How to Build a Girl Paperback – 9 Apr 2015

Review

"spirited coming of age novel romps from strength to strength…I’m a Moran fan" (Lionel Shriver The Times)

"a Portnoy's Complaint for girls… when I see this book described as "laugh-out-loud funny" I feel affronted; it could make you laugh out loud with one hand tied behind its back, while wanking itself off to fantasies of Satan. Laughing out loud is just the start" (Zoe Williams The Guardian)

"This isn’t a sleek, slick novel, but it is a rambunctious, raw-edged, silly-profound and deeply relatable guide to what your worst mistakes can teach you, and it has much to offer teenagers both actual and inner" (The Independent)

"Brilliantly observed, thrillingly rude and laugh-out-loud funny" (Helen Fielding)

"I have so much love for Caitlin Moran" (Lena Dunham)

"Binge-read all of #HowToBuildAGirl in one sitting. Even missed supper. A first" (Nigella Lawson)

"She writes with breathtaking brio…Moran shows her shining soul ― which is even more remarkable than her wit ― when she writes about being young, looking for love and the utter vileness of the class system . . .almost every page has something on it which makes you smile, makes you sad or makes you think ― often all three at once, in one sentence" (Julie Burchill The Spectator)

"A riotous read with jokes galore cut through with lightly handled serious observations about the nature of poverty and the challenges of emerging female sexuality. It is also stunningly rude…" (Sunday Express)

"Exuberant, funny coming-of-age tale with a highly-literate, resourceful Wolverhampton teen at its centre. As building girls goes this is one alternative instruction manual every woman should read" (Daily Express)

"The self-conscious agonies of precocious yet sensitive Dolly ring painfully true, while the witty sex scenes, boozy anecdotes and one-liners make this great fun…" (Sunday Mirror)

"An exuberant coming of age novel in DMs and ripped tights" (Tatler)

"So funny it hurts. How to Build a Girl is Adrian Mole meets Fear of Flying. I predict they’ll be tears a plenty – both of laughter and excruciating recognition – on sun-loungers this summer" (Harper’s Bazaar)

"Moran is a brilliantly funny writer, and How To Build A Girl is brimful of jokes" (FT)

"This very British (and very naughty) coming-of-age novel will have you in literal hysterics!" (Company)

"terrific - funny, honest and deliciously rude" (Alice O'Keefe The Bookseller)

"This is going to be a bestseller…A sharp, hilarious and controversial read" (The Bookseller)

"I laughed aloud at this funny, outrageous story of a girl from Wolverhampton council estate who reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde" (Woman & Home)

"as irreverent, amusing and vibrant as Moran herself" (GQ)

"rowdy and fearless ... sloppy, big-hearted and alive in all the right ways" (New York Times)

"Ms. Moran['s] ... funny and cheerfully dirty coming-of-age novel has a hard kernel of class awareness ... sloppy, big-hearted and alive in all the right ways." (Dwight Garner New York Times)

"there’s so much real feeling too. Johanna’s vulnerability and bravado, as she moves out of her world and falls in love is beautifully done’ or ‘ and running through it all, with a visceral power that most writers should envy, is the shame and grinding anxiety of being poor" (Sunday Times)

"Moran also writes brilliantly about music, and especially about what music can do. She carries Johanna through this novel with incredible verve, extravagant candour, and a lot of heart. Johanna is … a wonderful heroine. A heroine who cares, who bravely sallies forth and makes things happen, who gives of herself, who is refreshingly unashamed. She’s so confident, it’s glorious" (The Independent on Sunday)

"an entertaining read, with Moran in fine voice – hilarious, wild, imaginative and highly valuable…Moran is in danger of becoming to female masturbation what Keats was to Nightingales…" (Barbara Ellen The Observer)

Book Description

The phenomenal Number One Sunday Times Bestseller in hardback and now Number One in paperback!