From the author of "Kiss My Tiara" comes a funny and poignant collection of true stories about women coming of age that for once isn't about findin...
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Feb 14, 2010
Amyss
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Her parents were hippies but all she wanted to do was wear a tutu- and she did- to school!! See? It's funny because she is so QUIRKY! So many zany things happen to her, so she has to write about each terribly hilarious embarrassing episode of her white, overprotected, privileged life! But never fear, there is heart and love in the gooey middle! She realizes this when she tests her meddle in a foreign country (Switzerland! oh the culture shock!! The sockets look WEIRD!)that allows her to co
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Dec 17, 2009
John
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For those who've yet to read it, the book can be divided into roughly three [unequal] parts: childhood, high school/college and Susan-as-an-adult. The first part was the best for me - perfect mix of funny and sad, just like a good sweet-and-sour sauce should be. The second section is shorter than the others, which is a good thing.
High school pretty much consists of a looooooooong riff on virginity, with a drawn-out celebrity stalking adventure thrown in. Her college years are covered by o More...
High school pretty much consists of a looooooooong riff on virginity, with a drawn-out celebrity stalking adventure thrown in. Her college years are covered by o More...
Feb 14, 2010
Phoebe
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Susie Gilman wants us to believe she's subversive, a feminist. Yet, despite her strong, sardonic voice and a writing style that seems filched from Dave Sedaris, she's completely lacking in substance. Her comedic memoir--which in inexplicably arranged into chapters, despite the fact that it lacks a cohesive plot line--is largely without substance. Nearly every chapter describes how Gilman intended, in one way or another, to bedifferent, but she defaults to the expected societal roles time and tim
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Oct 21, 2007
Mizzmaro
rated it: 
yet another memoir of sorts... but this one is inspirational and simply hysterical.
we follow a young woman realizing her identity and also coming to terms with her slightly off kilter family and her specific expectations from the world.
i have given this book to.. my mother, my sister, my friend danielle and a coworker mike... they have all loved it and even become inspired by it.
if you're in the mood to laugh out loud, here's a book that will have you cryin'!! david sedaris More...
we follow a young woman realizing her identity and also coming to terms with her slightly off kilter family and her specific expectations from the world.
i have given this book to.. my mother, my sister, my friend danielle and a coworker mike... they have all loved it and even become inspired by it.
if you're in the mood to laugh out loud, here's a book that will have you cryin'!! david sedaris More...
Feb 21, 2011
Florinda
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Susan Gilman grew up in a "transitional" (pre-gentrified), mixed-race neighborhood on the Upper West Side of New York City during the 1970's which reminded me of the transitional neighborhood about an hour's drive away where I did some of my own growing up during the same time period. But Susan was quite a bit more adventurous than I was, and her upbringing was more influenced by the experimental culture of the time - family transcendental-meditation classes, for example. As she moved
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Dec 21, 2008
Barky
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Dec 17, 2008
AJ
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Gilman's writing style is amazing. Several times I had to put the book down because I was laughing so hard. She has a great take of growing up as a full on feminist, but at the same time becoming giddy with delight when Mick Jagger points out that she's got huge boobs. This is a woman who's been everywhere and done everything, and it's a brilliant read. The book starts off with her at four years old, the daughter of hippies, prancing around in a tutu and figuring out how to rule the world.
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Aug 25, 2009
Jen
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Bad blogger! Bad, bad!! I am so far behind on reviews - I have at least four more books to review after this one, maybe five. I might get through two tonight...maybe.
I'll kick it off with my book club's August selection, Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman. This is a reasonably amusing and entertaining memoir - there were moments that had me clutching my gut with laughter. Unfortunately, there were also moments that had my eyes rolling over some of her preteen and More...
I'll kick it off with my book club's August selection, Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman. This is a reasonably amusing and entertaining memoir - there were moments that had me clutching my gut with laughter. Unfortunately, there were also moments that had my eyes rolling over some of her preteen and More...
