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Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress
Author: Susan Jane Gilman
From the author of "Kiss My Tiara" comes a funny and poignant collection of true stories about women coming of age that for once isn't about finding a date. — From Publishers Weekly: — Gilman's memoir of growing up on Manhattan's upper Upper West Side in the '70s starts slowly but gathers momentum. Readers...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780446679497
ISBN-10: 0446679496
Publication Date: 1/1/2005
Pages: 368
Rating:
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 191

3.6 stars, based on 191 ratings
Publisher: Warner Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
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Top Member Book Reviews

  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
reviewed Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress on + 347 more book reviews
12 member(s) found this review helpful.
For those who've yet to read it, the book can be divided into roughly three [unequal] parts: childhood, high school/college and Susan-as-an-adult. The first part was the best for me - perfect mix of funny and sad, just like a good sweet-and-sour sauce should be. The second section is shorter than the others, which is a good thing.
High school pretty much consists of a looooooooong riff on virginity, with a drawn-out celebrity stalking adventure thrown in. Her college years are covered by one anecdote; all I'll say about that is that Henry seemed like a "metrosexual before his time" and the more he went on about needing to screw his girlfriend the less convincing he sounded. This section was the low point for me. Stick with it though as the later stuff gets better.
Ms. Gilman's conclusions on the concentration camp tour of Poland were the high point of the book for me; her subsequent Congressional job and wedding plans are well-written, interesting stories that coast the book nicely to a smooth end.

I did have a major problem with her presentation: how could she possibly have gotten into Stuyvesant (one of the most prestigious high schools in the nation) and Brown, and have been that clueless? Her rant on having all those deductions from her first actual paycheck (as a high school student) struck me as preposterous. I don't see how she could possibly have not known about deductions (nor have missed the student withholding exemption status when she filled out her tax forms)? Her ignorance about Judaism (she is a native New Yorker raised in an ethnically Jewish, though non-practicing, household!) was so very far-fetched that I had to consciously disregard it as a failed fictional device. I deducted a star for this, and the uneven middle section.

That having been said, I enjoyed the book a lot, and would consider it as gift material for friends and family.
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
reviewed Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress on
7 member(s) found this review helpful.
This book is great I actually found myself laughing out loud while reading it. The author has a wonderfully wicked since of humor that jumps out of the page at you,Great if you grew up in the 70's.
  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
reviewed Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress on + 32 more book reviews
6 member(s) found this review helpful.
What a great read! If you were born in the mid-1960s, chances are you will appreciate many of the popular culture references and social issues recounted by Susan Gilman in this autobiographical book. Parts are seriously laugh-out-loud hilarious, too, largely due to Gilman's mastery of description and knack for highlighting the absurd with understatement.

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  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
reviewed Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress on + 7 more book reviews
This was a very fast and funny read.
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
reviewed Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress on + 10 more book reviews
I thought this was a great book. I laughed out loud many times, trying to find someone I can tell a funny part to. It is wonderful how Gilman can look back on her life and find humor in everything that happened to her.
  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
reviewed Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress on + 10 more book reviews
Good reading for the girls....


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