One of the most eagerly anticipated books of the season--funny, sexy, wise fiction from the freshest new voice in women's writing.

"I don't admit to myself what I'm doing when I put my bike helmet on and ride over to the bookstore a few blocks away. I pretend that maybe I'm just getting another Edith Wharton novel. But I bypass Fiction and find Self-Help. I think, Self-Help? If I could help myself I wouldn't be here. There are stacks and stacks of How to Meet and Marry Mr.Right, and I take my copy up to the counter as furtively as if it were a girdle or vibrator..."

With a steadily growing cadre of readers who delight in her smartly comic and insightful writing, Melissa Bank is an event waiting to happen. The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing explores the life lessons of Jane, the contemporary American Everywoman who combines the charm of Bridget Jones, the vulnerability of Ally McBeal, and the wit of Lorrie Moore. As she works her way from defiant teenager to reluctant career girl, growing older and getting smarter, Jane maneuvers her way through love, sex, relationships, and the occasional perils of the workplace. She reluctantly succumbs to the questionable advice offered in a pop-psych book entitled How to Meet and Marry Mr. Right .

Accompanied at every turn by the ear-whispering authors (who bear an uncanny resemblance to two popular, hateful high school acquaintances) Jane makes a series of dating decisions that lead her in the right direction--but for the wrong reasons. Wise, poignant, and full of the kind of laugh-out-loud insight you just have to share with your best friend, Melissa Bank is the kind of writer readers have been waiting for: an original voice telling a universal story through characters we all love and recognize. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

梅莉莎・班剋（Melissa Bank），曾在《芝加哥論壇報》、《西洋鏡雜誌》、《大都市》和《北美文學評論》上發錶過作品，她的短篇小說曾在美國全國公共廣播電颱播齣。1993年，班剋榮獲尼爾森・阿爾格倫短篇小說奬。1999年，梅莉莎・班剋製造瞭美國齣版業的一大新聞。她憑藉講述一位機智敏感的紐約姑娘簡・羅森納爾的一係列情感故事，一舉獲得六位數預付金。這個短篇係列格外走紅，獲得的成績可與海倫・菲爾丁的暢銷書《單身女士日記》媲美，還沒寫完就被好萊塢名牌導演看中瞭，可見班剋是一位深諳都市情文學之道的聖手。《少女漁獵手冊》被《齣版傢周刊》評為1999年最佳圖書，被譯成包括中文在內的二十二種文字。班剋目前與她的拉布拉多愛犬美寶蓮一同住在紐約。