Becoming Myself: Reflections on Growing Up Female [Paperback]

Willa Shalit (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2007

"The women in this collection were asked, simply, to recall a significant memory of growing up female. They responded generously, with intimate stories of their lives. Instead of the superficial prepackaged blurbs of TV sound bites and press releases, they told stories from their hearts; they told secrets never spoken before. They revealed themselves through stories of personal confusion and discovery, pain and overcoming, rejection and celebration."
--From Willa Shalit's Introduction

The stories shared by these sixty-seven remarkable women -- writers, actors, musicians, journalists, activists -- include:

--Kate Winslet on the media's eagerness to distort women's images.
--Zane on her belief in a woman's right to satisfaction.
--Lillian Vernon on being a trailblazing entrepreneur.
--J.K. Rowling on the transformation wrought by giving birth.

Filled with sparkling insights and powerful reflections, Becoming Myself is a gift for every woman.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sculptor and Vagina Monologues producer Shalit asked a group of celebrities and writers to recall a significant memory of growing up female. The result is an uneven collection of 67 short pieces, with unfocused or perfunctory contributions by such notables as J.K. Rowling, Kate Winslet, Vanessa Williams, Brooke Shields and Janis Ian. A few of the pieces, such as those by Patti LaBelle, Rue McClanahan and Lily Tomlin are frustratingly short. Longer and more literary pieces by Joyce Carol Oates, Kitty Carlisle Hart and Tawni O'Dell stand out as moving, thought provoking and completely to the point. Oates writes about her disturbing experiences as a sexually naïve undergraduate in the late 1950s trying to navigate the chaotic rituals of a fraternity party at which her drunken female peers were taking sexual risks. In an affectionately comic piece, actress Hart, born into a comfortable New Orleans family in 1910, describes how she suffered and evolved under a domineering but loving mother, while O'Dell paints a stark picture of herself as a tough, sensitive 10-year-old in the 1970s coal-mining region of western Pennsylvania, coming to grips with the critical difference in girls' and boys' natures. (Apr. 18)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Candid stories will shock, inspire, and touch you -- and make you proud to be a sister." -- Marie Claire

"In Becoming Myself . . . famously self-assured women share their I-am-woman epiphanies." -- Glamour

"This book is a pleasure to read and will uplift women of all ages." -- Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (April 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401308953
• ISBN-13: 978-1401308957
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,729,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for every woman in the process of "becoming herself.", May 14, 2006

By 

F. Bergen "book lover" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming Myself: Reflections On Growing Up Female (Hardcover)

Great book for every woman in the process of "becoming herself." This is a how-to guide to womanhood by women who have walked the walk and are speaking from personal experience. Loved the intimate stories in this book that reveal the most personal lives of great women with autobiographical essays by JK Rowling, Kate Winslet, Maya Angelou and many others, aged 24 (Jamie Lynn Sigler) to 94 (Kitty Carlisle Hart). Contributors focus on personal subjects we all share: family, emotional growth, joys and sorrows. I read the book in random order: just opening it anywhere and reading the story on that page. I love being able to 'browse' through a book like this. The pieces are really diverse which gave me the feeling of 'sitting around a kitchen table' with friends ... some share a lot, some a little. Some are more eloquent, some less. But all feel safe enough to reveal the tender realities of life that are usually held private. Since reading it, the voices of the women come to mind when I least expect it, tapping me on the shoulder with words of wisdom. Great graduation gift or "any time" gift to for women of all ages.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars becoming myself reflections on growing up female, April 24, 2006

By 

Janet K. Crozier (a reader) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Becoming Myself: Reflections On Growing Up Female (Hardcover)

What a delightful book. Reading it is a little like being invited into living room or kitchen of some of the most fascinating women alive today. What a privilege it is to read and learn from Maya Angelou and to understand from her perspective the difference between growing up and growing old. Her wisdom is something I will read and reread.

I wondered who was the inspiration for Hermione in the Harry Potter books and was fascinated by the accounting of how and where the first book was written. An inspiration to all would-be writers. I was amazed by the age span and experiences of the women who shared their personal and often intimate details about growing up as a female in whatever city, town and family setting they were born into.

It's a book I will read, reread and share with my best friends and daughters.

Janet K. Crozier

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Becoming Myself - enlightening, inspiring, enriching!, April 29, 2006

By 

Spark - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming Myself: Reflections On Growing Up Female (Hardcover)

I love this book! I just received it as a birthday gift from a girlfriend. What a lovely book, filled with inspirational stories of women -- mostly famous. This is the perfect bedside book -- for moments when you want to read what other women have endured and enjoyed as they become themselves. I will share this book with my daughters and my girlfriends.