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Bad Hair Year
How do you write a ‘goodbye’ letter to your friends and family when you may – or may not – be about to die? On the one hand I don’t want to depart this mortal coil without leaving some sort of a message to those I love, and on the other hand I don’t want to be melodramatic, confess all my sins and give away any more possessions, in case I make it through okay. I reckon I’d have a hard time getting my bicycle back from Greg.
Just days before Christmas, Bambi Smyth is diagnosed with a brain tumour, throwing her life completely off kilter and seriously upsetting her plans for an adventurous second-half-of-life.
Bad Hair Year tells the tale of how she copes – her stoicism, positivity and, above all, her enduring sense of humour. Which she will need again in spades because just as she’s getting back on her feet she discovers she has breast cancer.
This is for anyone who wonders how it feels to have your very existence suddenly under threat, or wants some reassurance from a friend who has been there, and lived to tell the tale.
Just days before Christmas, Bambi Smyth is diagnosed with a brain tumour, throwing her life completely off kilter and seriously upsetting her plans for an adventurous second-half-of-life.
Bad Hair Year tells the tale of how she copes – her stoicism, positivity and, above all, her enduring sense of humour. Which she will need again in spades because just as she’s getting back on her feet she discovers she has breast cancer.
This is for anyone who wonders how it feels to have your very existence suddenly under threat, or wants some reassurance from a friend who has been there, and lived to tell the tale.
336 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2016
2 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 20, 2022
Just flippin’ awesome, funny, inspirational & traumatic. I loved it.
March 10, 2016
It was John Lennon who once sang that, “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”. This quote is especially relevant to children’s illustrator, artist and businesswoman, Bambi Smyth. Just a few days before Christmas in 2010 she went to a specialist where they discovered she had a large brain tumour. This was just one of a series of catastrophic events that would follow over the course of one turbulent year.
Bad Hair Year is a memoir that focuses on this chapter in Smyth’s life as she deals with multiple illnesses. It is set out like a diary and often has daily entries written in the first person. This means the text feels very intimate, personal and honest. At times it actually feels like you are seated next to Smyth on this emotional roller-coaster, especially when she is diagnosed with breast cancer less than a year after her original diagnosis.
This book has a rather flippant title but it does offer up a lot of food for thought with respect to philosophy and the things that people should appreciate in life. Smyth goes into detail about the changes she made to her lifestyle with things like: exercising more, changing her diet, engaging in alternative therapies like meditation, visualisation techniques, positive thinking and hypnotherapy. These things may not work for everyone and for some readers it might get a little frustrating to read about such stuff in so much detail, but hopefully for every one of those there is another reader who is experiencing something similar to Smyth and who takes great comfort in reading about her journey and making the same adjustments.
Bad Hair Year is one brave tale from a colourful lady placed in a grave situation. It’s a book that could have been dreary and sorrowful but instead wants to celebrate life and tackle things head on. In all, Bad Hair Year is an important story because it is hopeful and candid, meaning it should resonate with people who are facing similar issues.
Bad Hair Year is a memoir that focuses on this chapter in Smyth’s life as she deals with multiple illnesses. It is set out like a diary and often has daily entries written in the first person. This means the text feels very intimate, personal and honest. At times it actually feels like you are seated next to Smyth on this emotional roller-coaster, especially when she is diagnosed with breast cancer less than a year after her original diagnosis.
This book has a rather flippant title but it does offer up a lot of food for thought with respect to philosophy and the things that people should appreciate in life. Smyth goes into detail about the changes she made to her lifestyle with things like: exercising more, changing her diet, engaging in alternative therapies like meditation, visualisation techniques, positive thinking and hypnotherapy. These things may not work for everyone and for some readers it might get a little frustrating to read about such stuff in so much detail, but hopefully for every one of those there is another reader who is experiencing something similar to Smyth and who takes great comfort in reading about her journey and making the same adjustments.
Bad Hair Year is one brave tale from a colourful lady placed in a grave situation. It’s a book that could have been dreary and sorrowful but instead wants to celebrate life and tackle things head on. In all, Bad Hair Year is an important story because it is hopeful and candid, meaning it should resonate with people who are facing similar issues.
