Kiss My Tiara fans, you have a whole new reason to celebrate:
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress
is here, and it is Susan Jane Gilman at her funniest and most
enlightened self. If you're new to Ms. Gilman and her writing, welcome.
She is in turn cynical, sarcastic, touching, funny, and soul-searching,
and she knows just how to tell her "tales of growing up groovy and
clueless."
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress
is a memoir, a collection of stories stretching from Gilman's youth
through adolescence and college, to her early days as a journalist and
her foray into the world of being a bride. The stories are outlandish,
and she tells them alternately from both the perspective of the person
living in that moment and from her position now, looking back on the
events. Most of the time what she writes is extremely funny, sprinkled
with just the right amount of self-deprecation, but Gilman knows just
when to switch gears and add in her own bit of wisdom gleaned for the
situation that makes you sit back and nod along in agreement.
Maybe most of us reading her books don't have quite the colorful
background of Susan Jane Gilman - hippy summer camp with the family,
staying out all night to catch a glimpse of Mick Jagger, following a
group of Jewish students in a Holocaust march in Europe - but
regardless, she touches on the humanity within those events that weaves
its way through all of our lives. She finds the commonality that we can
all relate to - wanting to fit in, trying to figure out why others hate
us, searching for ways to be loved and stand out, facing our fears and
marching bravely forward.
Above all, Gilman is an honest soul, and she is anything but a
hypocrite. There is no self-aggrandizing here, but neither is there any
wallowing in the woe is me, look how far I've come. She's honest, and
it makes her writing shine. When I first sat down to write this review,
what I really wanted to say was a simple, "This book is awesome! I
loved it!" While that didn't seem an adequate tribute to
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress, it is in fact the truth.
From Kirkus Reviews:
"A
deliriously, levitatingly funny memoir...The thread of tough humor
working its way through this memoir serves to backlight moments of
exquisite realization...and startling, genuine epiphanies."
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress