Lena Dunham already has become a global phenomenon with the success of her hit comedy-drama TV show, GIRLS, which she created, directs and stars in herself. She is slowly becoming a household name in the entertainment business. She is an actress as well as a director, screenwriter and producer. What was Lena to do now she has all these impressive credentials? Simple – she was to add another and become an author. Yes, Lena’s self written book, Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned”, full of mini essays and tons of backstory following the life she’s lived so far which ranges from stories from her childhood all the way up to present day.
The book is split into five sections which covers her experience with love and sex, her journey to becoming confident with her body, the friendships she’s experienced, stories from her work life and finally “The Big Picture” where she shares her thoughts on things like death and dying. The book itself is written so well, with the same witty emotive charm that follows throughout GIRLS. You can’t help but fall in love with her goofy and extremely real stories!
There are many funny moments within this book and it seems Dunham has experienced every embarrassing moment you could possibly think of; whether it’s finding a prop condom between her butt cheeks whilst filming for a scene, or her hilarious list titled “18 Unlikely Things I’ve Said Flirtatiously”, which contains such statements as “This one time, I thought I was petting my hairless cat but it was actually my Mom’s vagina!” She definitely is an open book, she’s not shy about sharing all of these stories.
Life as we know, is not all sunshine and rainbows. As you would expect from a book that covers all the aspects of the life Lena Dunham has lived so far, it’s not all funny anecdotes. Lena opens up about some of the darker times in her life, one of which seeing her tell the story of slowly coming to terms with the realisation that she was date raped in college. This is something that the author had never shared before, stating in many interviews that it was a difficult passage to write – unsurprisingly – as she had not told her parents, sister or boyfriend what had happened. Through the inclusion of such personal stories, you can see that she is able to overcome anything and it only makes her stronger.
If you are a fan of Lena or not, this book is definitely worth the read. This book is more than a personal look into the crazy life she’s lived, and indeed still living. This is a heartfelt conversation that she invites you to have, passing on her experiences and stories. You can’t help but fall in love with her after reading, her loveable charm is just too much to resist.
Words by Connor Brown