Trailer Trashed: My Dubious Efforts Toward Upward Mobility [Hardcover]

Hollis Gillespie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 24, 2008

Hollis Gillespie used to be embarrassed about having an alcoholic, trailer-salesman dad and a bomb-making mom with broken dreams of being a beautician. If anyone asked about her family, she would tell them her parents were wealthy and that she came from a refined background. She never mentioned the time they lived in a mobile home two miles north of the Tijuana border.

 

"Trailer Trashed" is a collection of interconnected essays, ranging from hilarious to heart-breaking, all on one broad theme—Hollis Gillespie's relationships with her equally offbeat sisters, her precocious daughter, her bizarre friends, and the people they love. Think David Sedaris meets "Thelma & Louise."

 

"If David Sedaris had a vagina and wasn't such a pussy, he'd write like Hollis Gillespie." --Bust magazine

 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Atlanta-based Gillespie (Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch is a syndicated humor columnist who loves trailer life, yard sales and buddies who, like her, have avoided turning into pod people. Gillespie's latest concept is to become a landlord, so there are tales of cheesy house renovations and overly picky renters, although by the end of this book she's sold her story to Hollywood, ending one upward mobility theme. The more interesting sketches focus on the personal, like the one where she contemplates finding a man to date: [O]dds are I can at least snag a bad one, and it used to be that even bad relationships were fun in their own way. Although there's no big story, this wouldn't be a problem, except Gillespie's potty-mouth style makes most of her stories sound alike. She and her friends love to call each other you pussy or pussy-ass or the more original, asstard. Readers who are titillated by discussions of friends' enema habits or amused by stories of Gillespie's drunk father swearing at her mother will find a lot to enjoy. (Aug.)
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Review

"Can a book be bust-out hilarious and also break your heart? Hollis Gillespie's roller coaster memoir, Trailer Trashed, does just that? In it, she manages to remember not only herself, but each of us, as well." --Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean and The Midnight Twins

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: skirt!; 1st edition (July 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599213850
• ISBN-13: 978-1599213859
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #705,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hollis Gillespie is an award-winning humor and travel columnist, and her column appears every month on Atlanta magazine's back page. She is also a best-selling author, NPR commentator, professional speaker, and guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno ("A very funny lady," says Leno.) Her work has been optioned by Sony Pictures and Paramount, and she has collaborated with Hollywood hard hitters like Mitch Hurwitz, (creator of Arrested Development), Eric and Kim Tannenbaum, (producers of Two and a Half Men), Bill Haber (producer of Rizzoli and Isles), Sheri Ellwood (creator of Call Me Fitz) and Amy Palladino (creator of Gilmore Girls). (George Clooney has also kissed her twice. Twice!) Hollis herself has been featured on scores of TV shows and magazines and runs Shocking Real Life, the largest writing school in Atlanta, which offers workshops on book writing, blogging and social media. Her next book, titled Unaccompanied Minor, is due out in August 2013. These days she gets most of her exercise running to catch flights. Contact Hollis through www.ShockingRealLife.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Go Hollis! September 14, 2008

By Rennie Sloan

Format:Kindle Edition

Hollis has wacky friends, a fascinating life, and wild and embarassing stories that she fortunately does not mind sharing. Her writing style and family stories remind me some of the Sedaris clan and a little of Terry Ryan, the woman who wrote The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. I enjoy her musings about Grant/Lary/Daniel, faking her way through German translations, hell-fire cats, waiting for the neighborhood prostitute to claim her discarded go-go boots, or spilling the dirt on her sister who owns a bar in Nicaragua. Also, if you get the chance, go see Hollis speak in person - her quick wit will have you guffawing. I saw her with a standing room only crowd and she had 'em belly laughing. (full disclosure: I know and like Hollis. But she's funny, I'm telling you!).

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars hilarious. August 24, 2008

By Carla Kaiser

Format:Hardcover

At first I thought the title was purely creative, but once I started reading the book I realized Hollis really knows a thing or two about trailers, and is honestly sharing her life experiences as she climbs the ladder of success. The stories in this book are absolutely hilarious, and inspiring for anyone who likes to read about free spirited/creative/honest/successful people.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Very Few Writers Who Could Have Me Crying and Laughing Within Several Pages October 7, 2008

By Frederick S. Goethel VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Based on the written material about the book I was expecting a Southern humorist along the lines of Dave Barry or perhaps Lewis Grizzard. And, while I did laugh out loud in a number of places, the book has a greater depth and is much less sarcastic than Barry.

The book consists of a number of essays about her unusual life. That she was able to be as normal as she is, given her childhood, is amazing. And, her life today is anything but normal, with Lary, Grant and Daniel in her life. You would have to read it to believe what she has gone through.

One of the things that struck me as unusual was her ability to have me laughing a loud on one page and to have tears seeping from my eyes a page later. Many of the essays surrounding her childhood are not only funny, but poignant as well. Maybe I was so affected because we share similar experiences from childhood.

A wonderful read that may not be as funny as advertised, but which contains a number of lessons on life and how to survive. Keep it up Hollis....you are one amazing woman!