"Chick lit" is a term used to denote genre fiction written for and marketed to young women, especially single, working women in their twenties and thirties. The genre's creation was spurred on, if not exactly created, in the mid-1990s with the appearance of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary and similar works; it continued to sell well in the 2000s, with chick lit titles topping bestseller lists and the creation of imprints devoted entirely to chick lit. Genre fiction is a term for fictional works (novels, short stories) written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to the fans of that genre. ... Image of a woman on the Pioneer plaque sent to outer space. ... This article is very long Some browsers may have difficulty rendering this article. ... Helen Fielding (born February 19, 1958 in Morley, West Yorkshire) is a British author, best known as the author of the novel Bridget Joness Diary and its sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason The Bridget Jones books had their origins in a column published in The Independent and... Bridget Joness Diary is a 1996 novel by Helen Fielding. ... This article is about the decade starting at the beginning of 2000 and ending at the end of 2009. ... A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on a list of top-sellers. ... In the publishing industry, an imprint is a brand name under which a work is published. ...

The genre

Chick lit features hip, stylish female protagonists, usually in their twenties and thirties, in urban settings (usually London or Manhattan), and follows their love lives and struggles in business (often in the publishing, advertising, public relations or fashion industry). The books usually feature an airy, irreverent tone and frank sexual themes. The genre spawned Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City and its accompanying television series. Popular Chick lit novelists include Ireland's Marian Keyes, and Sophie Kinsella author of the Shopaholic series. AnotherBreakout variations have developed to appeal to specific audiences, such as Christian Chick Lit, Mom Lit (aka Hen Lit), Young Adult Chick Lit (also Teen Lit), and the novels of Emmy-winning author Lori Bryant-Woolridge, known for her chick lit novels (Read Between the Lies, Hitts and Mrs., Mourning Glo) written specifically with women of color in mind. Hip, or hep, is a slang term; an adjective meaning fashionably current. The term originated in African American Vernacular English (AAVE). ... Variation in the physical appearance of humans is believed by anthropologists to be an important factor in the development of personality and social relations in particular physical attractiveness. ... The city of San Francisco, an example of an urban area. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The Borough of Manhattan, highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ... This article is concerned with the production of books, magazines, and other literary material (whether in printed or electronic formats). ... Commercialism redirects here. ... Public relations (PR) is the business, organizational, philanthropic, or social function of managing communication between an organization and its audiences. ... The term fashion usually applies to a prevailing mode of expression, but quite often applies to a personal mode of expression that may or may not adhere to prevailing ideals. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Sex and the City is a book by Candace Bushnell based on her and her friends lifestyles. ... Sex and the City was a popular American cable television program based on the novel of the same name by Candace Bushnell. ... Witty Irish novelist and columnist Marian Keyes. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (see Hebrews 8:6). ... The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York- based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming. ... Read Between the Lies by Lori Bryant-Woolridge. ... Read Between the Lies was the first novel by Emmy-winning author, Lori Bryant-Woolridge. ... Women of color is a term used to describe non-caucasion women. ...

Connotations of the term "chick lit"

"Chick" is an American slang term for young woman and "Lit" is short for "literature". Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ... Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ...

However, the genre has also been claimed as a type of post-feminist fiction which covers the breadth of the female experience which deals unconventionally with traditional romantic themes of love, courtship and gender. ... Love is any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection or profound oneness. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Gender often refers to the distinctions between males and females in common usage. ...

The male equivalent, spearheaded by authors like Ben Elton, Mike Gayle, and Nick Hornby, has been referred to as "lad lit" and "dick lit". Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian and writer. ... Mike Gayle is a British author. ... Nick Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English novelist and essayist who lives in Highbury, Islington in London. ... Lad-lit is genre of literature that focuses on young men in their 20s and 30s. ...

One of the first uses of the term was in the title of the 1995 anthology Chick Lit: Postfeminist Fiction, edited by Cris Mazza and Jeffrey DeShell. The work in this anthology was not chick lit as we know it today, and the term was used ironically. However James Wolcott's 1996 article in The New Yorker "Hear Me Purr" co-opted "chick lit" to define the trend of "girlishness" evident in the writing of female newspaper columnists at that time. This is significant, as major chick lit works such as Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary and Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City originated in such columns. With the success of Bridget Jones and Sex and the City in book form, the chick lit boom began. The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank is regarded as one of the first chick lit works to originate as a novel (actually a collection of stories), though the term "chick lit" was in common use at the time of its publication (1999). The term "chick lit" was in general use by 2000-2001. ANThology is the first major label album by Alien Ant Farm. ... Adolf Hitler - an example of visual irony Irony is a form of speech in which the real meaning is concealed or contradicted by the words used. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes reportage, criticism, essays, cartoons, poetry and fiction. ... The Venus symbol, symbol of femininity Femininity comprises the physical and mental attributes associated with the female sex. ... A Columnist is a journalist who produces a specific form of writing for publication called a column. ... Helen Fielding (born February 19, 1958 in Morley, West Yorkshire) is a British author, best known as the author of the novel Bridget Joness Diary and its sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason The Bridget Jones books had their origins in a column published in The Independent and... Bridget Joness Diary is a 1996 novel by Helen Fielding. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Sex and the City is a book by Candace Bushnell based on her and her friends lifestyles. ...

