"I behave badly to set myself apart. To test myself. To push myself. To prove something. To shock someone....I behave badly because I can." That's ...
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Mar 31, 2011
Emily
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This collection of autobiographical essays collected from women writers, some much more famous than others, was one I highly anticipated reading. I have had it on my wish list since it was published and reviewed in Bitch magazine. However, I guess I must have built it up too much in my mind, because I didn't find myself enjoying it as much as I had hoped. I had really hoped for some truly shocking revelations, but for the most part, the ladies admit to such things as driving really fast, listeni
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Jan 20, 2010
Ashley
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Hilarious stories about youth and the many ways we try to "put one over" on someone (usually our parents, teachers, or law enforcement officers). The only thing that sort of bothered me was that most of these writers felt the need to highlight their accomplishments/claims to fame in their pieces (see: ego-stroking?). One woman's father is John Cheever (and personally knew E.E. Cummings), another slept with J.D. Salinger (and was being published in high school.....which sickens me!).
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Feb 24, 2009
Lauren
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This was my ideal poolside read - a thinking woman's look at what it means to be a "bad girl," disguised as fluffy chick lit. The 26 different writers who contribute essays to the book explore, expand, and sometime discard altogether what it means to be "bad." Who writes the definition? Who makes the rules? They range in age, experience and level of bravado, but ultimately each essay leaves you thinking about yourself and other women in a different way. One of my favorit
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Aug 10, 2008
Anne
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I'm so fascinated by the idea, I've created a CD of songs about bad girls, found questionaires to discover just how serious my penchant for being a bad girl might be, looked for poems about bad girls (there aren't many), and have started writing little memoirs about my bad girl experiences. This book started me on my exploration of my "badness." Almost all of the stories captured my enthusiastic attention, but I especially liked Elizabeth Bosner's "Everything I Know about Being
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Jan 13, 2008
Dan
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This book is fun! This is an anthology of stories by women who write well. You can read it just for the joy of the wonderful writing if you like. I enjoyed the stories themselves too. Take Mary Roach's Forvive Me, Father, but You're Kind of Cute. She challenges the Catholic confessional ritual in ways I never would have thought of.
She asks in the book, what is a venial sin, really? As she says, "The challenge to the young penitent is figuring out what is a sin and what is merel More...
She asks in the book, what is a venial sin, really? As she says, "The challenge to the young penitent is figuring out what is a sin and what is merel More...
Mar 22, 2009
Anne
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My favorite stories: Lying, Bad Dancer, The Thrill of a Well Placed 'Fuck', Laura the Pest, Skipping Christmas, Author Questionnaire, The Thrill of the Spill, Turn It UP!
These are the best written, imo, but they ALL felt so cathartic to read. I like being bad!!!!! And...you'd never know it on the outside.
These are the best written, imo, but they ALL felt so cathartic to read. I like being bad!!!!! And...you'd never know it on the outside.
Jan 20, 2009
Alissa
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I thought this book was a really easy, fun read. I liked how it was short stories and that I could easily put it down for a week or something if I was busy and pick it back up and not skip a beat or have to backtrack to remember what I read a week ago.
Very cute, fun and hilarious!
Very cute, fun and hilarious!
Feb 01, 2009
Patty
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The collection of essays was uneven. Some were good; others were terrible. But it might be worth picking up at the library just to read Daphne Merkin's "Penises I Have Known." Now that's one you can really sink your teeth into. No pun intended.
Sep 16, 2011
catharine
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This book was delightful. From essays on adolescent sexual fumblings, to Mary Roach talking about the naughty thrill of the confessional, to an essay on why women don't talk more about penis attributes, I enjoyed this heartily and was inspired to write my own "bad girl" essays.
Nov 02, 2009
Amber
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With a variety of stories on being a "bad girl", this anthology was quite funny, and thought-provoking as well. Stories ranged from tales about attending an abusive father's funeral, to one called "Penises I have Known."
