"This book is a winning reminder for nostalgic adults of just how horrible 18 could really be."
— Publishers Weekly
"A gemlike portrait, A Bad and Stupid Girl takes us on a journey of epic proportions into the psyches of two young women who are both creatures of their time and heartbreakingly familiar. The novel is funny, and moving, and revelatory. It traces the evolution of an unready adulthood with unsentimental accuracy. A graceful work, full of triumph and surprise."
— Laura Kasischke, judge, Michigan Literary Fiction Awards
"Jean McGarry’s A Bad and Stupid Girl is an uncommonly Good and Bright-Indeed Novel, sharply written from start to finish and entertaining as Hell."
— John Barth
"Jean McGarry's novel is a lovely locket of a book, with the picture inside not at all faded. Focused in close-up, succinct and convincing, it's a story about friendship and maturation, and about how our studies, alone, do not define us."
— Ann Beattie
"A Bad and Stupid Girl is a jewel of a novel, every facet perfectly placed and shining. Jean McGarry's exquisite prose leaves one breathless with admiration, and her creations remain in the reader's mind like college roommates one loved and now misses and longs to see again."
— Eileen Pollack, judge, Michigan Literary Fiction Awards
"Everything in life is arbitrary yet must be over-determined in literature. Jean McGarry knows how to tell a persuasive tale illuminating these truths."
— Harold Bloom