Rating: 
Summary: NORMAL GIRL... NOT!!
Review: Definatly a great book. I read this back when it first came out. I picked it up in the library and re-read it. Great read for a beach or rainy day. Miranda would be a fun friend to have but not on her down time. Excellent Read!!
Rating: 
Summary: Something about this book disturbed me
Review: I have to give "Normal Girl" a mediocre review. This book however really disturbed me. Written in first person, the character development was very poor. I couldn't understand the motivation of Miranda. Even if she was just a junky who was into the social scene and fashion, the author didn't give the audience a reason to care about the character. Also, when it came to her substance abuse, it didn't seem real. The way it was written it seemed very fictionalized. The book did have a few funny moments. I picked up this book because I thought that maybe Molly's book would be similiar to Elizabeth Wurtzels novels of a similar genre, but it wasn't. Some of the teens I worked with rave about this book. Maybe I just didn't get it. I'm interested in seeing what Molly writes in the future. I think that she has promise. She was very young when she wrote this book so I think she deserves some credit for that. Most 20 year olds are too busy partying to take the time out to write a book.
Rating:
Summary: Anything but Ordinary
Review: I loved Miranda. Her voice truely represents the younger generation of today. We have everything, and we want more. All screwed up on drugs and going to twenty funerals a month. The young and the depressed. Okay, maybe I'm exagerating about us, but not about Miranda. Normal Girl was great to read just to make you appreciate your own life a bit more. Also a good reminder for kids to stay off drugs.
Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps It Should Get "Less Than Zero" Stars.
Review: I read "Normal Girl: A Novel" in one fell swoop ... Obviously the inspirations for this unoriginal book about "normal" teenage trauma among the privileged are Jay McInerney and Bret Easton Ellis. Only Jong-Fast never seems to get the hang of how to write a novel with any real plot or substance. The anti-heroine's name is taken from her mother's famous novel "Fear of Flying" (Isadora Wing has a sister named Miranda) and although that novel has not really held up over the decades, it WAS original for that period. Not "Normal Girl". Somehow, one gets the feeling that the manuscript got attention the way Miranda does - through her parents. I don't have a single positive thing to say about it - rather amazing for me.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Outlook on Reality
Review: It's the story of a rich, strung-out teenager, willing to stop at nothing to drown out her sadness and pessimistic views with a couple of martinis and a massive amount of cocaine and heroin. Molly Jong-Fast did a great job depicting Miranda's life from a user's point of view. Miranda's actions, her thoughts, and her problems were very closely related to real life. I first heard of this book from a friend that I would compare to Miranda, except for the fact that Miranda was a socialite and my friend was a "normal girl." I felt sympathy for Miranda because I have always been the outsider looking in. Jong-Fast uses much clarity with her descriptions and I felt like I was almost there with Miranda, experiencing her life and the fear and emptiness she felt. As I read the reviews written by others, I realized that Miranda was meant to be portrayed as a failing socialite's daughter on the verge of collapsing. I think that Jong-Fast wanted people to see the viciousness of being an "important person" and the reality of drugs and parties. I, myself, am nineteen and it was great to see that Jong-Fast had the ability to show Miranda being able to recover from her upscale life and actually wanting to stay sober. Many people think that money and power can make your life perfect. Although from Jong-Fast's novel, life is far from being perfect. I also loved the way Jong-Fast showed the relationship between Miranda and her mother. When Miranda finally realized that her life was becoming meaningless, especially with her unappreciative attitude towards her job and her loved ones, she was actually a scared little girl, praying to herself that her mother would never stop loving her. I was very impressed with this fulfilling novel (I read it in one sitting!) and I am looking forward to reading her next piece of work. Hopefully it will depict society using a similar sense of reality.
Rating:
Summary: This is just plain bad writing.
