I love the idea of a "quarter-life crisis" and related to a lot of these essays, though also recognize they speak to a certain demographic. I couldn't stomach a few of them because of the writers' sense of privilege. That said, it was a quick, fun read and I'm very glad to have found it (literally, in a little free library).Some favorite quotes include: "I charmed him by naming all the Harlequin romance euphemisms for 'penis' and vagina.'" ~Melissa Senate, "The One Who Got Away" (p112)"Saying ye...

It's a Wonderful Lie: 26 Truths About Life in Your Twenties is a collection of 26 essays by twenty-something survivors that reads more chic-lit memoir than inspirational self-help manual. The message: "Life is continually evolving, and the search for self rarely culminates in a tidy, perfect bow." My favorite stories were "The One That Got Away" for it's depth and truth, and "The F-word" for it's juxtaposition of hilarity and relatability. The books ends hauntingly with the final author unpackin...

This was an uncomplicated read that adapted well to snatched sessions of reading-as-distraction during lunch at work and racking up the minutes of cardio in the gym. Many of the contributors are very deeply annoying, but it's a fun read, especially if you're able to be amused by others' self-obsession. I can't really say that any were really truths about my "life in your twenties", and I don't really think I'd identify with the essays more as I experience more of life in my twenties. Nonetheless...

This book contains a healthy dose of realism with a hearty dash of hope. I enjoyed reading this collection of essays because I fit the demographic to a large extent. I'm in my twenties, on the verge (half a year from now) of going out there into the Real World. As with many of the lovely authors, I'd be ecstatic if my future job would allow me to read and write as my whims and fancy strikes me. But I know life doesn't always pan out how we wish, so it's great reading about women who experienced

This book had all the right ingredients for me to love it - female-centric, short stories, multiple perspectives - but fell short. I was frustrated by the similarity in end points of the protagonists - all wound up as authors, editors, etc. I suppose, given that they were short stories written BY the protagonists, I should have been able to guess that in the beginning...hindsight is twenty-twenty. Definitely worth the read if you have a literary ambition of your own, but otherwise I think it pla...

I admit I didn't read the entire book cover to cover, but it's a collection of essays, so I figured I could get away with it. Each essay tells of the trials and tribulations of being a recent college grad in today's world. It was a little one sided as all the essays were written by female authors. Despite the biased perspective, I still found it comforting to read about how disappointing it was for other people to graduate from college and find out that no one cares. Even twenty-somethings with

The first couple of sections were great, but the ones on love and friendship got really upsetting. Some of the essays were just miserably heteronormative and very hard to relate to, as someone whose romantic life and friendships have always been non-standard. Frequent references to the sorts of people who you just don't consider partners (almost never based on personality), or "every girl needs a gay guy friend," or "men and women can't relate without men wanting sex," or...any number of things

some of these stories were wonderful and inspiring and made me feel less alone in thw world, and some of these stories were about how people were JUST LIKE carrie bradshaw. i did not read the second type. i also did not read the one that was about how men and women can't be friends (fuck you, i am not defined by my vagina) and stopped reading a few more that were just about how the writer needed a man in her life.

I wanted to a wait a day before writing my review on this and I'm glad I did. I think I needed some time to reflect on the various stories and life lessons this book had to offer. I'm at the age where 1) a quarter-life crisis seems totally possible to me, 2) most of my friends seem to have their shit together on a level I find difficult to comprehend, and 3) I've made a lot of life-altering decisions in the last few years ranging from boyfriends to crosscountry moves that very few of my acquaint...

The only complaint I had about this book was that every "truth" was written by a writer. I would have liked to see more variety as these women came to their epiphanies and were able to acheive their dreams. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the book and found it to be both empowering and positively depressing (if there is such a thing) at the same time. I say positively depressing because it would do me little good to have another motherly book to hold my hand and tell me that everything will be ok...

This is a collection of essays from 26 mostly chick-lit authors about being in your twenties and usually living in New York though never the glamorous life you expected.While it was nice to know that the disappointment from lofty expectations was not uncommon, I wonder if this book leaves readers overly optimistic. Afterall, these women were selected because they overcame the odds and became successful bookwriters. Great pick-me-up, but one can only read so many epiphanies in one sitting.

Very entertaining and insightful. I've heard the complaint that all the essays are from writers, and not just your average run-of-the-mill woman looking back on her 20's (or in her 20's), but of course writers are often more insightful than just your average chick and often funnier. I related to a lot of it, and it was a nice feeling to know I wasn't alone as I struggled to figure out what I've been doing for the last decade. I'm happily moving on to my next. That's right--I'm actually looking f...

Honest, funny. These women are not afraid of admitting their mistakes and how life is messy.

I read this just in the nick of time. Since I was barely holding on to my 20s at the time. Even though I was twenty-nine this book no longer applies to me. Since my life appears to be following the track of "people who know what they are doing and have a plan." That is completely bogus though. I was just luckily enough to snag a spouse with a plan. I wish I knew about this book when I was 24, when I was more unsure, less established, and really had no freakin idea. I liked the short stories. I n...

This was a terrible book, for me anyway. It should be called "26 Truths About Life In Your Twenties if You Live In New York City and You Want to be a Writer" because all the authors wrote about was city life and how they finally ended up realizing their dreams of being writers. There was absolutely no advice or comfort in here for me.

The danger of collecting a series of essays from people in their 30s about life in their 20s is that the tone walks a fine line between helpful and condescending. The people that concentrated more on the end result of living "the life" in New York City (where almost everyone in the book seemed to live) were less helpful. But there were some great nuggets in the book that I really related to, like:"Making friends in a new town when you're twenty-four isn't the same as making friends in school. Un...

While mostly cliche, there are some nuggets here--especially the interesting concept of our generation suffering from a quarter-life crises as opposed to the traditional mid-life one. Comparatively, it makes sense. Generation Y (or whatever bracket I fall into) suffers from the luxury of abundance (affluenza, if you will) and have too many options in front of us. Whereas our grandparents worked with the same company for fifty some odd years and got the golden watch retirement package, we flit fr...

This was a relatively low ** for me. There were a few moments I really enjoyed when I would have considered a 3, but more that I was bored or annoyed and considered a 1.First of all, there are not 26 truths, but something like 5 "myths" and then short stories that fall into the myth "categories" that do not have clear-cut "truths." For some reason that was really annoying to me - I felt like it was false advertising before I even started the book.As I said above, there were a few moments where I...

I don't generally like books in this format. A friend had a copy of it and gave it to me to read when she moved. This one was fun, didn't feel like a self-help book, but offered reassurance that whatever path you are on in life is probably just fine. There were a few chapters that spoke directly to me, credit card debt, having male friends, being a nomad.... And I feel like there is enough variety that there will be essays for every girl in this book. Especially living in the midwest, where the

This book was recommended to me by a friend who is sick of listening to me question myself and my progress in life. She said "It's a Wonderful Lie" is insightful and makes you feel better about being a woman in your twenties. I'm not sure I agree. While the handful of authors do stress the fact that not having a solidified game plan in your 20's is okay, I am now terrified that I won't figure out my life until I turn the big 3-0. So, if you're a woman in your twenties and are looking for affirma...