Nov 03, 2008
Korynn
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The whole concept of the "bad girl" is ripe to be explored and so I was mildly hopeful. Personally, I think the "bad girl" is a load of tripe and should be thoroughly debunked. It seems to me the term is typically used by drunk women at bars while spanking each other and giggling "we're so bad" while watching everyone look at them. Many of the essays read like the embarassment page from Cosmo which is probably where this book was listed as a read. Sadly, many women
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Aug 24, 2011
Okay so the intro to this collection put me to sleep last night. As a (mostly) former bad girl, my bar is set pretty high - or would that be low? - for what qualifies as "bad." Whatcha got, girls?
Jan 13, 2009
Margaret
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I could relate to the memories that many of us have to "go off the reservation" and be a little wild, not always in the expected ways. No girl can be good all the time. Nor should she.
Jun 16, 2009
Diane
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This book was a collection of essays by women writers. The essays ran the gamut-some were good and some were so so, some were funny and some were sad.
Jan 05, 2009
Marki
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An amusing short story collection of women writers rebelling in their own ways.
Mar 28, 2009
Marybeth
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The one or two good pieces do not make up for the many boring ones.
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Jan 30, 2010
Excellent compilation of essays-- some better than others, but good on the whole.
May 15, 2009
Katie
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Uneven--as an anthology will do--but still pretty good. Best enjoyed with a glass of wine and illicit cigarette.
Aug 11, 2010
Lacey
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I really had to fight to finish reading this book. I was pretty bored with the majority of it but kept going thinking it would get better. For me, it really didn't. I was definitely disappointed.
Jun 29, 2008
Jesse
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More prep reading. "Bad" -- surprise, surprise -- is frequently synonymous with "dirty" and almost never with "subversive." There were a few pleasant pieces (Susan Casey's "Skipping Christmas," Elizabeth Benedict's "The Thrill of a Well-Placed 'Fuck'"), but the scope felt fairly narrow. Mostly, maybe, this is because all (or almost all?) of the pieces were written as reflections, the "bad girl" a mostly-buried personality aberration. No
Jun 14, 2011
Shannon
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Overall I enjoyed this collection quite a bit. I did miss more queer content, perhaps needed a bit less I had sex and was bad type stories. The writing was solid but I wasn't entirely moved by any of the essays unfortunately.
Jun 10, 2008
Nova
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An interesting collection of essays; but, nothing that would have shattered my world had I not read it. Some of the essays were very good (Jong), some of them, not so much. It was interesting to see the different ways that each writer defined or viewed "badness." There is a good mix of authors and viewpoints here so, you are likely to find at least one or two essays that appeal to you.
Oct 28, 2008
Marnellie
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Not a big fan of this book. While some short story books are interesting, easy and good for vacation trips, this book just made me uncomfortable. It maybe because I can't relate to many of the stories of the female New York writers. I felt like the title of the book caused many of the writers to be over zealous and exaggerated in their descriptions.
Dec 23, 2008
Maria
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Seemed like everyone did the same thing to behave badly, and it wasn't all that interesting!
Jul 09, 2008
Margaux
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i totally dug it. picked it up at work on the free table, so i wasn't sure, but lots of good essays in here (erica jong, susan cheever, joyce maynard) about being a "bad" girl in a world where only "good" girls seem truly valued or taken seriously. "bad" is, of course, relative in this book, but we all have a different compass to travel by.
Sep 08, 2008
Amy
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I found myself guffawing out loud on airplanes, at the pool and just about everywhere! I related to just about every essay in here on some level; if not by action...certainly relating by emotion. Ellen Sussman the editor even e-mailed me back when I sent her gushing fan mail thanking her for compiling such a clever collection.
Oct 05, 2007
This is decent overall, not spectacular (and no one's really that "bad")--but I was knocked out by Katharine Weber's story of a friend sneaking her into the World Trade Center when it was under construction. If there's ever a literary anthology of urban exploration (they've got them on almost everything else), it'd be perfect.
Jan 27, 2009
Maija
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A good bus read, as it's a collection of short stories. I think the stories got better in the later chapters - some of the early ones didn't shock me enough. I did feel silly carrying this book around because of the name & cover photo. Oh, well!
