The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot [Paperback]

Emmi Fredericks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2004

HEY! SMART GIRL! YES, YOU! Are you tired of vague, new agey fortune-telling? Readings that say, maybe you'll meet Prince Charming or maybe you'll get a dog? Do you want to know the future without checking your third eye or contacting your inner goddess?
Then you need The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot!

Every tarot tells a story. This book will tell the modern user how to read that story, using language and examples relevant to contemporary life. Tarot can provide a glimpse into the future and help to clarify one's choices. Just like therapy, but a lot cheaper. The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot provides a sharp, funny, fresh update of those old, stuffy, mystical tarot guides, unmuddling the meaning of the tarot for the general reader, and making readings more fun, diverting, and accurate.

The Smart Girl's Guide not only clarifies the archaic meanings of the cards, but it instructs the modern reader in how to interpret them, allowing her to be her own mystic--- because, let's face it, who knows your twisted psyche better than you?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"You'll only manage to put down this stimulating guide to the Tarot long enough to purchase or unearth a deck of cards---with which you'll be doing readings right away. But be warned, consulting the cards with The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot is a lot like opening a box of Belgian chocolates: once you start it's really hard to stop."
- Susi Rajah, author of How to Spot a Bastard by His Star Sign

"While having the cards read by a gypsy crone is atmospheric, you can bet the fifteen bucks you just forked over to Madame Zorah that her reading will not be terribly trustworthy. Emmi Fredericks shows you how to do everything yourself---from asking good questions to interpreting the cards correctly."
- Thomas J. Craughwell, author of The Cat in the Dryer and 222 Other Urban Legends

About the Author

Emmi Fredericks was born and raised in New York City. She lives in Queens with her husband, lots of books, and a basset hound. Her novel, Fatal Distraction, was published in March 2004. Tarot cards have been telling Emmi more than she's wanted to know since she was a teenager. She has done many readings for her smart and neurotic friends and family, and has read tarot at numerous private parties and corporate functions.

Meredith Green is a potter and art teacher at Charlotte Country Day School. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with two of her three children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (September 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312323549
• ISBN-13: 978-0312323547
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,007,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I really like this book!, September 23, 2008

By 

Dusty "Author The Easiest Way--EVER!! series ... (Montrose, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot (Paperback)

As a professional psychic (well over 10,000 clients) and author of my own Tarot book--not to brag, just establishing that I do this for a living--I have to say that THIS BOOK is one of my all-time favorite texts. It is like Goldilocks: not too much information, and not to boring. Fun, quick, and e-a-s-y.

There are a lot of books on the Tarot, some going back centuries. Most of them are pretty much the same: "Here's a few spreads, and this is what each card means, now go out there and spread my doctrine." It gets pretty dry after a while. The Tarot should be fun! In fact, the tarot IS fun, it's a blast! But if you don't have a good bond with your cards, or the Tarot book YOU have is dull and boring, it can really put a cramp in your readings. Emmi's book makes learning the Tarot fun and quick. The illustrations really sum up the essence of each card without bogging you down with a lot of out-dated symbolism and stuff you probably don't really want to spend years studying anyway. Additionally, Emmi gives you easy-to-follow sample readings to help you see what you will face when you have a client sitting across from you asking "Is that bad?" I seriously wish she had written this book a hundred years ago when I first started playing with the Tarot. Of course I blame her for not doing so.

Emmi's book gets you reading and playing with your cards quickly, and she helps you become a more conversational (and thus more interesting of a reader--especially at parties. And parties are EXACTLY where you want to be a popular reader. If you want to quickly learn to read the cards and you don't want to put yourself to sleep reading a book on the Tarot, get this book! I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Thanks for reading
Dusty White

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, very in depth tarot analysis, May 22, 2009

By 

A. Stachowicz - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot (Paperback)

I bought this book along with my first tarot deck (the Vanessa tarot, so great, check it out). I was very happy with this book. The author approaches tarot in a lighthearted but extremely respectful way, with humor around ever turn. Not only does this book always make me laugh, but it's analyses of each of the cards is dead on. I really love how there are explanations of each card under certain circumstances, for example the author will tell you how a card means something different depending on where it falls in a spread. Excellent reference and so much fun!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Smart Girl's Guide To Tarot, July 5, 2006

By 

KissaMew (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot (Paperback)

I really have enjoyed this little book! I suppose it could be considered a little on the "flip" side, but it is an easy read and light hearted in the author's attempt to get to the point. Some of the Tarot books I've read are too somber and I believe humor helps in life! I give ratings to my own enjoyment and appreciation of products and I enjoy this one! Cute and sassy, good for beginners because it's not intimidating! For serious readers, everything has it's place, including a lighter approach. I like to use many sources for readings, this stays on my shelf!