Aug 01, 2009
Lee
rated it:
I loved this book. It won't be forgotten. For the first 26 pages I wept with laughter. It is without a doubt the funniest prose I've ever read about early childhood.
Gilman has great comedic timing; she gets her point across while at the same time showing the hypocrisy in the moment. She's generous too, especially in hindsight and upon reflection, signs of wisdom at any age.
Gilman doesn't soft-pedal the NY culture of her youth, nor the culture of her parents, More...
Jun 14, 2009
Febz
rated it:
it’s a fun, wildly imbecilic memoir of a Manhattanite who thought of the world as her playground. I instantly felt this connection with her.
I was the child who bragged and lied in Show and Tell to distinguish myself from the hordes of crying and pee-crazy 5-year-olds in Kindergarten. I admit I lied not to be difficult but to be special. I conjured and fantasized on what I wanted to be when I grow up. I wanted to be a doctor, a ballerina, a social worker, a fireman and a nun. All the More...
I was the child who bragged and lied in Show and Tell to distinguish myself from the hordes of crying and pee-crazy 5-year-olds in Kindergarten. I admit I lied not to be difficult but to be special. I conjured and fantasized on what I wanted to be when I grow up. I wanted to be a doctor, a ballerina, a social worker, a fireman and a nun. All the More...
Jul 19, 2009
Ron
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After reading Susan Gilman's latest memoir, Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven, I wanted to read all of her other memoirs. So I am reading them backwards, and it does provide an interesting way to read an author's memoirs. In Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven, Susan's parents are sort of an absent but loving and normal mother and father. But in her second Memoir, they are far from normal, but still loving.
Susan provides a funny point of view of growing up during the same time I g More...
Susan provides a funny point of view of growing up during the same time I g More...
Jan 13, 2011
Niki
rated it:
THIS BOOK IS AWESOME!!!!! Originally suggested to me as an interpretation piece for debate, my friend's mother warned me that I may take a liking to the protagonist....understatement of the week. Gilman's recreation of her childhood and adult experiences are hilarious and easily related to, and the descriptions leave nothing to the imagination. Her gritty description of the punk streets of NYC as a teenager are everything that VH1 describes and complaints about being a feminist bride who is pl
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Oct 14, 2007
hilary
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like a female david sedaris or augusten burroughs, gilman's collection of essays are absolutely hysterical, incredibly poignant, and an absolute must-read for anyone who grew up the least bit awkward, artistic or weird (right there with ya, susan).
i love this book. i love this author. i love her quirky family and her embarasing stories of her childhood.
p.s. if you are jewish, which i am not, i imagine it would be even funnier, if that's even possible.
i love this book. i love this author. i love her quirky family and her embarasing stories of her childhood.
p.s. if you are jewish, which i am not, i imagine it would be even funnier, if that's even possible.
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Mar 04, 2010
Kristin
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"Somehow, my five-year-old brain had grasped the ideas the '-ess' was the culmination of all things feminine and highly desirable. It was a suffix that separated the girls from the boys in the best of all possible ways. Princess, goddess, actress, countess. What was there not to love?... '-Ess' made any profession sound glamorous. A laundress, a sorceress, an adulteress. To this day, I'm convinced that, if someone had only been enterprising enough to call female MDs 'doctoresses' and female
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Aug 04, 2010
Sara
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I don't think it's ground-breaking, but a good memoir sheds light on any kind of life and I think she has remembered hers fairly vividly and reflectively. I like that she can make fun of herself and learn from her white, privileged mistakes. There is definitely a predominance of "privileged whiteboy (or girl) life crises" in this country, and being able to look back at hers with just the right touch of sarcasm and self-effacement helped her to avoid what could have become-- what Paula
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Jul 07, 2009
Kristen
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I did find that the author brought a wonderful mix to her stories: she's a rebel with a huge dose of common sense. Whether she's discovering, at age 4, why she dislikes hippies; paraphrasing her mother's stubborn adamancy in teaching proper grammar to inner city children (her mom also sent her to TM); facing true evil for the first time (in the form of the gaping maw of - her words - a human sized pizza oven in a concentration camp); or realizing her own beauty, though she's a feminist rebel, ca
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Apr 03, 2009
Alissa
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I found this at Books & Books in Miami and have read it at least four times since. Bust Magazine summarizes it best: "Susan Jane Gilman’s memoir of growing up in 1970's Manhattan as the child of enlightened intellectuals
does not disappoint. Gilman has created a near-flawless collection of biographical essays that reflect her feminist voice in a frequently
funny, always honest way…Gilman’s fearless writing makes for a memorable read.”