Review: Normal Girl...Molly Jong-Fast's character Miranda Woke, a citified New Yorker on the verge of a downwards slide into serious heroin addiction, is definately not your normal girl. And yet, everything about Miranda's self-debasing story spells "N-O-R-M-A-L"--for the rich Jewish daughter of a rich Jewish New York socialite and prominent architect. Jong-Fast tips her hat well, acknowledging that this story has been done before in EHollywood autobiographies as well as the 1980's terrain of Jay McInerney and Brett East Ellis. McInerney even writes a tribute on the cover. The story may be a bit cliche, but Jong-Fast's own humor and unique witicisms make the novel all her own. If you like Elizabeth Wurtzel, went to see Girl, Interrupted 5X, and like rehab confessionals where the protagonist triumphs despite the odds, you'll like Jong-Fast's debut novel. Now, for a bit about Jong-Fast's style. Jong-Fast, a Jewish Nicole Kidman lookalike as many interviewers have described her, calls herself a WASPY Jew. She's definately not as raw and edgy about sex in her personal life disclosures as her mom is. Jong-Fast, who prefers horseback riding in Connecticut and parasailing off the Sound, lattes in coffeeshops and steady artist boyfriends, creates her own version of raw in her debut novel by interviewing heroin addicts and then tracing their gritty path to self-destruction in fiction. Although her plot is sometimes steeped in broad generalizations about people, the book still reads well considering a 21-year-old wrote it. Although Jong-Fast, has experienced her own bout with teenage alcoholism and eating disorders and has traveled the world with her parents, she still lacks the depth of someone older talking about this issue. I look forward to seeing her next novel in print. This author shows a lot of promise at characterizing the angst of her generation.
Rating:
Summary: So-so teenage STUFF
Review: That's mainly what this book is.....STUFF. A bunch of STUFF clumped together to form a choppy story about a mixed-up druggie. Anything original or eye-opening? Not really. The dialogue moves fast and so does the book. It's an easy read that doesn't make much of an impression. I suggest reading "Little New York Ba-tard" by M. Dylan Raskin if you want a clear, angry social commentary.
Rating: 
Summary: A must-read
Review: The book is interesting and fun, one that I just could not put down. Even if you are not a big fan of reading, this one is sure to please you as the young authour's writing style and tone is informal and reads as if you're really inside Miranda Woke's head. Enjoyable to the last word! Give it a read, you will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Will there be a sequel????
Review: The story of Miranda's Woke is one of a rich, teenager on a path of nowhere but destruction - - mingling in the NYC fast lane crowd with alcohol, heroin, cocaine, valium....put it this way - - it is easier to name the drugs this girl doesn't do than to list the ones she does - - Parents are divorced and really don't seem to care or support her other than with money...and constantly being mistaken as being see wither her father in this magz and that one, when in reality it is her father and his new wife which is only two years older than Miranda herself..I think this is a great first book for Molly Jong-Fast, but I was left wanting more...maybe a sequel???? The title for this book couldn't have been more perfect since there are more people than we know with substance abuse problems at all ages....so many cases of it that it would make Miranda the "Normal Girl" rather than the abnormal girl!!! I'll be on the look out for the next book or sequel (hint, hint!)
Rating:
Summary: Less Than Zero meets Sex and the City
Review: There are many novels about rich kids on drugs, but this one is told from a young woman's point of view. And I haven't read many books about a young drug addict from New York City. Well, at least not quite like this one. At nineteen, Miranda Woke seems to have it all, except for a normal life. Her parents ignore her and her A-list friends are all cocaine and heroin addicts. After having OD'd on cocaine and alcohol, Miranda -- or rather, Miranda's ex-boyfriend Brett proposes a move to rehab. In rehab, Miranda is able to kick her cocaine, heroin, Valium, and alcohol addiction. But could she have a normal life? Could she have a normal relationship with her wayward parents? And could she party at the hottest spots in Manhattan without having cravings? Her struggles have just begun. In the novel, Jong-Fast illustrates the many aspects of life as a socialite, but the heroine's stay in rehab is not very descriptive. I think the author should have added more vivid and disturbing details, especially the times in which she experiences withdrawals. I just think those chapters were done abruptly. Overall, a nice, quick read. I recommend this novel.
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