The variant "chic lit" has recently been used for works such as Plum Sykes's Bergdorf Blondes (2004), set in the world of fashionable East Coast Society. Chic is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s, that has come to mean smart or stylish. ... Victoria Plum Sykes is a British-born fashion-writer, novelist and New York socialite. ... Bergdorf Blondes was the début novel of Plum Sykes, an English-born (in 1969) fashion writer and New York “it girl”. It was first published in the USA by Hyperion, and in Britain by Viking, in 2004. ... The term fashion usually applies to a prevailing mode of expression, but quite often applies to a personal mode of expression that may or may not apply to all. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... Bourgeoisie (RP [], GA []) is a classification used in analyzing human societies to describe a class of people who are in the middle class nobility, whose status or power comes from employment, education, and wealth as opposed to aristocratic origin. ...

Another term is "Chiction" (sometimes "Chicktion"), which first came into wider use in 2006. It has a similar connotation (fiction with romantic themes), but is not restricted to modern literature, so it can apply to classic novels from Jane Austen onwards. Chick lit is a term used to denote genre fiction written for and marketed to young women, especially single, working women in their twenties and thirties. ... Chick lit is a term used to denote genre fiction written for and marketed to young women, especially single, working women in their twenties and thirties. ...

Men frequently use the term disparagingly, considering the genre as a whole to be meaningless/mindless and not worth reading.

Quotations about chick lit

"To suggest that another woman's ostensibly literary novel is chick lit feels catty, not unlike calling another woman a slut -- doesn't the term basically bring down all of us?" -- Curtis Sittenfeld in the New York Times [1] Curtis Sittenfeld (born 1975) is an American writer and teacher whose first novel, Prep (2005; ISBN 1400062314), a tale about a New England prep school, has been hailed by reviewers for literary, book trade, and womens magazines alike. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Major scandals

Like all other genres, the genre of chick lit is not without its scandals and controversies.

In April 2006, 19-year-old Harvard College sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan faced a major scandal when it was discovered that her chick lit novel "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life", published by Little, Brown and Co. had lifted major portions from several other chick lit books, most notably Megan McCafferty’s "Sloppy Firsts" and "Second Helpings". Plagiarized passages were also found of Salman Rushdie's and Meg Cabot's work. Significantly, Kaavya had received a $500,000 advance for her first book, with plans for another. Her publishers were so embarrassed that on May 4, 2006, they recalled all unsold copies of the book with plans to destroy them, and called off the second book deal. The movie studio also stopped pre-production and dropped her movie project based on the book. Harvard Yard Harvard College is the undergraduate section and oldest school of Harvard University, having been founded in 1636. ... Image:Kaavya Viswanathan. ... Kaavya Viswanathan (born January 16, 1987) is an Indian American undergraduate student at Harvard College. ... Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. ... Megan McCafferty (also known as Megan Fitzmorris McCafferty) is a contemporary U.S. author most known for her series of books about Jessica Darling, a witty teenage heroine. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Meg Cabot (born Meggin Patricia Cabot on February 1, 1967) is an American author of romantic comedies for teens and adults. ... May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

Ironically, the front cover of the work carried high praise from bestselling chick lit author Jennifer Weiner. Jennifer Weiner is a bestselling contemporary Jewish-American author of novels often categorized as chick lit. ...

Movie adaptations

• Bridget Jones's Diary
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
• The Devil Wears Prada
• The Girls' Guide to Hunting And Fishing
• The Nanny Diaries
• Prep
• In Her Shoes

Bridget Joness Diary is a 2001 film, based on the successful novel, also called Bridget Joness Diary, by Helen Fielding. ... The Devil Wears Prada is an Academy Award-nominated 2006 comedy-drama film, a loose screen adaptation of Lauren Weisbergers 2003 novel of the same name. ... The Girls Guide to Hunting And Fishing is a movie that is currently being filmed in New York City. ... The Nanny Diaries is an upcoming 2007 comedy-drama film, based on the novel The Nanny Diaries, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. ... Curtis Sittenfeld (born 1975) is an American writer and teacher whose first novel, Prep (2005; ISBN 1400062314), a tale about a New England prep school, has been hailed by reviewers for literary, book trade, and womens magazines alike. ... In Her Shoes is a 2005 drama film, directed by Curtis Hanson. ...

External links

• ChickLit World:Free List of New Chick Lit releases and reviews
• "Hip Lit for Hip Chicks" Library Journal Article on the genre
• Chick Lit Chicks :: For The Love of Chick Lit
• German Chicklit Forum
• Chick Lit is Hurting America: A former women’s books editor unloads
• Chick lit, for better or worse, is here to stay
• McCafferty’s ‘Charmed Thirds’ Makes Chick-lit Legit
• Chick lit, for better or worse, is here to stay
• Chick Lit Goes Racial, Keeping Genre Alive
• Chick Lit Writers of The World
• What's in store for chick-lit lovers? Authors
• The Chick-Lit Pandemic
• "What is Chick Lit?"
• chicklit: for women who love words
• Romance Book Cafe
• This Is Not Chick Lit
• Christian Chick Lit Roundtable: 11 Authors Interviewed
• Mom-Lit
• Teen Chick-Lit Book List
• Sex and the Suburbs: Chick Lit Leaves the City
• Older, but Keeping Up With the Bridget Joneses
• This is Chick Lit, the anthology
• This is Chick Lit: Sick of Being Kicked Around
• 1000s of Chick lit reviews on 100s of Chick lit books