Sometimes called "the female S More...
does not disappoint. Gilman has created a near-flawless collection of biographical essays that reflect her feminist voice in a frequently
funny, always honest way…Gilman’s fearless writing makes for a memorable read.”
Sometimes called "the female S More...
Dec 23, 2008
Ally
rated it:
I "own" three copies of this book, and none of them are with me right now.
That's because every time I see it on sale somewhere (used bookstores are a good bet)I buy it, then immediately loan it to one of my friends, they read it, love it, loan it to one of their friends, and I go out and buy another copy. It's like charity work.
Susan Jane Gilman's memoirs are hard to put down, and easy to burst out laughing to. Her life is told through short bursts of hilari More...
That's because every time I see it on sale somewhere (used bookstores are a good bet)I buy it, then immediately loan it to one of my friends, they read it, love it, loan it to one of their friends, and I go out and buy another copy. It's like charity work.
Susan Jane Gilman's memoirs are hard to put down, and easy to burst out laughing to. Her life is told through short bursts of hilari More...
Oct 10, 2009
Kathi
rated it:
This is my favorite book of all time; I promised myself to read it once a year it is so funny and uplifting! It's a memoir of a Jewish gal growing up in NY in the 70's; there's so much to relate to believe it or not. It is hilariously funny; this woman can write!!! If Frank McCourt(Angela's Ashes..God rest his soul) endorsed it as he did, I knew it had to be outstanding. I first found it while touring Yale for Max with my family. We stopped to eat at Atticus Bookstore and Cafe, one of my fa
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Jan 18, 2010
Paula
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My mom bought this for me randomly one day because she saw it was feminist so she thought it would be something I enjoyed. I greatly appreciated her gesture so I set out to read it. While the stories could have been interesting, I found the author to be a smart ass who flaunted her ineptitude proudly. For example one time she managed to land a job working for a congresswoman. She admitted on the first day of the job that she did not know much about congress even though her job would consist of h
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Jun 22, 2009
Samantha
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Well, I happened across this book on the bargain shelves at Barnes and Noble and was excited. I love the type of memoir written by funny women today. I thought for sure this would be another winner. What I should have realized was there was probably a reason it was on the bargain shelves.This is the story of Susan Jane Gilman, princess daughter of hippies. It regales the trials and tribulations of her Manhattan upbringing. Oh the horror of arriving in a foreign land (Switzerland! The culture sho
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Feb 02, 2012
Ori
rated it:
This was my second time through this book, so perhaps my impressions are slightly skewed. After all, I remember reading it and LOVING it, but none of the details seemed to stick, so the point where each page brought new surprises.
The beginning of the book entirely lived up to my (admittedly high) expectations. Towards the middle, when the author starts recounting her teenage years and early adulthood, things seemed to start heading downhill. The writing, which I'd found brilliantl More...
The beginning of the book entirely lived up to my (admittedly high) expectations. Towards the middle, when the author starts recounting her teenage years and early adulthood, things seemed to start heading downhill. The writing, which I'd found brilliantl More...
Apr 26, 2010
Rhonda Rae
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This was totally hilarious...I devoured it holding my gut laughing out loud and snorting...(-:
There are many generational memories that Susan shared that I felt were just the way I remembered them. I couldn't believe how much her voice brought me back to 'those' days for myself...LOL.
The storyline was told in such a way that I believe anyone from our generation would 'get' exactly what she is talking about and most likely smile along in agreement that Susan not only was More...
