Customer Reviews

Bald in the Land of Big Hair

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I laughed and I cried. Although Joni Rodgers cancer experience is the reason for the story, it is not the whole story. This is a book about how one woman and one family dealt with a terrible illness. How they pulled apart and pulled together. How a Mom & Dad lived through one of the scariest of modern America's illnesses. The cancer is there, lurking in the background through the entire book, but the real story is how Joni & Gary brought Malachi and Jerusha into the circle of the illness and made them a part of the healing process. You'll hear the cries of a little girl sitting on the floor outside the bathroom door as her Mother goes through the agony of chemo-aftermath, and you can picture her as she comforts her Mom by holding a wet wash cloth to her burning forehead and becomes part of the healing experience. You can see cancer from a small boys viewpoint as Malachi tells the story of a Prince who goes forth to slay the dragon and find the magic moss which will save the Queen from her terrible sickness. From the initial diagnosis to her fight with God in the shower stall, Joni Rodgers will pull the reader inside the family circle. Your heart will ache with sadness and with joy as she shares the most intimate details of a terrible time. This is a great story. I cried. I laughed. I read it again.

Elizabeth Berg gives this book such an awesome quote on the back jacket that I had to buy and read it--she was right. She says this is "a very important book. It's not only a book about cancer but also a book about how to ground yourself in the life you're living. About how to let go of false concepts of beauty and of self and start living a far richer, truer life than you might ever have imagined. Reading this book is like being given the extraordinary insight that comes with catastrophic illness without having to endure the dieseaase itself. Read it." I couldn't say it better, now that I've read it. This is a really wonderful memoir about life, love, family, and overcoming the bad things life tends to throw your way. I did laugh and I did cry and I will read it again and again.

I have never had cancer or even known someone with the disease, so I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this book -- but I did! What made me appreciate Rodgers' novel was that it wasn't a collection of survivor bromides and platitudes, inspirational quotes, or overused Bible passages. In fact, the author did a fine job explaining her true feelings about all those "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"-like messages. I also liked the fact that Rodgers doesn't hide the less-than-appealing parts of the disease - vomiting, mouth sores, disappearing toenails - and also addresses more personal matters like her sexuality during the disease's course and relationship with her young children. It was real and uncensored, which gave the book a complete human quality.
And, of course, this book was also very funny! Rodgers has a way with words that will have you laughing in spurts throughout the novel.
I was never bored reading this book and finished it in less than two days. Aside from being a good read, it also introduced me to the pitfalls of cancer that I never knew about before.

My friend has cancer and is doing chemo, so I read this book in hopes of better understanding what she is going through. But I came away with so much more than I expected! Of course I learned a lot about cancer and what to say (and what NOT to say) to my friend. But I also learned a lot about life, marriage, and friendship. Joni Rodgers is a gifted writer with just enough humor to get you through the scary parts. In fact, I enjoyed the writing so much that I've just bought her two novels. GOOD STUFF.

Bald In The Land Of Big Hair

This Book is a real life story by Joni Rodgers.  Joni had been living a life with hardly any cares in the world.  She had two wonderful children and a loving husband.  She had a great life!  Then suddenly everything changed. She discovered she had cancer.  Her world was turned upside down.  She lost her hair, the one thing she truly liked about herself, her children did not understand what she was going through, and her sexual life diminished. This book was worthwhile.

After cancer hit Joni, her strength weakened  She was not able to take care of herself or her children properly.  She was constantly in the bathroom throwing up and she had trouble eating.  Her daughter was constantly yelling her to stop and act like a grown up.

Also she was emotionally drained too.  She was constantly having arguments with her family.  In one incident with her son he accused her of being lazy because she was to sick to get up and help make sandwiches.  She then slapped him across the face.  She constantly did not know how to react to the people around her.

Another thing that women tend to pay a lot of attention is their physical appearance.  Joni experienced chemotherapy and in turn lost her hair.  This is said to be the beauty of all women.  She went through the pain of people staring at her and she saw people commenting about her.  This hurt her but she tried to act like it meant nothing to her.   

But even though cancer had  many negative effects on Joni in some ways her life was also affected possibly.  It taught her to got through hard trials in her life. It also taught her to live her life to the fullest.  To act like every minute will be her last. She might go ahead with plans instead of waiting till its to late. 

This is an excellent book.  It shows you how difficult it might be for people in certain circumstances.  It tells you that even if your life is great  bad things can happen to you.  After you read this maybe you will be more understanding to the people around you.

