For every girl who marches to the beat of her own drum, Leslie Simon has your manifesto: a smart, expansive, and winningly entertaining celebration of comedy queens, film geeks, bookworms, craft mavens, indie chicks, and other all-star women. Following the breakaway hit book Everybody Hurts, Simon’s energizing look at today’s pop-culture and counterculture heroines—like Amy Sedaris, Tina Fey, Sofia Coppola, Regina Spektor, and Jenny Hart—is an empowering, eye-opening, and, above all, fun journey. Readers of The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking and The Modern Girl’s Guide to Life will love joining forces as Geek Girls Unite!
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Geek Girls Unite is the ultimate guide for any girl who identifies with the geekier side of life. It’s a hilarious must-read look into the modern geek and what makes her so cool!” (comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates )
“While geekdom has long been portrayed in pop culture as a boys’ club, Simon catalogues the wide variety of geek girls in this entertaining look at embracing nonconformity...a worthy endeavor.” (Publishers Weekly )
Tina Fey worshipper Leslie Simon crowdsources media obsessions from a ‘guild’ of like-minded women to assemble this peppy survey of comedy, literary, film and music icons, all the while evangelizing on behalf of misfit females. (Wired.com )
“While geekdom has long been portrayed in pop culture as a boys’ club, Simon catalogues the wide variety of geek girls in this entertaining look at embracing nonconformity...a worthy endeavor.” (Publishers Weekly )
Tina Fey worshipper Leslie Simon crowdsources media obsessions from a ‘guild’ of like-minded women to assemble this peppy survey of comedy, literary, film and music icons, all the while evangelizing on behalf of misfit females. (Wired.com )
From the Back Cover
What do Amy Poehler, Bjork, Felicia Day, Martha Stewart, Miranda July, and Zooey Deschanel have in common? They’re just a few of the amazing women proving that “geek” is no longer a four-letter word.
In recent years, male geeks have taken the world by storm. But what about their female counterparts? After all, fangirls are just like fanboys—they put on their Imperial Stormtrooper Lycra pants one leg at a time.
Geek Girls Unite is a call to arms for every girl who has ever obsessed over music, comics, film, comedy, books, crafts, fashion, or anything else under the Death Star. Music geek girl Leslie Simon offers an overview of the geek elite by covering groundbreaking women, hall-of-famers, ultimate love matches, and potential frenemies, along with her top picks for playlists, books, movies, and websites. This smart and hilarious tour through girl geekdom is a must-have for any woman who has ever wondered where her sassy rebel sisters have been hiding.
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More About the Author
Leslie Simon lives in Los Angeles, isn't a fan of hot weather, and loves her parents, "Gilmore Girls" and French bulldog puppies. She's the author of "Geek Girls Unite: How Fangirls, Bookworms, Indie Chicks and Other Misfits Are Taking Over The World," "Wish You Were Here: An Essential Guide To Your Favorite Music Scenes" and co-author of "Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture." She is currently the Senior Creative Director at Warner Bros. Records.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Geek Girls Unite is a super cute book, and I'm not just saying that because my blog is listed as one of the Fangirl blogs to bookmark. It's part manifesto, part guide book, and it's full of fun geeky references. But my favorite part? It's a great way for young, burgeoning geek girls to find themselves and realize that they're not alone.
The first thing that author Leslie Simon does is define geek. I have to admit, I was a little surprised that she moves "geek" outside of what I usually think of as its sphere. When I think of geeky, my brain automatically zooms to science fiction, fantasy, technology, science... stuff like that. But Simon defines a geek as "a person who is wildly passionate about an activity, interest or scientific field" who "will often seek out like-minded peers ... in order to connect, bond, and celebrate mutual love" for their chosen geek-out topic (3).* So by this definition, someone can be a geek for sports or fashion or any number of things that I would never have thought of as "geeky" pursuits.
But the more I think about it, the more I kinda like that definition. One thing that drives me nuts is when geeks start to close the ranks and define geekiness as something that they possess and you don't, so nyah nyah. Case in point: the hatred flung at Twilight fans at Comic Con. Look guys, I hate Twilight as much as the next geek, but really, how do you know that that Twihard isn't going to pick up a comic book at SDCC and dive deeper into geekdom? Maybe Twilight is a gateway drug to becoming what someone like me would think of as a more traditional geek girl. And I think it's a great idea to let girls who think they might be geeks know that you can geek out about any number of things, and it's all good.
