Customer Reviews

Climbing Mountains in Stilettos: Not Your Average Trail Guide to Life

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I enjoyed this book -- it's a very light read, perfect for the bathtub or the beach, but it left me with some real challenges and reflections for life. Ann and Carol's tone is witty and crisp; they balance snappy humor with genuine inspiration, without being cheesy. I went into the book thinking I already was a bad girl, but the chapters on sabotaging self-esteem and managing finances forced me to take a long, hard look at myself. Thanks to Ann and Carol for not being afraid of either "F" words (feminism and femininity).

Climbing Mountains in Stilettos is a hoot! I know it's targeted to 20- and 30-something women, but even a 40-something 1970s-era feminist like me discovered truth and hilarity--and I learned some new, interesting facts about sassy women throughout history.

The book's quizzes are fun, and they really illustrate how you rank on the "bad girl" scale. By the way, if you're thinking that the kind of bad girl the authors are writing about are lost, self-destructive women such as Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan, think again. This book encourages strong women--the kind who take care of themselves and navigate by their own compass to chart a course through a healthy, exhilarating, fulfilled life.

You won't ever catch me wearing stilettos--oh my poor feet!--but the book inspires me to strap on some stiletto attitude (self-assured and sexy)!

The book is fun, and its message about female empowerment is perfect for women of any age!

Remember the fearless girl you used to be or wanted to be--the one who always got what she went for? Climbing Mountains in Stilettos gives you a hands-on plan to get it in all areas of your life, and sprinkles in stories about women who found their passions and knew there was nothing impolite about being true to yourself. It's a fun, sassy book that totally inspired me out of my old comfort zone. Try it. You'll love it.

Once upon a time, stilettos were thought to make women vulnerable because you can't run in them. True enough, if you suppose a woman who can't run is vulnerable.

Nowadays, stilettos could proclaim a commitment to stand and fight--a little black belt to accessorize that little black dress, perhaps, or a little something in the handbag of sterner stuff that kleenex.

Less dramatically, stilettos make a statement about the toughness of women: "I'm willing to walk around in pain for a look." (Sub-text: compared to child-birth, these babies are kid stuff)

Mostly, women who wear stilettos do it to feel sexy. And sex, of course, is power. Forbidden power. Good girls aren't supposed to wield it. To which the authors might reply: "What's so good about being a good girl?"

By "good girl" they mean the you that wants to conform to the dictates about gender roles and looks and what a nice girl can or cannot, should or should not do. "Nonsense," they say, "You can do it in stilettos." The stiletto is their metaphor for liberating your bad girl and rediscovering poise, purpose and the unity of femininity and power. Bad girls can climb mountains in stilettos.

Being bad does not mean sleeping your way to the top or robbing banks (well, maybe a little piracy), but rejecting the pseudo-morality of both the gingham kitchen and the sensible shoe.

Maybe you genuinely like comfortable shoes, and maybe you like puttering around your kitchen creating brilliant food. Then damn the symbols! Full speed ahead. If you're doing what you want because you want, you may already be a bad girl and you don't need this book, but there's a good chance you know someone who does.

The light and sassy style is a good choice because letting go of who you were told to be and discovering who you are can be scary. At times it is laugh-out-loud funny, more often just smile-out-loud funny, and on occasion, when discussing the damage done by conformity, not a bit funny.

The fem fatale on the cover is fatally anorexic, contra the book's message that women should reject society's insane standards of beauty and love their natural bodies. Contemplating the incredible shrinking woman, the authors work themselves into a wonderful tirade:

"Fashion and most women's magazines convey the message that anything above a size six is too large. Four is the new six. Two is the new four, and zero is really the ideal. It's good to have juicy lips, inflated breasts and a perky [posterior], but the rest of you should look like a heroin addict."

(Yes, that's right, Amazon's auto-redactor elided the punchier synonym the authors use--not the a-word, the b-word)

Maybe the cover girl is a recovering good girl, a little abashed, meditating on the sin of pasta.

The authors could emphasize more that what they are urging is not immorality, but true morality, which cannot be achieved until one rejects its conventional substitute. It is that Huck Finn moment when you decide that, whatever society or the pulpit may threaten, before you betray a friend, a confidence, an ideal or--worst of all--yourself, you will go to hell. In stilettos.

With which understanding, I recommend this book to good girls, half-good girls and bad girls tempted to backslide everywhere.

Every women should be a "bad girl." We all have it inside of us, but the pressures of society and unspoken agendas for women deter us from reaching our full "bad" potential.

If you think that women have already "come far enough" in the world and if you believe that women are supposed to be docile and gentle little homebodies, then don't read this book. Or maybe you should read this book, because it completely changes your views of the potential of women and lets the reader know that there is more to life than being a stay at home mommy, a doormat, and a woman dependent on a man for her every need. You know what, this is a great book for EVERY woman because it opens your eyes to the facts about women that no one really takes seriously (women still only make 71 cents to the man's dollar, being a stay at home mommy isn't a duty anymore, men are not the only ones allowed to be CEO's, and so much more).

My favorite chapter was the one on sassy comebacks. Although I always knew I could be a strong woman and say things like "Do I need to grow a penis to understand this?" but the book gave me that extra push so now I say these things all the time. And people look up to me more for it!! Last night at the bar, some guy reached out to me and felt my waste, then motioned with his hands for me to "come over here, baby." I said to him, "Does this look like a petting zoo, you tool?!" It was awesome the look he and his friends gave me, like "damn that is a girl who can stand her ground." I also loved the chapter on money and finances. Bad girls don't rely on others to pay her bills and she is fully responsible for her financial safety.

I read this book in 24 hours because I could not put it down. It's absolutely hilarious, includes quizzes (but not stupid ones) and areas for you to write in your own imput. I made it to the "summit" and am now a full fledged "bad girl!!!!"

I enjoyed it so much. I loved the stories of individual women and the quotes from people like Dorothy Parker and May West. It was funny and entertaining, and full of insights for young women. It brought home to me all the changes in society particularly regarding women's rights. I was born just about six years after the constitutional amendment for the right to vote for women, and I remember my father and mother telling me about seeing the suffragettes marching in New York City. At that time that was such a huge step in advancement of women's rights.--Patsy Kopper

I wonder why the Carrie Bradshaws of today think that they are the only ones who can wear stilettos and push-up bras and still be(gulp)feminists?
One of the most powerful presences and dynamic,radical voices of the sisterhood-is-powerful 70's was a black woman who wore minidresses and purple platform shoes and false eyelashes and long, painted nails while women were being exhorted to trash the femme dressing and assume overalls and Converse All-Stars...for "comfort" and to proclaim that getting men sexually aroused was not first on your to-do list.
I suppose that it's because no-one is interested in reading history, or giving any importance to it, if they read it at all.
After all, it's OLD, and anything OLD is automatically consigned to the dumpster...unless you can sell it. In which case it becomes OLD SCHOOL and is thereafter positioned properly.