Wacky Chicks and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Buy Used
Used - Good See details
$4.01 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Kindle Edition
 
   
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Wacky Chicks : Life Lessons from Fearlessly Inappropriate and Fabulously Eccentric Women
 
 
Start reading Wacky Chicks on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Wacky Chicks : Life Lessons from Fearlessly Inappropriate and Fabulously Eccentric Women [Hardcover]

Simon Doonan (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition --  
Hardcover --  
Paperback $13.00  

Book Description

May 2, 2003

Most of us know a wacky chick. She's a true nonconformist, a woman who dares to be different. On any ordinary day she might be found performing a citizen's arrest, running a concession stand at a swingers' convention, or wearing a tiara on top of a cowboy hat. Even when conservatively dressed, wacky chicks give themselves away with their fire and exuberance: their outrageous personalities make them as easy to spot as a flamingo prancing among pigeons.

Once considered a rarity, this wild and wonderful species seems to be increasing its numbers. In Wacky Chicks, irreverent social commentator and humor writer Simon Doonan celebrates this growing phenomenon by introducing readers to a bracing cross section of today's most provocative and unconventional women. He asks them to reveal what it takes to be a wacky chick and how wacky-chickery can help women everywhere find creative fulfillment. Readers will learn everything from wacky-chick spiritualism (woo-woo chicks) to wacky-chick business sense (chicks with shticks). We will witness their lives, habitats, mating rituals, careers, and childbearing practices. There's even priceless advice on fashion, beauty, interior decorating, finding the right partner, and unleashing your feminist wacky chick without losing your femininity.

Some of Doonan's wacky chicks you may already know -- Amy Sedaris, cocktail waitress turned creator and star of Comedy Central's Strangers with Candy, and her alter ego Piglet; Warhol muse and Key lime pie aficionado Brigid Berlin; and Susanne Bartsch, the woman who showed Madonna how to vogue. But most are supervixens you've never met, because, naturally, a wacky chick does not aspire to traditional fame and fortune. Included here are the life lessons of fashion designer turned park ranger Spider Fawke, the proud mother of thirty-eight lizards and a four-inch tarantula; slashed-spandex-wearing Isabel Garrett; hip hypnotist Jessica Porter; and a new age pixie named Kazuko. They are about as diverse a flock as you can imagine, but they share a common theme: all of these women are Belligerent, Resilient, Uninhibited, Naughty, Creative, and Hilarious (B.R.U.N.C.H. for short). In a word, they are wacky.

A book that pays tribute to the wild and unstoppable female in each of us, Wacky Chicks is the ultimate guide to embracing your inner rebel. Mixing intimate and outrageous interview material with philosophical interludes, Simon Doonan brings you on a soul-searching journey that may leave you creating hats out of tinfoil or opening your own hot dog stand, infinitely self-assured and infinitely wacky.



Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Doonan, New York Observer columnist and author of Confessions of a Window Dresser, loves wacky women, and if he ever opted for a sex change, "you bet your sweet bippy" he'd be one himself. A wacky chick (w.c.) is B.R.U.N.C.H.: "belligerent, resilient, uninhibited, naughty, creative and hilarious." She's got attitude and shows it, whether that means filling her apartment with exotic reptiles, setting up her own slashed latex garment business, collecting Chihuahua skeletons or dressing up as Satan in horns at anti-abortion rallies. True, w.c.'s have a hard time keeping jobs (which is why many turn their eccentricities into self-employment) and some "transition from wacky to wack-job" and start shooting, but there's no denying the tremendous life force these gals have. To Doonan, they epitomize feminism: "If the goal of women's liberation was to create a world where the sisters could do whatever the hell they wanted, then the wacky chick must surely be the screeching apotheosis of feminist achievement." Doonan has a gay time neologizing (e.g., "obnoxiosities," "chickorators," "fashiphanous fromage" ) his way through the life stories of some 16 wacky women in this silly but fun self-help book. His point? Support your local w.c. all you can: take her to lunch, treat her like a queen and "validate" her wackiness. "Becoming a wacky-chick hag" may even speed up "your own transformation from Nora Normal to B.R.U.N.C.H.
y broad."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Just in time for warm-weather reading comes Doonan's breezy, in-your-face book, in which the uppercase letters spill over from the title to be liberally sprinkled throughout, along with a splatter of exclamation marks every paragraph or so. Thus Doonan's breathless style (complete, somehow, with long, elliptical, though germane, sentences) becomes a character to equal any of the wacky chicks he has interviewed. Assembled from his weekly New York Observer column, his fashion-and-style-focused romp through Wacky Chick-dom (look out, Magic Kingdom!) will vastly entertain readers open to the wacky wisdom of a flea market fashion maven; a kick-ass, lemon-haired gossip columnist; a lizard enthusiast who hand-feeds a monster over five feet long; and a bride who emerges from an egg--and to Doonan's demonstration that these women are B.R.U.N.C.H--that is, Belligerent, Resilient, Uninhibited, Naughty, Creative, and Hilarious. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 243 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (May 2, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0743243412
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743243414
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

 

Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars NAUGHTY, CREATIVE, AND HILARIOUS!, May 4, 2003
This review is from: Wacky Chicks : Life Lessons from Fearlessly Inappropriate and Fabulously Eccentric Women (Hardcover)
Reading "Wacky Chicks" is very much like dishing with a best friend. Of course, this friend knows everything, sees everything, and tells all about the most outrageous women imaginable. If you're lucky enough to have Simon Doonan as your friend he doesn't relate information disparagingly but rather affectionately and in delicious detail.

