Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress: Tales of Growing Up Groovy and Clueless

There are actually a lot of pouffy white dresses in Susan Jane Gilman's achingly funny memoir, HYPOCRITE IN A POUFFY WHITE DRESS. There's the tutu she insists on wearing to school, sparking a kindergarten fashion trend. There are her Puerto Rican neighbors' first communion dresses, which make young Susan "spastic with envy" and determined to become Hispanic. And last but not least, there's the pouffy white dress of the title story, the wedding dress that inspires a revision in Gilman's feminist sensibilities: "I was supposed to be the Anti-Bride ... I was not some insipid girlie-girl dolled up like a parade float. But in that dress, with the tiara, I was intoxicated with myself." Gilman's revelations on the pedestal at David's Bridal are a lot like her memoir as a whole: simultaneously funny, thoughtful and unexpected. For example, when she lands her first "real" job after college at the Jewish Week newspaper, Gilman is assigned to report on a week-long tour for teenagers of Polish Holocaust sites. Initially pleased simply to call herself a "foreign correspondent," Gilman, who is at most ambivalent toward her Jewish heritage, gradually finds herself deeply moved by the concentration camps. Even though she eloquently describes the trip's unexpectedly emotional impact, Gilman also includes a genuinely funny commentary on the souvenirs available at the Treblinka gift shop. Gilman was previously best known for the wisecracking dating manual KISS MY TIARA, an alternative to bestselling 1990s women's advice books like THE RULES. She notes in her foreword that part of the goal of this book is to write a "coming-of-age" story that doesn't focus solely on getting a man. "There's so much more to women's lives that's worthy of attention and ridicule," she writes. And indeed, Gilman's memoir will have the most appeal for other young(ish) women, who will see themselves in Gilman's own awkward adolescence and questionable career development, as well as in her struggles to define herself in the wake of the feminist movement. Anyone from Gilman's generation, though --- born in the 1960s, raised on the pop culture and pop psychology of the 1970s --- will laugh out loud at the cultural references Gilman sprinkles liberally throughout her memoir. HYPOCRITE IN A POUFFY WHITE DRESS starts with Gilman's preschool years and ends in 2001, as she begins a new phase of her life --- happily married and living in Geneva, Switzerland. One can only hope that Gilman will continue to chronicle this next chapter of her life in books as smart and funny as this one. --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

Hilariously told and raucous in its humor, Gilman spares herself least of all in this wonderful memoir. From the childhood stories of having to learn transcendental meditation in the 70s to meeting Mick Jagger in the 80s to the final pouf of the 90s, this is the funniest book I've read this year. If you're down about the November election, this won't cure, but it will help kill the pain.

As I laughed out loud in Barnes and Noble while flipping through this book (I read Critic's Pick review in People Magazine, my own guilty pleasure when traveling), the sales clerk asked me what it was about -- and I couldn't say, only that it was so vividly written it brought me back to so many of my own misadventures and embarrassments of childhood and early professional life. Only Gilman captures these moments with a clarity that I never could in trying to tell them. Enjoy a witty ride through somebody else's traumatic and yet totally normal life. Now that I've finished it -- it's about a woman growing up and finding her way. But it's not the destination that matters, it's definitely the tall tales of the journey.

With five other books on my bedside table, why can't I put this one down? Because I'm so drawn into this book that it feels like I'm living it myself. Susan Jane Gilman not only expertly draws the pictures, but reaches out a hand and pulls you into them. At times hilarious and at others so close to home that I feel the embarassment of being the "different" kid in school all over again, she hits the mark. I loved Kiss My Tiara, and like loving two kids ("I don't love him more than you, I love you differently...) this one has found its own home in my heart. Thanks again Ms. Gilman!

Susan Jane Gilman went along for the ride (sometimes kicking and screaming inside) but never really bought into her parent's eccentric lifestyle. Instead of sticking out like a sore thumb (her parents were not only liberal but their idea of a vacation was a week at a Socialist retreat), she yearned only to be "like everyone else", even if that meant living a conventional, even bland, lifestyle. Her dreams were those of typical little girls of the time - to become a ballerina or, perhaps (with luck and the right breaks) a movie star. But if she HAD lived a more conventional life, I doubt Gilman would ever had turned out a book so funny, so unique and...well, written from an outsider's perspective. Gilman realizes some of her dreams and drops some along the way. She writes about sex, love, work and that elusive "pouffy white dress" in a vivid, endearing style. By the time you reach the end of the book, you'll be yearning for more from this writer.