Customer Reviews

Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants: Based on a True Story

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First of all, you should be warned: don't start the book at night unless you don't need to get up early. I started this book last night at midnight. At some point (around two a.m.) I felt like I was on the coolest sleepover ever, the kind every gay boy wanted to have but couldn't with the coolest girl in school who let you brush her hair. So I had oreos and milk, and they were the Halloween ones that make the milk orange, and I stayed up more. At five a.m., I was mad at Soloway, the way you get mad at babies for being so cute. I didn't "laugh out loud" at times, I drew in breath, and went, "God, she's brilliant." And then I wished I could braid her hair. I'm buying this book for everyone I know. Of course, it'll be hard, since I missed work today and maybe won't have a way to make the money to buy the book for everyone I know, 'cause I was up all night. So whatever. I have a huge crush on Jill Soloway.

After years of reading Jill's pieces and seeing them performed at her writers' reading series, Sit N' Spin, I am so excited that she's compiled this book.

Jill is not simple to categorize. I suppose this book feels a bit like David Sedaris and a touch like Sandra Tsing Loh... but her voice is singular. Jill is funny without shortchanging her more serious subject matters; sexy but not sleazy; proudly Jewish without leaning on the "neurosis" crutch; feminist without dissing men.

In this book, she reminisces about her younger years -- most notably in a chapter about the much older man to whom she lost her virginity. She unflinchingly describes the vulnerable awkwardness and self-doubt (her best friend was "prettier")that made her, at 17, such an easy target for the man she'd later disparagingly refer to as "Lotion Bag." The story is hilarious even while it disturbs us and makes us feel protective of that teenaged girl. Jill has strong opinions -- about women, about men, about sexuality -- and while she never sacrifices her story to put forth an agenda, her points do land.

I love it when Jill zeros in on embarrassing secrets -- her chapter on her secret dislike of dogs made me laugh out loud. This is one of those books that makes it seem easy to write a book -- because Jill's storytelling is so skilled that the work is effortless. You feel like she's sitting beside you on the couch, having a glass of wine and ranting articulately till you laugh so hard you pee in your pants.

Okay, I didn't stay up all night like Mr. Doyle, but I started this book before bed and it was the first thing I grabbed the next morning. I'd consumed it whole by noon. What a fabulous, fierce, funny and brilliant read. I felt like I'd found a new friend -- one whose affection for Andrea Dworkin *and* Annie Sprinkle, feminist analysis and self-deprecating humour is infectious and engaging. (And for those of you who are turned off by the word "feminist", I suspect you have a good chance of enjoying this book too -- Soloway doesn't subscribe to stereotypes.) I'm feeling a strong need to re-watch all of Six Feet Under just to get another dose of this amazing writer.

I stopped counting how many times I laughed out loud. Soloway shares her stories like an old friend would over a glass of champale. I cannot wait for volume two.

While reading Soloway's book, I not only laughed out loud, but appreciated her unique 'feminist' approach. The book was more like a combination of essays as opposed to a 'true story', but I enjoyed it anyway. Also, she scores points in my book for her fondness of marijuana.

This book makes me feel proud to be a Jewish woman. I can laugh at my own life's crazy twists along with Soloway's. I gave the book to my best friend and we quote it and laugh at the brillance of the book. Soloway's voice is unique and hilarious and she talks to the reader with respect and confidence. I loved it and am reading it again because it makes me happy.

I grabbed this book because I'm a huge Six Feet Under fan and especially loved the episodes written by Jill Soloway. But this book adds another dimension to the work of the brilliant Jill. Finally, a woman who admits to hating dogs and loving macho guys and being a feminist too! She's hilarious, she's honest, she's articulate and smart and sexy. I loved this book!

Hilarious. I tried to read a few sentences out loud to a friend but found myself laughing too hard to speak. This book is funny, painful and incredibly REAL. I bought extra copies to give as gifts, because it is the kind of book that you want to share and laugh about with other people -- it was too good to keep to myself.

My girlfriend gave me this book warning me it was raunchy. I'm ok with raunchy as long as it isn't just gratuitous. There needs to be a point to it, otherwise the writing isn't art, it's just shock and sleaze, and that's not something I invest my time in.

I finished this book in two days laughing out loud in so many parts and finding myself understanding her and women like her in ways I usually don't.

Jill and I have led very different lives. I am a 30-something Christian, stay-at-home mother of three, who married my first boyfriend. So in terms of our female experience, we don't have much in common. But...we do! Because we're are all just women afterall and we have a man (or men) in our lives and we all have to live and grow older in this society that is pretty much toxic to us. Her observations on these matters really speak right to the heart of the female experience and I think it is definitely worth it to read this book just to hear Jill's take on things.

So why not 5 stars then?

Well, you know how when someone is 21 and drinking too much we can blame it on his youth? But when that same person is 35 and still drinking too much it seems pathetic?

Unfortunately I found myself finishing this book feeling that Jill still doesn't really "get it". She doesn't get men. She hasn't really tapped into her femininity. I found myself yearning for more maturity and depth at the end because by now she is writing about herself in the present and she is older with a son. But I didn't see the growth. She ends the book with a proposition that we all form a commune on "Lesbo Island" a girls only community. She's kidding of course, but there is a truth-nugget in there that she would really like to do away with men altogether because they have nothing truly valuable and lasting to add to the lives of women and wouldn't we all just have a blast hanging together? ....

When I finished I couldn't help but think Jill could really use some advice from the one Jewish woman she probably "loves to hate": Dr. Laura Schlessinger.

This is a very funny book. Soloway addresses: toilet humor, table manners, and being Jewish. Her feminism openly contradicts itself in the introduction. In the outro, she advises would be writers, wanna be writers, and anyone who's ever wanted to "pick her brain." I recommend this book!