, but I fully intended it to be taken in the context of The Amazing Spiderman's leisure time.

Caitlin Morans How to Build a Girl is exactly that; a how to on putting together a girl piece by piece, all by herself, from the inside out. Fourteen year old Johanna Morrigan, growing up in early 1990’s Wolverhampton, England, begins writing rock music reviews as Dolly Wilde to save her family, and escape her poverty stricken life. Along the way she begins to discover who she is, or at least who she wants to be. She begins shedding her cocoon after meeting her rock star best friend and crush John Kite and starts coming into her own; fully aware that she is outgrowing her small town and knowing it’s time to expand out into the world.She is a girl driven to bring the dreams inside her head to fruition in real life. She discovers that she has control over her own life and what happens or doesn’t happen to her. This is a book that, overall, is about reinvention, which is never finished; reinvent, then reinvent again. There are many references throughout the novel to David Bowie who was a master of reinvention.

Moran’s writing is straight forward, clear and concise, full of sass and humor. It is easy to fall for Johanna as she aims for her dreams of rock critic stardom, and her inner journey of self discovery. Moran uses Johanna’s journey into Dolly Wilde to express the themes of feminism and class differences. The book is riddled with unforgettable characters aside from Johanna; her desperate, failed pop star father, her exhausted mother, her always exasperated brother Krissi and her very loved little brother Lupin, to the personalitites she meets writing for D&ME magazine and the rock stars she befriends, and the bands she critiques. It’s a very relatable story even if the reader hasn’t grown up in 1990s Wolverhampton or lived the rock and roll life; for everyone has gone through trying to find themselves, probably more then once, especially in the teenage years.

Moran very clearly remembers what being a teenager was like and she has expressed that here so perfectly. It is a story so universal anyone can find themselves in Johanna, in some way or another. This was the first of Moran’s works that I have read and I have to say that I was not let down, indeed, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t want to put the book down. Highly recommended.

Although I am not the target audience for this novel, I found Johanna to be an engaging observer of Britain in the early post-Thatcher era. Moran writes with honesty and humor. According to reports, this is a semi-autobiography, which explains the richness of detail. I felt a great deal of empathy for this 14 year old girl whose depressed mother and dreaming, immature father have done little to look beyond themselves and provide instruction to their children. Johanna's efforts are to hold the family together, and her alter ego, Dolly Wilde, does so to a certain extent. There is no tidy resolution, which leaves her story open for perhaps a sequel. One hopes.

I adored the narrator of this audiobook. I feel like I wouldn't have gotten the same feeling if I'd read the book instead of listening to the audiobook. She had a charming, wonderful British accent and I loved it. Even when she was being vulgar it was musical. Aside from that though, this book felt like I was listening to How to Be a Woman all over again. It was basically Caitlin Moran's autobiography, with a few tweaks. I already listened to How to Be a Woman and gave it a 3 so after listening to this, it gets a 3 as well. They're practically the same!

The plot felt a little thin outside of her sexual conquests, but the themes are so, so important, so for that, I appreciated it. Certain elements aren't exactly spelled out for you by the end, and some of it is more subtle which worries me that maybe it could be lost on some readers, but if not, it's powerful. Majority of it is very funny, and even as a grown woman, it's easy to relate to.