This all too short romp through the lives of the bold, brazen and sometimes beautiful is subtitled "Life Lessons from Fearlessly Inappropriate and Fabulously Eccentric Women." Rightly so.

We meet Brigid Berlin, a rather chubby Andy Warhol adoptee who through this artist discovered an excellent venue for her exhibitionism - whether it was shooting whipped cream into her mouth or shooting mind altering substances into not-mentioned-in-polite-society body parts.

Today, according to Doonan, she can be found in a Park Avenue apartment. Gray haired and well groomed, she appears to be the stereotypical well-to-do matron. Don't be fooled. There's a needlepoint pillow which is a portrait of Yasir Arafat with the words "They're Our Cousins" on it. Companion pillows are Chandra Levy and Michael Jackson.

It seems that few Wacky Chicks age gracefully; they simply age with a flare.

Pages in this sometimes ditzy, always delightful tell-all also include vignettes about Isabel Garrett, doyenne and driver of a motor home which hop scotches across the United States with pit stops at swinger conventions and biker rallies. Whether or not she drives in the all-together is not mentioned, but she is a sworn nudist.

Someone on planet Earth has produced, written, and performed macrobiotic dinner theater; she is Jessica Porter, hypnotist to numerous celebrities. Having read this far, it almost comes as no surprise that Amy Sedaris, chief of everything of the Comedy Central series Strangers with Candy, has transformed her apartment into a woodland wonderland all for the benefit of her beloved pet rabbit, Tattle-tale.

According to our erstwhile author, "Wacky chicks are a burgeoning and highly entertaining phenomenon. Wacky chicks will change the world. Wacky chicks dare to annoy. Wacky chicks empower themselves and others without acting like blokes. Wacky chicks are having more fun than most regular chicks and all men, except maybe gay men. Wacky chicks are disapproval-immune. Wacky chicks are belligerent, resilient, uninhibited, naughty, creative, and hilarious...."

So is Simon Doonan.

- Gail Cooke

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Lighthearted, Fun Reading...and Inspirational, to Boot, July 7, 2004
This review is from: Wacky Chicks : Life Lessons from Fearlessly Inappropriate and Fabulously Eccentric Women (Hardcover)
I purchased this book out of respect for my late grandmother and great-grandmother - both of them sublimely wacky ladies. I had been thinking of them, and just happened upon this book - maybe it was meant to be. As I leafed through the pages, I found myself laughing out loud at the stories and witty writing style - I had to have it. And, upon reading the book cover to cover, was delighted.

At last, a brave soul (only the likes of Simon Doonan could do it) has stepped forward, and lauded the zany lifestyles and pasttimes of these women - what society otherwise calls "characters". Here they are in all their loony glory - raising reptiles, creating burlesque home decor, fashioning spandex biker garb, writing up radical cheerleading rhymes...the tales don't stop, and come at you at rapid-fire speed. And not in a disrespectful, exploitative manner - it's done so with great respect, and an often bittersweet tinge. These wacky women didn't get that way by accident - there are some sad stories involved. But these only serve to enhance the overall feel of the book - these ladies are real people with great depth, not cartoony caricatures.

And as far as my own wacky ancestors? Well, having read this book only makes me admire them all the more, and hope to embrace their eccentricities as my own. Maybe times have changed, and maybe I'll never have to endure the hardships they had to (the Great Depression, social pressures, Great Wars, poverty...you name it), but thanks to this book, I have a much greater appreciation of their survival instincts, and sense of fun in the face of adversity. This book surely opened my eyes even more to their greatness, and to the unique nature of all "wacky chicks".

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational book for those out there that do not fit in!, July 9, 2005
I live in a small rural area and heard about this book online. Once I requested a copy through my local library and read it through, I realized I needed a copy of my very own. This book is The Bible for those quirky ladies out there who refuse to live by the rules of others, who march to the beat of their own drummer. Once I read it, I didn't feel like I was such an freak, for lack of a better word. If only more people went their own direction, this world would certainly be a more amusing place, let alone more tolerable. I now own this book- and read it quite regularly, as the stories are always refreshing and inspiring...Thank you Simon and ladies!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews











Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
To say Spider Fawke is a wacky chick is horribly inaccurate. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
wacky chicks, geezer chic, club kids
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Miss Smaltz, Amy Sedaris, Martin Luther King, Miss Charlton, Miss Fawke, Miss Porter, Andy Warhol, Color Me Beautiful, Miss Lexington, Radical Cheerleaders, Body Webs, Carole Jackson, Fifth Avenue, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Harper's Bazaar, Janet Charlton, Jerri Blank, Mary Christmas, Michael Alig, Miss Hunter, Northern Ireland, Smashing Time, Spider Fawke
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:

Citations (learn more)
This book cites 18 books:
See all 18 books this book cites
 
1 book cites this book:

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
 
(10)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums



So You'd Like to...



Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject