Customer Reviews

Reckless: The Outrageous Lives of Nine Kick-Ass Women

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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.

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!

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.

I started reading "Reckless" one evening just to "get a feel" for the book. I couldn't put it down and finally had to turn out the light at 1:30am. I love the format and Author Gloria Mattioni makes it very personal, so one feels that you know her story as well. It's very empowering to be able to learn the stories of Fabulous Women. I found the book to be interesting, informative, inspirational, intellectual and personal. And what a charming photo of the author! OH, I hope you are working on Volumn II; we women can't have too many powerful role models!

Sometimes we read books to learn lessons from others' lives without having to live them personally. To me it has been the case with "Reckless": a lesson (or better, nine lessons) in self-confidence, bravery and nonconformity. At any age, at any time in your life - as teaches storyteller Gloria Mattioni page after page, just recounting the adventures of her "extraOrdinary" women - you can change the course of your destiny.

I found particularly stimulating the story of Polly Matzinger, a former Playboy Bunny and sheep-dog trainer turned into a successful scientist (she is now at the head of a laboratory at the NIH): a trail of life that in a country like mine (Italy), where career paths still lack of flexibility and imagination, would have hardly been possible.

finally a book again that writes about women that can be models for a society that is conditoned by instant gratification . all the examples show us that these woman are trained to delay gratification and to tolerate frustrations. i hope we will get more stories in the future.

Even if you're only an armchair reckless or a even a freelance reckless, pick this up. You'll be inspired to try something new, shake things up a bit.

Each chapter of Reckless is dedicated to a gutsy lady who managed to do exactly what she had always dreamed of doing, made an impact on the world in the process, and got to have a great time doing it. The women whose lives are described here range from Wilma Mankiller (that's her real name...), the former leader of the Cherokee tribe, to the famous environmental activist Julia Hill, to amazing triathletes like Angelika Castaneda and Barbara Warren--just to name a few.

Although the book obviously caters to an audience of women, it is not just a feminist celebration of strong, independent ladies. In many ways, Reckless is an open call for anyone, men as well as women, to find the guts to defy social expectations in an effort to live out one's dreams. Gender issues are clearly an important part of the book, but the main theme is a celebration of the courage needed to step out into the unknown and create our own destinies. All the ladies featured here offer excellent, albeit very different, examples of people who don't simply pay homage to these ideals, but put them in practice. Mattioni is not selling a product or trying to convince everyone to follow "her way." Rather, by showing the variety in the experience of these women, she is inviting the readers to find their own personal way to a fulfilling life.

In theory, this concept may not be particularly original. Most feel-good movies and books celebrate the hero who creates his/her own destiny. But in reality the number of people who actually do this, and live their days without regrets are so few as to make a book like this appear as the antidote to all the negative social conditionings we are fed on a daily basis. On the road to doing what they want in life, in fact, the ladies in the book overcome tremendous pressures of people inviting them to give up their ideals and be more realistic.

Overall, the book is beautifully written and very enjoyable to read. Great topic, great style, great stories. My only regret is that Mattioni should have told us more about her own life, since she seems to be as tough and courageous as any of the women she describes.