March 10, 2016
It was John Lennon who once sang that, “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”. This quote is especially relevant to children’s illustrator, artist and businesswoman, Bambi Smyth. Just a few days before Christmas in 2010 she went to a specialist where they discovered she had a large brain tumour. This was just one of a series of catastrophic events that would follow over the course of one turbulent year.
Bad Hair Year is a memoir that focuses on this chapter in Smyth’s life as she deals with multiple illnesses. It is set out like a diary and often has daily entries written in the first person. This means the text feels very intimate, personal and honest. At times it actually feels like you are seated next to Smyth on this emotional roller-coaster, especially when she is diagnosed with breast cancer less than a year after her original diagnosis.
This book has a rather flippant title but it does offer up a lot of food for thought with respect to philosophy and the things that people should appreciate in life. Smyth goes into detail about the changes she made to her lifestyle with things like: exercising more, changing her diet, engaging in alternative therapies like meditation, visualisation techniques, positive thinking and hypnotherapy. These things may not work for everyone and for some readers it might get a little frustrating to read about such stuff in so much detail, but hopefully for every one of those there is another reader who is experiencing something similar to Smyth and who takes great comfort in reading about her journey and making the same adjustments.
Bad Hair Year is one brave tale from a colourful lady placed in a grave situation. It’s a book that could have been dreary and sorrowful but instead wants to celebrate life and tackle things head on. In all, Bad Hair Year is an important story because it is hopeful and candid, meaning it should resonate with people who are facing similar issues.
Bad Hair Year is a memoir that focuses on this chapter in Smyth’s life as she deals with multiple illnesses. It is set out like a diary and often has daily entries written in the first person. This means the text feels very intimate, personal and honest. At times it actually feels like you are seated next to Smyth on this emotional roller-coaster, especially when she is diagnosed with breast cancer less than a year after her original diagnosis.
This book has a rather flippant title but it does offer up a lot of food for thought with respect to philosophy and the things that people should appreciate in life. Smyth goes into detail about the changes she made to her lifestyle with things like: exercising more, changing her diet, engaging in alternative therapies like meditation, visualisation techniques, positive thinking and hypnotherapy. These things may not work for everyone and for some readers it might get a little frustrating to read about such stuff in so much detail, but hopefully for every one of those there is another reader who is experiencing something similar to Smyth and who takes great comfort in reading about her journey and making the same adjustments.
Bad Hair Year is one brave tale from a colourful lady placed in a grave situation. It’s a book that could have been dreary and sorrowful but instead wants to celebrate life and tackle things head on. In all, Bad Hair Year is an important story because it is hopeful and candid, meaning it should resonate with people who are facing similar issues.
June 13, 2016
Bambi is faced with health issues that none of want to face. She is lucky enough to get through it with the help and support of not only her doctors but also her family and friends. Her angels, as she calls them.
Bambi is one of the lucky ones, not because she went through this but because she was lucky enough to survive as so many others haven't.
Thank you Bambi for this very truthful diary of your journey. Your strength, through adversity is an inspiration. I'm so glad that you lived to tell us your story.
Bambi is one of the lucky ones, not because she went through this but because she was lucky enough to survive as so many others haven't.
Thank you Bambi for this very truthful diary of your journey. Your strength, through adversity is an inspiration. I'm so glad that you lived to tell us your story.
March 3, 2016
Loved it. No one would choose to go through what Bambi has but she shows you that if you face adversity with grace, humour, and copious quantities of tenacity, you'll cope much better than you would've had you folded and asked, "why me?" A fabulous read, showing that even faced with life's challenges you can still stop to count your blessings. And, strangely enough, given the subject matter, it's an uplifting and positive read.
March 3, 2016
Loved it. No one would choose to go through what Bambi has but she shows you that if you face adversity with grace, humour, and copious quantities of tenacity, you'll cope much better than you would've had you folded and asked, "why me?" A fabulous read, showing that even faced with life's challenges you can still stop to count your blessings. And, strangely enough, given the subject matter, it's an uplifting and positive read.
March 11, 2016
Positivity over adversity. Sometime you just need a reminder. A brave and inspiring story.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews