Bridget Jones’s Diary
Helen Fielding, 1996
Romance Graphic novels & humourContemporary fiction
A year of bad dates, office crushes, cigarettes and calorie counts, told in one woman’s fiercely funny diary. A brisk, gossipy diary voice keeps the tone witty and self-mocking, with romantic mishaps and social satire moving at a quick, chatty pace.
Feels like joy and dread. About love, identity and society.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy comic diaries, office crushes and sharp, self-deprecating takes on dating and status. The diary's frequent profanity and 1990s fixation on calories and cigarettes may feel dated or abrasive.
Why read it
It gives you a funny, sharp look at single life and social pressure, and the diary form makes it easy to dip into.
A page from the book
The moment a friend gives your dating life a name and a diagnosis.
11 p.m. Strident evening. Sharon immediately launched into her theory on the Richard situation: “Emotional fuckwittage,” which is spreading like wildfire among men over thirty. As women glide from their twenties to thirties, Shazzer argues, the balance of power subtly shifts. Even the most outrageous minxes lose their nerve, wrestling with the first twinges of existential angst: fears of dying alone and being found three weeks later half-eaten by an Alsatian. Stereotypical notions of shelves, spinning wheels and sexual scrapheaps conspire to make you feel stupid, no matter how much time you spend thinking about Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon. Helen Fielding.Bridget began as a newspaper column in The Independent; some readers wrote in as if she were a real person.
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Questions readers ask
- Is Bridget Jones’s Diary for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy comic diaries, office crushes and sharp, self-deprecating takes on dating and status. The diary's frequent profanity and 1990s fixation on calories and cigarettes may feel dated or abrasive.
- What is Bridget Jones’s Diary like?
- A brisk, gossipy diary voice keeps the tone witty and self-mocking, with romantic mishaps and social satire moving at a quick, chatty pace. Feels like joy and dread. About love, identity and society.
- What should I read after Bridget Jones’s Diary?
- If you liked Bridget Jones’s Diary, try Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella), Will Grayson, Will Grayson (John Green) and Bossypants (Tina Fey).
A taste of the feed
Three years into a career, still certain someone will notice you're faking it.
Of course, I still know nothing about finance. People at the bus stop know more about finance than me. Schoolchildren know more than me. I’ve been doing this job for three years now, and I’m still expecting someone to catch me out.
Confessions of a Shopaholic · Sophie Kinsella
Two rules for never crying again, and what they cost.
“You’re a robot,” he says. Tiny thinks that I am incapable of what humans call emotion because I have not cried since my seventh birthday, when I saw the movie All Dogs Go to Heaven. I suppose I should have known from the title that it wouldn’t end merrily, but in my defense, I was seven. Anyway, I haven’t cried since then. I don’t really understand the point of crying. Also, I feel that crying is almost—like, aside from deaths of relatives or whatever—totally avoidable if you follow two very simple rules: 1. Don’t care too much. 2. Shut up. Everything unfortunate that has ever happened to me has stemmed from failure to follow one of the rules.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson · John Green
What happens when the world demands a polished exterior and a stoic silence?
Some people say, “Never let them see you cry.” I say, if you’re so mad you could just cry, then cry. It terrifies everyone.
Bossypants · Tina Fey
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