Geek definitions aside, the first thing that struck me while reading Geek Girls Unite is that it reads like a snarky, smart guidebook for teenage girls. Looking at the publisher, it seems like the book is categorized more generally as pop culture, but I think it'll go over well with young geek girls. Each chapter about specific types of geek girl starts out with a quiz, much like those in the teen magazines that I pored over as a kid, and it ends with tips for the right kind of guy for each kind of geek girl (for a good take on how this isn't too cool for non-straight teen girls, read The Mary Sue's review).
There's an interesting bit of juxtaposition with the teen-aimed prose and style, though. Simon references all kind of Gen-X stuff that had me flashing back to my own high school days. Liz Phair? Yes!
Down to the meat of the book, I was a tiny bit disappointed that there wasn't more page time devoted to the more traditional geek girl (comic book-reading, SF/F watching, etc), and a lot of the categorical geek stuff is pretty general. Also, I consider myself a book geek, and I found a lot of the book recommendations to be pretty pretentious (that is my own literary quirk, though, and I'll happily hand literary fiction over to the people who dig it). But on the other hand, it's not like a fun guide to geek-girliness can even come close to encompassing every single bit of geek minutiae.
And that's what Geek Girls Unite is: a fun book that shows geek girls that we're not alone. There are other girls out there who geek out over the same things that we do, and I think that anything that can help foster geek girl community while being an entertaining read is great.
*Oh my god, I'm forever stuck using MLA citations. Once an English major, always an English major.
The first thing that author Leslie Simon does is define geek. I have to admit, I was a little surprised that she moves "geek" outside of what I usually think of as its sphere. When I think of geeky, my brain automatically zooms to science fiction, fantasy, technology, science... stuff like that. But Simon defines a geek as "a person who is wildly passionate about an activity, interest or scientific field" who "will often seek out like-minded peers ... in order to connect, bond, and celebrate mutual love" for their chosen geek-out topic (3).* So by this definition, someone can be a geek for sports or fashion or any number of things that I would never have thought of as "geeky" pursuits.
But the more I think about it, the more I kinda like that definition. One thing that drives me nuts is when geeks start to close the ranks and define geekiness as something that they possess and you don't, so nyah nyah. Case in point: the hatred flung at Twilight fans at Comic Con. Look guys, I hate Twilight as much as the next geek, but really, how do you know that that Twihard isn't going to pick up a comic book at SDCC and dive deeper into geekdom? Maybe Twilight is a gateway drug to becoming what someone like me would think of as a more traditional geek girl. And I think it's a great idea to let girls who think they might be geeks know that you can geek out about any number of things, and it's all good.
Geek definitions aside, the first thing that struck me while reading Geek Girls Unite is that it reads like a snarky, smart guidebook for teenage girls. Looking at the publisher, it seems like the book is categorized more generally as pop culture, but I think it'll go over well with young geek girls. Each chapter about specific types of geek girl starts out with a quiz, much like those in the teen magazines that I pored over as a kid, and it ends with tips for the right kind of guy for each kind of geek girl (for a good take on how this isn't too cool for non-straight teen girls, read The Mary Sue's review).
There's an interesting bit of juxtaposition with the teen-aimed prose and style, though. Simon references all kind of Gen-X stuff that had me flashing back to my own high school days. Liz Phair? Yes!
Down to the meat of the book, I was a tiny bit disappointed that there wasn't more page time devoted to the more traditional geek girl (comic book-reading, SF/F watching, etc), and a lot of the categorical geek stuff is pretty general. Also, I consider myself a book geek, and I found a lot of the book recommendations to be pretty pretentious (that is my own literary quirk, though, and I'll happily hand literary fiction over to the people who dig it). But on the other hand, it's not like a fun guide to geek-girliness can even come close to encompassing every single bit of geek minutiae.
And that's what Geek Girls Unite is: a fun book that shows geek girls that we're not alone. There are other girls out there who geek out over the same things that we do, and I think that anything that can help foster geek girl community while being an entertaining read is great.
