Reckless: The Outrageous Lives of Nine Kick-Ass Women [Paperback]

Gloria Mattioni (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 2005

Reckless recounts the stories of nine women who made choices that sent their lives on unique paths. Gloria Mattioni was so entranced by these women that she moved from Italy to the U.S. to explore their lives, getting to know each one individually over more than a decade. Her subjects include:
•Julia Butterfly Hill who lived alone for 738 days atop an ancient 200-foot-tall redwood tree
•Wilma Mankiller was chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma for more than 10 years
•Gevin Fax left a promising career in Ohio to ride a motorcycle across country to California, where she became the ambassador of women bikers
•Annie Duke is the queen of professional poker, who won $2 million and the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions in 2004
•Libby Riddles is the first woman to win the legendary Iditarod
•Angelika Castaneda and Barbara Warren are twin 61-year-old Ironman, X-Treme Games, and Triathlon multi-champions who continue to compete
•Lisa Distefano is a former Playboy model who captains a pirate vessel in order to protect sea life
•Polly Matzinger returned to school in her late thirties to become a world renowned biologist with theories that could revolutionize the way we treat disease

Product Details

• Paperback: 225 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press (September 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580051480
• ISBN-13: 978-1580051484
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,563,908 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Milan, Italy on January 10, 1957. I dreamed of being a pirate, an astronaut, and an explorer when I was a kid. But my mom also keeps a drawing that I apparently did when I was 9. That pictures me as a reporter, roaming around the world in my convertible car. I guess that too was my idea of adventure and freedom.

So when I grew up, I first became a reporter and then a storyteller. I became a writer and worked in the staff of several newspapers and magazines. But I still wanted to roam around the world, seeking out people who shared my same longings. In 1988, I quit my last full-time job and pursued my goal of seeking out amazing people and incredible adventures all over the world.

In 1992, I moved to Los Angeles--with my son, Daniele, then 18--where I am living still.


Why do I write? I write because I cannot do otherwise. There is all this stuff in my mind just waiting to be shaped and molded into words. I write because I can build sceneries and new worlds through my writing. I write because when I write I can hear the words singing.

I write because I love stories. I like reading them. I like inventing them. I also like telling stories of other people who share them with me. Had I been living centuries ago and before invention of printing press, I'd have told mine and others' stories around a fire.

I wrote rivers of ink on magazines and newspaper for more than 25 years. I also published four books in Italy before moving to United States. Reckless is my first book published in the U.S. and more will come.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars essential, not exotic, November 20, 2005

By 

F. "F." (milan, italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reckless: The Outrageous Lives of Nine Kick-Ass Women (Paperback)

Definitely a very exciting book. These nine women and the author herself show that recklessness is not something weird, but a vital energy. It's a strong, corageous, creative relationship with the world and the life. It's something essential, not exotic. This book reveals that in order to be reckless we don't need to go beyond human, but simply beyond a miserable idea of human.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational and Ass-Kicking, October 25, 2005

By 

Jenna Stark "Jenna" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reckless: The Outrageous Lives of Nine Kick-Ass Women (Paperback)

I used to climb trees, ride horses and skydive. I had a car accident that left me bed-ridden for a year. I am now slowly rehabilitating my muscles through physiotherapy but I still need to be on a wheelchair for most of my time. The worst thing that happened to me, though, was not my broken spine. I was letting myself falling into depression and self-pity. My mom gave me this book only one week ago. I read it in one night. I realized that was exactly the fuel I needed to start my engine again. I am a driven young woman, and deep inside I know I can do anything I focus my energy on. If there is a will, there is a way. That is what I got from each one of the stories about these inspiring nine women. They gave me strength, courage and hope again. They gave me the kick in the ass I needed to heal faster and go back to everything I love. Thank you mom, and thanks to the author for writing such a great book!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What's important, November 5, 2005

By 

Michael J. Barbarino - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reckless: The Outrageous Lives of Nine Kick-Ass Women (Paperback)

I was recently asked to choose what was important to me. Love is important. So are friends. And compassion. Gloria loves the women in her portraits and they are her friends. And she has great compassion for them. All three are clear in the writing in "Reckless." As is Gloria's passion for her subject. I bought a second copy and gave it to my daughter as I was reading mine. She will soon be eighteen and my hope is that she will choose a path in life that she can pursue with the passion demonstrated by the women in Gloria's profiles.