Why people recommend it
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding is a landmark contemporary comedic novel that popularized the Bridget Jones series and captured the experiences of a single British woman navigating romance and professional life in the 1990s. On The Book Review podcast in July 2024, host Gilbert Cruz encouraged listeners to read an essay by Liz Egan reflecting on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Helen Fielding's novel, and later interviewed Egan about what prompted the piece. Egan offered a nuanced critique on the podcast, advising readers to approach the book aware of the pervasive sexism of the era, while still affirming that the work contains much genuine humor and truth rather than deserving cancellation. Alexandra Jacobs also brought up the title on the podcast to illustrate slapstick humor and self-deprecation, noting how absurd situations accumulate around the narrator. Molly Young and Emily Aken discussed the publication history and legacy of the book on the podcast as well, with Aken pointing out that Helen Fielding's 1996 novel served as a direct and self-conscious predecessor to later authors like Dolly Alderton.
Who recommended it
- Gilbert Cruz Recommended
- Molly Young Discussed
- Liz Egan Discussed
- Alexandra Jacobs Discussed
- Emily Aken Discussed
Gilbert Cruz — 2 mentions
“you're talking about a piece you've written looking back at the 25th anniversary of Bridget Jones's Diary what led you to write this piece”
“but I would encourage all of our listeners to find and read and reflect and leave comments on Liz ean's essay on the 25th anniversary of Bridget Jones's Diary”
Molly Young — 1 mention
“first of all the the first Bridget Jones Diary came out in 1995”
Liz Egan — 1 mention
“if you go into it knowing that you might have a good reading experience I'm not in the business of canceling books or I'm not in the business of canceling Bridget Jones's Diary there's too much in it that is funny and is true but you should go into it aware that you will be faced with so much sexism”
Alexandra Jacobs — 1 mention
“I know that all our all our readers clocked the extra words there in the middle but I mean there's again there's so many different kinds of funny that the slap stickness of Bridget Jones's Diary where the these absurd situations pile up and the narrator's self-deprecation accumulates to the point where I don't know somebody help me”
Emily Aken — 1 mention
“and Bridget Jones Diary was 1996 and I feel that this I think dolly alderton is very self-consciously descendant of those writers”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- Heartburn
- A Confederacy of Dunces
- A far cry from Kensington
- Acts of Desperation
- Airships
- Alexander Hamilton
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“more recently you have everything from The Color Purple to Bridget Jones's Diary to Andy wear's the Martian”
“you know Bridget Jones's Diary but well I think she has this experience”