*Oh my god, I'm forever stuck using MLA citations. Once an English major, always an English major.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Beth
Format:Paperback
I was looking for something in-depth, the idea of fandom and feminism made my little sociologist heart flutter!! After reading the first page, man was I disappointed! I've been looking for a serious book about fandom and this book reminded me of the non-fiction books released by American Girl or books released by Seventeen magazine I read when I was younger and trying to find myself on the social ladder in middle school. That's what this book is. It's just mass market trash sold to desperate young girls trying to find out who they want to be in the terror that is school.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By lil
Format:Paperback
Ever feel like you are all alone in this world and nobody gets you? grow up as a fan of video games, a bookworm or just a little "strange" for society? Well Leslie Simon is here to celebrate our unique geekiness with Geek Girls Unite, this book is a celebration for all the female geeks out there.
Leslie takes us on a journey where we explore the geek queendom (because we are not interested in the type of male nerd out there, at least not in this book), the types of geekets that are out there changing and rocking this heart. Leslie has this fun way of cataloging the different types of she-geeks which include the general description, a little bit of history of those great females that made way for us, some representatives, who you might be reading/listening/or trying to imitate and she also has this adorable little section where she plays with the idea of the perfect match for every type of geeket.
This book is fun, quirky and adorable. I love the fact that Leslie didn't go with what she knew but she also openned her book up for other geeks with the magic of the Internet and so this book has the voice of real she geeks out there.
It's a different read, with all the quotes from famous, real and normal men and women embracing who they are. Also the side notes come in handy with words you may not know off and the side notes that are really fun to read.
The only "bad" thing about this book, is that there is this point where Leslie Simon is talking about her own experience about growing up as a geek and how she was treated, and it left me wanting to know just a little bit more. But as you can read it's not really bad it's just me being a baby for not getting things my way.
Leslie takes us on a journey where we explore the geek queendom (because we are not interested in the type of male nerd out there, at least not in this book), the types of geekets that are out there changing and rocking this heart. Leslie has this fun way of cataloging the different types of she-geeks which include the general description, a little bit of history of those great females that made way for us, some representatives, who you might be reading/listening/or trying to imitate and she also has this adorable little section where she plays with the idea of the perfect match for every type of geeket.
This book is fun, quirky and adorable. I love the fact that Leslie didn't go with what she knew but she also openned her book up for other geeks with the magic of the Internet and so this book has the voice of real she geeks out there.
It's a different read, with all the quotes from famous, real and normal men and women embracing who they are. Also the side notes come in handy with words you may not know off and the side notes that are really fun to read.
The only "bad" thing about this book, is that there is this point where Leslie Simon is talking about her own experience about growing up as a geek and how she was treated, and it left me wanting to know just a little bit more. But as you can read it's not really bad it's just me being a baby for not getting things my way.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Even Old Chicks Dig It!
I quite enjoyed this book!It was filled with lots of inspiration, ideas,
and encouragement.Now, I'm going to have to admit I am not part of the
intended audience for this... Read more
and encouragement.Now, I'm going to have to admit I am not part of the
intended audience for this... Read more
Published 4 months ago by S. Lake
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great read
I borrowed this book from my library's Kindle program, now I'm looking for a used book so I can check out the websites and references long after this book is "returned" and... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Julie J. Jarrett
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome.
This book was inspiring to me. I was shocked to find the mixed reviews. I found a little of myself in every type of geek girl described. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Kate
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm a TriGam sister!
What a freaking awesome book. It's funny (I think Leslie Simon should include herself in the TriGams funny geek girl nominations. Read more
Published 15 months ago by AmyDenim
3.0 out of 5 stars
A bit stereotypical and just okay
Okay, so here's the gist of it: I'm a geek. Happily. And I've been looking for books that embrace geekiness in every shape, way, or form. Read more
Published 15 months ago by silenceiseverything
1.0 out of 5 stars
Misses the point.
Like many reviewers, I had high hopes for this book. There's not nearly enough geek girl materials out there, and the author needs to be commended for coming forward and having a... Read more
Published 15 months ago by L. Child
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not at all what I was expecting...
I feel strangely like I just read a book about being a geek by a chick who has geek friends, but isn't one herself. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Moe
2.0 out of 5 stars
Maybe I'm too old for this book...
I got the sample for the kindle book, and was looking forward to reading this. I have considered myself a geek for a VERY very long time, so I hoped I could relate to something in... Read more
Published 16 months ago by STEM Geek
2.0 out of 5 stars
Elementary level geekiness at best
I had such high hopes for this book. Unfortunately I was very disappointed. I am very geeky and I felt like this book was an introduction for someone whose aspirations were to be a... Read more
Published 19 months ago by martin_r