There are many generational memories that Susan shared that I felt were just the way I remembered them. I couldn't believe how much her voice brought me back to 'those' days for myself...LOL.
The storyline was told in such a way that I believe anyone from our generation would 'get' exactly what she is talking about and most likely smile along in agreement that Susan not only was More...
Nov 26, 2011
Nicole
rated it:
I just finished reading it.
And it. Was. AMAZING.
It wasn’t even on my original list of books I wanted to read. I found it on the same shelf as Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert (still not sure why I was so eager to read that one, considering my current aversion to all things relationship-oriented, let alone marriage) and added it to the huge tower in my arms on a whim.
But it truly is amazing how some of the best books you’ll ever read are the ones you find by chance. Th More...
And it. Was. AMAZING.
It wasn’t even on my original list of books I wanted to read. I found it on the same shelf as Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert (still not sure why I was so eager to read that one, considering my current aversion to all things relationship-oriented, let alone marriage) and added it to the huge tower in my arms on a whim.
But it truly is amazing how some of the best books you’ll ever read are the ones you find by chance. Th More...
Jun 08, 2009
Olga
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The subtitle of this book is "tales of growing up groovy and clueless". This book contains the most hilarious stories about a girl growing up in a relatively secular Jewish family, trying to figure out her way of understanding why and how her heritage is different from the heritage of most of her classmates (laughing out loud funny). She also tries to figure out what does colorblind means (very funny and very good points), whether praying helps one's breasts grow faster (hysterically
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Jan 02, 2010
Melanie
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I always wished I was raised by hippier parents (I thought my life would have been perfect if I could have been John and Yoko's kid instead of Sean) This book allows me to get a glimpse of that type of upbringing, in that live-vicariously way, and also to realize that every kid feels misunderstood and oppressed by her parents when she's a teenager.
I find Susan Gilman's writing style very engaging and fun. She's never condescending or more-intellectual-than-thou but always smart and More...
I find Susan Gilman's writing style very engaging and fun. She's never condescending or more-intellectual-than-thou but always smart and More...
Oct 13, 2009
Kiwi
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My mother passed this along to me. Her sister got it from a friend, my Mum got it from her sister for a birthday present. My mother couldn't get into the sarcastic writing style that was meant to be from a 4-year-old POV.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had that nice mix of foolishness and wisdom--the mix we all seem to have from time to time, when we admit to it. I loved the way Susan really let loose and wasn't afraid to mention her own naivete and hypocritical thoughts. The last memory More...
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had that nice mix of foolishness and wisdom--the mix we all seem to have from time to time, when we admit to it. I loved the way Susan really let loose and wasn't afraid to mention her own naivete and hypocritical thoughts. The last memory More...
Aug 15, 2011
Michelle
rated it:
Gilman has a way with words as she pens her memoir with a smart-aleck tongue. I used to teach preschool and got a real kick reading Gilman's description of showing up to kindergarten in a tutu and tights that would take forever and a day to get out of to use the bathroom. All the attention she was receiving encouraged the other girls yo show up in tutus as well. She painted the classroom dynamic with such brilliance that I couldn't help but to laugh out loud.
Kindergarten wasn't the More...
Kindergarten wasn't the More...
Jul 28, 2009
Elisse
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This book is one of my favorite types of book- the humourous memoir. And this one is certainly humourous, as well as well-written and realistically human. It's disjointed-feeling (one moment she's in high school, the next in college) but it doesn't really matter because the important part is not dates or smoothness but the funny remembrances of SJG. SJG, I think, is really good at writing clearly what she thinks without a lot of flowery words. This is a really good, funny, and capturing memoir.
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Mar 08, 2009
Devon
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I recently decided to reread this as it has been a few years since the first time and the details of this book seemed like a far too distant memory. I'm glad that I did. Gilman's honest and often awkward recounts of her youth as the daughter of hippie-dippie parents growing up in New York City was both hysterical and wildly similar to my own youth. I enjoyed this book because of Gilman's ability to laugh at herself through the stories of being cluelessly awkward and embarrassed and young (in tha
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