Queen of the Oddballs: And Other True Stories from a Life Unaccording to Plan

I call essayist/memoirist Hillary Carlip a female drag queen in the most flattering and admiring way possible. She's witty, a terrific storyteller, and she's led a fascinating life. Always uncomfortable in her own skin, Carlip was a born actress/impersonator who worried about showing her true colors as a childhood TV guest on Art Linkletter's House Party. She has enjoyed careers as a singing telegram performer who could adapt to any situation or moment, an over-the-top nightclub opening juggling act, a Gong Show contestant, a actor, a musician, and probably as dozens of other incarnations/personalities that wouldn't fit in her must-read memoir. Carlip's life story is told via a series of essays, each of which is introduced by a quick series of facts about "this time in history," and concludes with black and white photos of Carlip and her cohorts during that time period. The essays cover the years from Hillary as an eight-year-old in 1965 to her 2004 work on the John Kerry campaign. There's no way to sum up the years in between, during which a teeanged Carlip befriends both Carly Simon and Carole King, she acts in a movie with Olivia Newton-John,[...]Plus lots, lots, more, including some gripping relationship drama. This memoir comes recommended by Laurie Notaro of the Idiot Girl fame, and that's darn high praise. It is any reviewer's nightmare, because what can we write to compete with the brilliance of the author's prose? I advise you to stop reading my praise for this memoir and go pick it up already. The opening chapter will suck you in.

From the hilarious cover of this little treasure of a book through the insightful writing and gifted comedic tales of reality pushed over the edge and happily falling with it, QUEEN OF THE ODDBALLS is not only a book that defies us to read a few chapters at a time, but instead finds us placing this tenderly and warmly funny memoir at bedside for a chuckle and smile before retiring. Hillary Carlip may have found a means to entertain the reader: she has also discovered the path to the heart and conscience and mind that is bound to make some changes in the way the public perceives a gay persona. Beginning with the year 1965 and continuing through the year 2004 Hillary Carlip provides us with several valuable and insightful sources of information. First, she opens each of her chapters with the events of the particular year during which the brush with celebrity occurred (listing such events as the Vietnam war, Nixon and Watergate, Apollo 15 landing on the moon, the banning of cigarette ads, Roe vs. Wade, Chippendales, Rubik's Cube, Jenny Craig's arrival on the weight scene, Tom Cruise's debut in his underwear, the Rodney King incident, Princess Di's death, the OJ Simpson trial) and then following each of these bongers with an experience of her own relating to such figures as Carly Simon, Carole King, The Gong Show, Olivia Newton-John and making those incidents feel as full of impact as the real historical events. And she decorates her action with scrapbook photographs of a crazy life shared. Hillary Carlip, like of many of the silent multitude, has spent her life of feeling unnoticed by drawing attention to the fact that she is alive and well, uniquely gifted, hilarious, poignant, and brave. After reading QUEEN OF THE ODDBALLS once, we get the importance of the strange title (full of metaphors!). Reading it again we begin to wonder if Carlip is just a fine writer, or that perhaps she is a philosopher of sorts, a Foucault in funky costume, or perhaps just one of the more gifted communicators to come around in the past few years. This is a wonderfully entertaining, sensitive journey through a life not always friendly on the surface: Carlip knows how to make the most of a bland or bad situation. Recommended Reading! Grady Harp, July 06

From the teenager lurking in Laurel Canyon stalking Carole King, to the adult finding a way to forgive Oprah, Hillary Carlip has lived with a capital "L." The facts of her life are amazing enough - how many of us have become "best friends" with Carly Simon, or out-danced Michael Landon and his daughter, charmed Art Linkletter, got a perfect score on "The Gong Show," made love to a cast member of "Xanadu" or wrote a movie for Debbie Gibson of all people? But that she can write about them so brilliantly is even more amazing. You will love this book - her stories of life on the outskirts of celebrity will make you laugh out loud - the stories about her family and growing up "unusual" might also make you cry. You will want to give copies to your friends ("a book? for me?... um, thanks") - no really, it's that good. And, after you've read it the second time, it might inspire you to write about your own life, and to live it with as much nerve as the author.

There needs to be more Hillarys in this world. Then again, if we were all Hillarys, she'd no longer be the hilariously heartwarming oddball that she is. She'd be the norm. But what a wonderful norm that would be. I could live with it. Too often reviewers confuse accessibility with simplicity. Hillary's book is written with a deceptively conversational voice. It's wonderfully friendly. She's your best grade school friend by the end of chapter one. It's uplifting. I've carried the mood around with me for days. But there are some remarkably important insights as well. Insights of best kind... the one's that don't whack you over the head with overwrought metaphors. The kind that are actually applicable to the way in which you approach the rest of your life. The kind that linger, prod, and hug. Read it. Make your friends read it. Most importantly, make your kids read it. It's time we populate the world with oddballs. The squares in charge should obviously be trusted no longer.

I love the fact that Hillary Carlip turned being an ODDBALL into a right-on thing, and after reading this book, I can see why she was declared QUEEN. I absolutely loved the clever way each chapter or adventure is presented, along with PROOF (pictures, memorabilia, etc) that all these wacky brushes with celebrities, odd jobs and hijinks actually did take place. Oddball, Indeed!