Cowgirl Smarts: How to Rope a Kick-Ass Life

by Ellen Reid Smith

Cowgirl Smarts will make you want to saddle up, and follow your dreams! Wild West cowgirls were bodacious and lived amazing lives, almost too fantastic to believe. They bucked all the norms and persevered against tremendous odds to live full and adventurous lives. Cowgirl Smarts identifies the characteristics that made these cowgirls successful at roping more out of life when others thought they shouldn’t. Cowgirl Smarts is about being fearless, adventurous, original, resourceful, independent, faithful, honest and genuine. The book demonstrates how to get cowgirl smart through the stories of real cowgirls from the Wild West and early rodeo days. If you want to rope a kick-ass life or to enjoy some fun cowgirl history, then this book is for you. It’s a sassy guide for finding your cowgirl spirit and thinking outside the ranch.

Genres: Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am confident that Smith's lectures are fun and fascinating, but I felt her book was not very well written. I was itching to edit it, because it has a lot of potential, but falls short of what it could be.

There are some fun stories about cowgirls, and Smith's perspective on the stories seemed very practical and realistic to me, but sometimes the tone wasn't quite right--too colloquial for a book, or too flippant. Somehow, a book that mentions J-Lo just doesn't feel like a book that will remain relevant; it feels like a magazine article or a spoken presentation.

Nevertheless, it's clear that Smith did a lot of research, and the stories she shared in this book are ones I had never read before, so it was worth a quick read.

[Saadiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This entertaining and informative little book presents a range of motivational tips for women in all walks of life, horsey or otherwise, structured around historical accounts of the 'kick-ass' lives of real cowgirls. Good fun.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some stories about women in the old west and how they made their money and succeeded. I read this because John's niece sent it to us for Christmas. And I knew that John would not.

[Jennifer]

great coffee table book or bathroom reading material!