By: Helen Fielding Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Penguin (Non-Classics) Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 288 Publication Date: May 24, 1999 Release Date: May 24, 1999
Amazon.com Reviews: In the course of the year recorded in Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget confides her hopes, her dreams, and her monstrously fluctuating poundage, not to mention her consumption of 5277 cigarettes and "Fat units 3457 (approx.) (hideous in every way)." In 365 days, she gains 74 pounds. On the other hand, she loses 72! There is also the unspoken New Year's resolution--the quest for the right man. Alas, here Bridget goes severely off course when she has an affair with her charming cad of a boss. But who would be without their e-mail flirtation focused on a short black skirt? The boss even contends that it is so short as to be nonexistent.
At the beginning of Helen Fielding's exceptionally funny second novel, the thirtyish publishing puffette is suffering from postholiday stress syndrome but determined to find Inner Peace and poise. Bridget will, for instance, "get up straight away when wake up in mornings." Now if only she can survive the party her mother has tricked her into--a suburban fest full of "Smug Marrieds" professing concern for her and her fellow "Singletons"--she'll have made a good start. As far as she's concerned, "We wouldn't rush up to them and roar, 'How's your marriage going? Still having sex?'"
This is only the first of many disgraces Bridget will suffer in her year of performance anxiety (at work and at play, though less often in bed) and living through other people's "emotional fuckwittage." Her twin-set-wearing suburban mother, for instance, suddenly becomes a chat-show hostess and unrepentant adulteress, while our heroine herself spends half the time overdosing on Chardonnay and feeling like "a tragic freak." Bridget Jones's Diary began as a column in the London Independent and struck a chord with readers of all sexes and sizes. In strokes simultaneously broad and subtle, Helen Fielding reveals the lighter side of despair, self-doubt, and obsession, and also satirizes everything from self-help books (they don't sound half as sensible to Bridget when she's sober) to feng shui, Cosmopolitan-style. She is the Nancy Mitford of the 1990s, and it's impossible not to root for her endearing heroine. On the other hand, one can only hope that Bridget will continue to screw up and tell us all about it for years and books to come. --Kerry Fried
Book Description: Bridget Jones's Diary is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud account of a year in the life of a thirty-something Singleton on a permanent doomed quest for self-improvement. Caught between the joys of Singleton fun, and the fear of dying alone and being found three weeks later half eaten by an Alsatian; tortured by Smug Married friends asking, "How's your love life" with lascivious, yet patronizing leers, Bridget resolves to reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult and learn to program the VCR. With a blend of flighty charm, existential gloom, and endearing self-deprecation, the diary has touched a raw nerve with millions of readers the world round. Read it, laugh and crash your head onto the table before you cry, "Bridget Jones is me!"
"Screamingly funny." --USA Today
"Bridget Jones is channeling something so universal and (horrifyingly) familiar that readers will giggle and sigh with collective delight." --Elle
"Hilarious but poignant." --The Washington Post
"This juicy diary tells the truth with a verve as appealing to men on Mars as it is to Venusian women. A." --Entertainment Weekly
"An unforgettably droll character." --Newsweek
"Bridget's voice is dead-on . . . will cause readers to drop the book, grope frantically for the phone and read it out loud to their best girlfriends." --The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Fielding. . .has rummaged all too knowingly through the bedrooms, closets, hearts and minds of women everywhere." --Glamour
"Good-bye Rules Girls, hello Singletons...Endearingly engaging." --The New York Times Book Review
Download Description: Meet Bridget Jones--a 30-something Singleton who is certain she would have all the answers if she could: a. lose 7 pounds; b. stop smoking; c. develop Inner Poise. Diary is a devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out daily chronicle of Bridget's permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement; now a feature length film.
Bridget Jones Diary The book was a little more used than I anticipated, but I still enjoyed reading it again.
Hilarious, and quenches the romantic thirst! I'm a huge fan of the movie. When I finally decided to read the book, boy was I sorry I waited so long!! I love this book, it is so clever, and totally satisfying for those of us who love all the unnecessary cheesiness and romance that a love story can provide. It starts out slow, but once you get going, you wont' want to go to sleep!!
Oh my gosh! This was a GREAT book. It was maybe the most fun book I have read. If you want a good laugh, then read this book. I actually laughed out loud and thought I was going to wake the house up! It was so much better than I thought it would be. I can't say enough about it!
Better than the movie. The book is waaay better than the movie. You could see the entire thing being played out. The movie tried to capture the humor but there are elements that Fielding writes about that just can't be portrayed on screen. Excellent book. It gets 4 out or 5 supermommie stars!
The original and best Many people have tried to emulate the wit and insightfullness of this seminal work, but nobody does it as well as Helen Fielding. This book is the origin of much of today's received wisdom on the subject of single women living in London (and probably most other cities in the Western World) - singletons, smug marrieds etc. It is laugh-out loud funny and Fielding has managed to pay homage to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in her plot in a way which flatters both books. A must-read.Love Actually (Widescreen Edition)
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