Jane is the editor of the anthology “Single Woman of a Certain Age: Romantic Escapades, Empty Nests, Shifting Shapes… and Serene Independence” (New World Library, 5/09), a fantastic collection featuring wise and witty voices of single women in their prime: Joyce Maynard, Merrill Markoe, April Sinclair, Wendy Merrill and many more. Of the anthology, the Hartford Courant wrote:
“This collection of essays shows that writers know plenty about love: how it works, when it works, when it doesn’t, and why it’s not always the be-all and end-all of a woman’s emotional life. Growing older solo is fraught with challenges -- but also with opportunities.”
Far from being out to pasture, these writers zestily take on the challenges and enjoy the rewards of growing older as a single woman: sex (or not), occasional loneliness, single motherhood, second careers, menopause, critter comforts, and more. Joyce Maynard (“fifteen years divorced and pushing fifty with a short stick”) tries online dating, Kathi Kamen Goldmark embraces her newly empty nest, Wendy Merrill dumps a younger lover to save her self-esteem, Diane Mapes prefers the joys of aunthood over motherhood, Sunny Singh enjoys her unmarried status so much she dreads meeting the perfect man, Ms. Gonick dates a sexy (if uneducated) cowboy, and Rachel Toor finally finds the perfect companion—and he has four legs.
Please see books section for ordering information!
Jane is also the author of the novelized memoir “Naked on the Page: the Misadventures of My Unmarried Midlife,” a TV version of which is in development. It came out in paperback last year (See books section) and got several wonderful reviews, among them:
"[Ganahl's] dating escapades are daring and delicious, but also emotionally profound."
-- ELLE magazine
"Imagine Bridget Jones if she were a 48-year-old, twice-divorced American woman with an adult daughter, three cats and a new gig as a columnist writing about single life for the San Francisco Chronicle. The best part of Naked is Ganahl's sometimes embarrassing candor. Risking ridicule, Ganahl refuses to let men and an age-obsessed culture define her sexuality. And the reader cheers, 'you go, girl!'"-- USA Today
"Ganahl is at her best when she embraces the very real and understandable contradictions inherent in being an unmarried, unattached, older woman. 'Who am I kidding? No matter how glorious it is being single - most of the time - I do believe that human beings are genetically programmed to want to pair up. Our quest for bonding makes us do stupid, inappropriate things, alter our standards, backslide on our beliefs.' It takes courage to tell such truths."-- LA Times
"Her perspective and insights into the romantic lives of unattached older women are fresh."-- Baltimore Sun
"For those wondering what it's like to try to find a life partner as the years grind on, Ganahl provides a lively portrait; fellow wanderers on the road to love should find some solace in knowing that adventure need not wait for the perfect travel companion."-- Ladies' Home Journal "Books We Love"
"Ganahl's writing is sassy, fiery (the prose equivalent of her red hair and love of rock and roll), and many readers will nod in amused sympathy as she recounts her disastrous forays into the world of online dating or laments the difficulty of looking sexy in a sensible heel. But the book isn't all self-deprecating humor. Reeling from the one-two punch of her mother's and sister's deaths and struggling to accept her daughter's increasing independence, Ganahl tackles the bigger issues as well. Ganahl may be occasionally, infuriatingly self-defeating, but more often she's pluck and charm personified." -- Publishers Weekly
"'Jane Ganahl Unleashed' is the best description of this funny, charming, moving and discreetly gossipy book by the former San Francisco Chronicle columnist. One of the most satisfying aspects of Naked is Ganahl's realization that society has sold her a bill of goods: she has bought into the myth that it's impossible to be happy, self-respecting and fulfilled on her own." -- Pacific Sun