This is one of the most inspirational books I've ever read. It made me look at my own life in terms of priorities, how I treat my family and how I treat myself. There's a lot to learn from the author, who had cancer--but even if you don't have cancer, this is a wonderful, inspirational book. It's the kind of book I tend to read more than once so I'm keeping mine and buying a few for some friends.

Wow! This is a book that once opened can not be put down. The true story of Joni Rodgers is remarkable on many levels. Her battle with a devastating illness is retold with the greatest humanity. Her humor and keen observation is a testament to the capacity for kindness and strength in the face of the most humbling of circumstances. A must read for anyone interested in the power of the human spirit!

I am reading this book, having just found it in a bargain bin, and have to say it is one of the best and truest accounts of cancer survival, treatment, and the places within yourself that cancer finds and illuminates. Cancer is never funny but when you are in the throes of diagnosis and treatment, you just gotta grab what is within and smile, laugh, spit in cancer's eye, and go on. Having been there and done that, I know this account rings true. Of all the books hurled at me during treatment (most of which I had little use for), the ones I still go back to are Gilda Radner's book from 1989 which I already owned for 20 years, Crazy Sexy Cancer, Anti-Cancer, and now this little gem. Cancer is an epidemic, so most all of us will be touched by it at some point. I was touched by this book.

Review of Bald in the Land of Big Hair (a true story) by Joni Rodgers. HarperCollins, 2001. Hardback. 253 pages. ISBN: 0-06-019588-6

Rodgers is the author of two novels, Crazy for Trying, and Sugarland, but has made an impression in the non-fiction field by writing her cancer memoir, and being a keynote speaker for a variety of cancer related organizations.

The title is a concise preview of what the reader will encounter. Rodgers is diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of thirty-two, while married and raising two children. "Bald" refers to a side effect of chemotherapy, and "big hair" refers to the styles of the big state of Texas, where over done hair is the norm. Rodgers takes us through the indignities of cancer and the treatments. In doing so, she reaches to the core of her being, without clothing, accessories, and flamboyant hairstyles. Although Rodgers tackles the serious subject of her war against cancer, she does so with humor that will have the reader laughing out loud.

Even the chapter titles are funny: "Cleopatra, Queen of Denial" "Hairless in Houston" "Lights, Cancer, Action" Yet the prologue offers great prose: "When tomorrow was still a given and ignorance was still bliss, I was floating along like a paper sailboat on a lazy river, too caught up in my life to know that I was dying. But the day you're diagnosed with cancer, you stop dying and start surviving. You stop living and start staying alive." Anyone who has battled cancer will recognize the truth in this paragraph. Rodgers tells us the truth of her fears, the ugly effects of treatment, and her will to survive.

Although cancer is not hilarious, Rodgers makes it sound comical. The dialogue with her husband after she has lost her hair sounds like stuff for a situation comedy: Her husband says of her bald head, "There is no denying how sick you are." Rodger says, "I'm not sick." "You're sick, Joni." "I'm not sick." He says, "You have cancer." Joni replies, "Throw that in my face, why don't you?" The infused humor is refreshing.

Rodgers incorporates education within the humor, telling the reader: "In 1994, I was one of about fifty thousand people diagnosed [with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma] and half of us did not live to see the new century. In 2000, more than 62,000 people were told they had lymphoma, even as the overall cancer rate continued a steady decline." She writes, "In the great barnyard of life, cancer is a manure pile. It stinks..." What reader can resist this style of writing: a combination of information and wit?

Rodgers also writes of the sexual transformations she experienced along with her husband during and after cancer. She adds the conflicts of her children, who alternate between understanding and indignation. In the chapter "Being a Phoenix" Rodgers tells the reader how she goes on with her life when her cancer goes into remission. The re-growth of her hair seems to be a metaphor for her personal and spiritual growth.

Bald in the Land of Big Hair is a breath of fresh air amongst the stacks of educational reading material required for a cancer patient.
review by Lynn C. Tolson

As a clinical social worker and cancer survivor, I've read many books for my own interest and to screen prior to recommending them to my clients. This book found its way to me through a client, via her physician. It resonated with heart and all the pain, joy and multitude of emotions in-between that real heart-experienced life encounters. It is very personal while also accessible to anyone who likes good literature, is interested in the subject, or has a personal experience with cancer. I am not a writer but I l love to read. This book bursts with humor and self-deprecation yet in my mind, Ms. Rodgers stands strong and steadfast. Thank you.