Legs Get Led Astray is a provocative collection of essays that vividly rockets the reader through one young woman's life. Chloe Caldwell beautifully and bluntly escorts you through her childhood dreams, her first loves, her most unguarded sexual exploits, bookstore crushes, babysitting jobs, heartbroken wanderlust, and the suicide of a lost lover. Caldwell's writing remarkably explores the genre of personal non-fiction and has been featured in The Rumpus, The Faster Times, and Mr. Beller's Neighborhood, and is forthcoming in The Nervous Breakdown and Everyday Genius.
Legs Get Led Astray
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Chloe Caldwell's Legs Get Led Astray is a scorching hot glitter box of youthful despair and dark delight. Tender and sharp, wide-eyed and searching, these essays have a reckless beauty that feels to me like magic. --Cheryl Strayed
These true stories are raw and heartfelt... gems galore. --Poe Ballantine
Prepare to shed skin. Chloe Caldwell's essays will dare you to dissect your own life. Shot-through with sexuality and sass, her language will get up in you and turn you inside out in the best possible way. --Lidia Yuknavitch
These true stories are raw and heartfelt... gems galore. --Poe Ballantine
Prepare to shed skin. Chloe Caldwell's essays will dare you to dissect your own life. Shot-through with sexuality and sass, her language will get up in you and turn you inside out in the best possible way. --Lidia Yuknavitch
About the Author
Chloe Caldwell lives in New York. Learn more about her at chloecaldwell.com
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More About the Author
Hey! My name's Chloe. I love writing and reading non-fiction. My essay collection, "Legs Get Led Astray" was released April 2012. I'm twenty-six years old and my birthday's in April. At the moment I live in Portland, Oregon, but my heart is in New York state, where I grew up.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked this book up after hearing the author read and it was one of the smartest impulse buys I've made this year. I don't usually go for essays very much, but I just ate these up. I'm not sure what I liked best; these essays have a great deal of impressive aspects. The author manages to simultaneously convey both an intense hunger for life and the marvels it contains as well as a later introspection of those experiences that is as tender for the darker things as the shining lights. The writing is bold, energetic, and enthralling. It hits hard, but has a tenderness to it as well. In short, I really got into these essays.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Kara
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Caldwell certainly has a distinct writing style. These are more prose poems than true prose, and she heavily favors writing these to a person (using a lot of "yous" in her writing).
I discovered Caldwell when Powell's sent me a piece of her writing as part of an Indiespensables package (if you're reading this, chances are you like to read, and I would highly encourage you to look into Indiespensables). I'm glad I bought her book--the style is right up my alley. I did find, though, that because she had SUCH a distinct style, it got a little tedious. The good news is that these are short stories/essays, and you can stop and start as you please without losing much.
Caldwell writes about things I can relate to (love, mothers, moving across the country, crazy camps that make girls cry in a relieving, freeing sort of way) and lots of things I can't (drugs, orgies, an intense need to snoop through the belongings of those she loves). But she tells it all in such an honest way.
This isn't for everyone. The subjects can get very crass, and the language isn't clean. If this doesn't bother you, I would highly recommend you give Caldwell's little book a shot.
I discovered Caldwell when Powell's sent me a piece of her writing as part of an Indiespensables package (if you're reading this, chances are you like to read, and I would highly encourage you to look into Indiespensables). I'm glad I bought her book--the style is right up my alley. I did find, though, that because she had SUCH a distinct style, it got a little tedious. The good news is that these are short stories/essays, and you can stop and start as you please without losing much.
Caldwell writes about things I can relate to (love, mothers, moving across the country, crazy camps that make girls cry in a relieving, freeing sort of way) and lots of things I can't (drugs, orgies, an intense need to snoop through the belongings of those she loves). But she tells it all in such an honest way.
This isn't for everyone. The subjects can get very crass, and the language isn't clean. If this doesn't bother you, I would highly recommend you give Caldwell's little book a shot.
By upontheroof
Format:Paperback
I read this book one afternoon and at some point I found myself totally enraptured in the world of Ms. Caldwell. Her stories are of everything I am not, and in many ways wish I was. She's cool, she's gorgeous, she's spent time working and living in NYC, doing artistic things, and living a very free lifestyle.
As some reviewers said, some of the language is a bit crass for some tastes, but if you like honest, beautiful essays on things we all think about, then get this book.
As some reviewers said, some of the language is a bit crass for some tastes, but if you like honest, beautiful essays on things we all think about, then get this book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great writing.
Brutally honest and bravely written. The voice is so raw, so pure, so very, very brave. I admire Chloe Caldwell's courage to put what most people don't have the nuts to write. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Lori
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book that you can't put down...and leaves you wanting more
I first heard of Chloe Caldwell while listening to Brad Listi's Other People Podcast and was intrigued! So I ordered the book directly from the author. Read more
Published 2 months ago by JL85
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid, But Repetitive
I love Chloe Caldwell's writing. I'd read a number of these essays in their previously published homes, and was incredibly moved each and every time. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Bob Ward
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brave New Female Voice
There's the high-profile brave new female voice -- Cheryl Strayed -- whose memoir, "Wild," is now number one on the NY Times best-seller nonfiction list. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Robert E. Brown
