Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants: Based on a True Story

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.

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.

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 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.

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.