AENEROUS-HEARTED,SMARTLY COMIC, and wickedly insightful, The Girls Guide to Hunting

and Fishing maps the progress of Jane Rosenal as

she sets out on a personal and spirited expedition

through the perilous terrain of sex, love, relation-

ships, and the treacherous waters of the workplace.

What is love, she wonders, as she scrutinizes the

wiles and ways of older, possibly wiser women; casts

a questioning eye toward various species of couples;

and holds out hey wrists for a spritz of perfume

from her beautiful boss How do you find it

(and keep it)--and above all, who makes the rules?

IN THE THROES OF A BUDDING ROMANCE, Jane repairs to the self-help shelves to take a sojourn

with authors Bouncy Bonnie and Blown-Dry Faith,

who whisper in her ear and tell her what the rules

are--in their terms. "Wear your hair long... Don t say

7 loveyou first... Don t accept a date less than four days

in advance..." and above all, "Don t be funny!. . .

Men like femininity, " Faith says, crossing her legs.

"Humor isn t feminine . . . "

WHEN SHE IS SWEET OFF HER FEET by an older man and into a Fitzgeraldesque world of

cocktail parties, country houses, and rules-that-

were-made-to-be-broken, Jane learns what it means

when her lover says he wants "to everything" with

her, and the stakes become far too high.

梅莉莎・班克（Melissa Bank），曾在《芝加哥论坛报》、《西洋镜杂志》、《大都市》和《北美文学评论》上发表过作品，她的短篇小说曾在美国全国公共广播电台播出。1993年，班克荣获尼尔森・阿尔格伦短篇小说奖。1999年，梅莉莎・班克制造了美国出版业的一大新闻。她凭借讲述一位机智敏感的纽约姑娘简・罗森纳尔的一系列情感故事，一举获得六位数预付金。这个短篇系列格外走红，获得的成绩可与海伦・菲尔丁的畅销书《单身女士日记》媲美，还没写完就被好莱坞名牌导演看中了，可见班克是一位深谙都市情文学之道的圣手。《少女渔猎手册》被《出版家周刊》评为1999年最佳图书，被译成包括中文在内的二十二种文字。班克目前与她的拉布拉多爱犬美宝莲一同住在纽约。