Girls' Night Out, Boys' Night In

by Various

There's something exceptionally comforting about a short story collection like Girls' Night Out, Boys' Night In. Firstly, there's the choice--this is a truly bumper package, with more than 30 stories by some of contemporary fiction's most familiar names including Kathy Lette, Matt Beaumont, Mike Gayle, Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees. Not only is there some superb writing on offer but you're guaranteed there'll be a story for every mood you're in--be it optimism, anger, revenge, love or hatred. And if you embark on a story you don't like--and there may be a few of those--you can just move on. A few pages further on, there'll be another to grab you, such as "Obedience", the story of a local murder (a nasty stabbing with a cauliflower knife) told by a man more interested in his puppy's progress at obedience classes; or "Delivering Happyware", in which two teenage girls struggle with crushes and their summer job as door-to-door touters of "speedy mops", freezer boxes and toast cutters; or even "Little Boots", an "unfairy" tale about a man whose wife has long since become preoccupied with everything but him and his new dog--a rangy beast with outsized paws and a face full of teeth the size of hunting knives. Like Nick Hornby's Speaking with the Angel, Girls' Night Out, Boys' Night In has been produced for a good cause. One pound of every copy sold will go to War Child, a charity working for children in war zones whose lives have been torn apart by conflict. --Jane Honey

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Short Stories

600 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 2001

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Tamara Van dishoeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

een boekje met allemaal korte verhalen van verschillende schrijvers. leuk om zo onbekende schrijvers te leren kennen. het eerste gedeelte zijn vrouwelijke schrijvers en het tweede gedeelte met de mannelijke. niet alle verhalen zijn even leuk maar er zaten meer dan genoeg leuke verhalen bij. en elk verhaal was niet zo heel lang. erg van genoten.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book rather hard to read, out of all the author's who have written short stories in this book I only enjoyed about 4 of them. Very disappointed as I thought it would be an easy read having so many short stories, how wrong I was.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started with Girl's Night Out -- several short stories in both of the halves of this book...

Red Letter Day by Fiona Walker: This story is so sad. I cried. It ends on a better note, but it is still a very sad tale.

Mother Figure by Sarah Harris: This one was a sad story, but in a different way - a bad, life sucks kind of way. I didn't enjoy this story so much.

No Strings Attached by Alexandra Potter: Cute. A story of fate, and what happens if you allow her to help you.

When the Fat Lady Sings by Colette Caddle: a cute story, not sure of the overall point of it, but I enjoyed reading it.

Art Lover by Chris Manby: my favorite story thus far. The twist has been done before, but it was so well done in this story, I forgive the device.

Home and Dry by Martina Devlin: my least favorite thus far. A story about a scummy user type guy -- didn't like it. ug.

I obviously gave up on reviewing each story, sufficient to say, most of them were UG. In fact, the best story, "Boy's Night In" by Matt Beaumont was the best story, and it was the last one of the second half of the book. Literally the last story I read. The last story I could read. It was funny and just over all a well written story. Now, perhaps being a Yank I missed something in translation (yes ENGLISH is quite different than American), but with 33 stories, the odds that more than one would be something I wanted to say YEAH about seemed high. I was sadly disappointed in this collection.

[Jeanette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up for 50 cents at a book fair because i try to read everything i can get my hands on by sophie kinsella and she was one of the contributors. it was a super quick read- i read the entire thing on my flights to and from Philly.

It's a collection of over thirty original stories in the second edition of Girls' Night In -- which raises money for the charity War Child. Proceeds from the previous collection created over thirty safe playgrounds in landmined Kosovo, and schools in Rwanda.

This time the book has two front covers containing stories for men and women. At one end, Girls' Night Out introduces original stories from female authors of women's fiction, including Josie Lloyd, Kathy Lette, Arabella Potter and Sophie Kinsella. Flip the book over and enjoy Boys' Night In -- a collection of stories by male authors, such as Mike Gayle, Emlyn Rees, Matt Beaumont and Patrick Gale.

The stories were pretty entertaining, a few were tortuous to read, but i cant complain for the price i paid. its not something id recommend unless it has authors that you love. i was just in need of something mindnumbing to read, lol

[Sammi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, so I am rating each story as they are, and then again as a whole:

Red Letter Day - 3/5
Mother Figure - 2.5/5
No Strings Attached - 4/5
When the Fat Lady Sings - 2/5 (was going to be a one, but the end amused me)
Art Lover - 4.5/5
Home and Dry - 3/5
Revenge - 4.5/5
Delivering Happyware - 4/5
The Alma Club - 5/5
Love is Science Fiction - 2.5/5
What goes around... - 2/5
Stone Money - 2/5
Changing People - 4/5 (though I am positive I have read this elsewhere... before reading this book. Anyone have any idea where?)
There is a God - 2.5/5
The Fortune Teller -4/5
Weddings and Wonderbras - 4.5/5
The Masturbation Map - 4/5
For a Few Dollars Whore I & II - 2.5/5

I only had the 'More' free edition, so I didn't know (and am quite dissapointed) that it's only half of the book. I would like to read the rest, though.

An Overall rating of this I guess would be a 2.5... I wouldn't re-read. I'll round it down to a 2.

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two collections of short stories - one half written by male authors and the other by female authors. I preferred the female side but none of them were particularly startling and a couple were downright weird! Still it was sold for a good cause and it was an easy read and good to dip into now and then and read a story.

[Yanskiy]

funny..........
j'aime mieux le titre girls night out

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed most of the stories, some were sub-par but not many.

[Audrey]

not finished

[Clare Roe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book read on holiday it has small stories so very handy

[Angie (mushmysteriesandmore) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Girls half was okay, boys half was rubbish!