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"I
came into work and found an advance copy of 'Queen of
the Oddballs' waiting for me. I started reading and
felt an immediate connection. Hillary Carlip was the
person I wanted to be – a person I didn't even
realize was possible! I still wanted to kill myself,
but maybe I'd wait until I finished the book. By the
time I was done, I didn't want to die."
READ
THE REST...
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| Carlip's
fresh, funny memoir of growing up at celebrity's edge
in Hollywood, accompanied by photos and highlights of
current events from the 1960s through 2004, is at once
hilarious and heartbreaking." |
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"[Ms.
Carlip's] curriculum vitae reads like a Cliffs Notes version
of American popular culture..."
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THE REST... |
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"Hillary Carlip has lived a life that would make
Leonard Zelig jealous. It's not everyone who can claim
to have won The Gong Show and seen John Cusack
in acne medication... Bunny-hopping
through Hollywood's D-list for 40 years, Hillary Carlip
met everyone who was almost anyone. Read her winning
account of her years as a pop culture footnote."
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"Much
of the charm of Carlip's memoir lies in her whimsical
surrender to celebrity culture, balanced by her awareness
of how silly it all is."
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THE REST... |
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::
LIT PICK :: "Funny, endearing, and sweet for
the soul, this is a lovable memoir."
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THE REST... |
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PAGE TURNERS! "THIS SUMMER WE'RE READING A FEW
OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS...
Hilarious
memoir about coming of age eccentric and gay in Hollywood,
with lots of laugh-so-hard-you-snort-milk-out-your-nose
moments."
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"With
more clarity, flow, and originality than even more experienced
memoirists, the Queen writes in an easy narrative style
that is peppered with moments of poignancy... Instead
of forcing herself to belong to someone else’s world,
the Queen simply created her own, and that she chose to
share it so honestly is her readers’ good fortune."
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THE REST OF THE REVIEW... |
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"You
can read Queen of the Oddballs for laughs... and
you’ll get them, but you can also read it for something
more -- a woman searching for herself amidst the glitz
and glamour of Hollywood, trying to figure out what (and
who) is real... Carlip shows herself to be not just odd,
but exceptional."
READ
THE REST OF THE INTERVIEW... |
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Read all about The Memoirists Collective, made
up of me and three other KICK-ASS authors. We're starting
to get a lot o' buzzzzzz... Keep an eye out for upcoming
Reuters article!
READ
THE PIECE... |
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"...
quirky... hilarious... this unconventional tale of self-discovery
offers an unforgettable ride."
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THE REST... |
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"If
you're a page turner of any degree, chances are you
know Nancy Pearl. The author of Book Lust and
More Book Lust was making her eighth annual appearance
at WICA. Billed as a 'rock star librarian,' Nancy Pearl
doesn't act like somebody whose likeness has sold more
than 100,000 'library action figure' dolls. She presented
her Best Books of 2006 list while the nearly
packed house scribbled notes and asked questions. My
picks from Nancy's list are Julia Child's My Life
in France and Queen of the Oddballs and Other
True Stories from a Life Unaccording to Plan
by Hillary Carlip. How can you not like a book with
a title like that?"
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"...
one of the funniest books I have read in a long time.
Carlip's self-deprecating humor befits this Gong
Show winner's account of her life. This is my favorite
non-graphic memoir of the year, on a par with Alison
Bechdel's excellent Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic."
READ
THE REST...
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"Hillary
Carlip is a handful. She's an author, juggler, entertainer,
and all around prankster..."
READ
THE REST...
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"Carlip
spins a hilarious narrative, full of life-until-now
strangeness."
And in response to an article calling me "The female
David Sedaris or SHE-Daris," witty writer David
Israel, says, "...her writing sparkles like a male
David Sedaris." FUNNNY!
READ
THE REST...
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I
appeared on WGN morning news in Chicago and the anchorman
also writes articles that are featured on the WGN site,
as well in Chicago Tribune's REDEYE. In true oddball
fashion, he writes a lovely article that ends with:
"Cutlip shows 'oddball' doesn't have to mean 'outcast.'"
That's me! Hillary Cutlip.
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THE REST...
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TWO
PIECES
1.
"Oddballs offers insight on how a freaky-deaky
iconoclast grows into a multitalented and successful
woman." [Includes a chapter excerpt from the book.]
READ
THE REST...
2.
FUN WITH ODDBALLS -- a groovy write-up about my group
The Memoirists Collective.
READ
THE REST...
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HOT
BOOKS!
"Local author Carlip serves
up a hilarious memoir of life off the beaten path. Following
her own imagination through the last few decades of popular
culture and life in Los Angeles, she charts a very particular
path that is thoughtful and moving. Illustrations integrate
the events of her life; spirituality, celebrity friendships,
Gong Show victories and teen activism roll throughout
this entertaining book Her oddball, offbeat enactments
provide examples of how to let your freak flag fly!" |
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"If
you have any friends in life who are on the brink of 'going
for it,' but are incessantly weighing, hemming and hawing,
give them Queen of the Oddballs... Hillary’s
book is fun, inspiring and empowering to the inner oddball
in all of us.
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THE REST... |
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"Her
recollections aren't exactly the miserable Irish childhood
of Frank McCourt, but the musings of a kid who grew
up a little too close to Hollywood." Interview....
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THE REST...
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"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."
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THE REST... |
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OK, this is an interview I did, and I guess they don't
use a copyeditor over there at Windy City Times
because I sound completely illiterate! Not only am I
misquoted all over the place, I'm misquoted with bad
grammar! (i.e. "There is definitely weird people...")
Yeah. Why not see how many inaccuracies you can find!
And don't get me wrong, I am grateful they did the article
to begin with, OK?!
READ
IT...
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RECOMMENDED
READING from an Amazon Top Ten Reviewer :::
"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."
READ
THE REST...
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TWO
ARTICLES
1. "Hillary Carlip dazzles with 'odd' memoir...
the female David Sedaris (or would that be SHE-Daris?)"
READ
THE REST...
2. "Unprecedented contest
sponsored by four authors offers big break opportunities."
READ
THE REST...
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"IF
YOU PAID CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE '70S AND '80S, there's
a good chance that Hillary Carlip's face is still lodged
in a neuron or two of your brain."
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THE REST... |
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"...
One of the best memoirs I've ever read, even though she's
not a drug addict."
READ
THE REST...
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"...Carlip's
... playful recounting of showbiz hi-jinks and brushes
with fame are fascinating. But the more personal elements
of the book are perhaps the most engaging."
READ
THE REST... |
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"We're
off to see the The Wizard of Odd... [Carlip's] writerly
voice has been compared to that of fellow humorist David
Sedaris..."
READ
THE REST... |
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"One-Woman
Odd Sqad... Queen of the Oddballs is already getting
big buzz..."
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THE REST... |
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"ALL
HAIL THE QUEEN... This jill-of-all-trades from Los
Angeles has enjoyed brief stints as a stalker..."
READ
THE REST...
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"Mingling
personal experiences, love affairs that went, well south,
and interjecting the spirit of the times, Carlip has fashioned
a page turning memoir that keeps you guessing just exactly
what this multi-talented Jacqueline of all entertainment
media is going to do next."
READ
THE REST... |
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"Another
favorite is Hillary Carlip's 'Queen of the Oddballs and
Other True Stories from a Life Unaccording to Plan.'"
READ
THE REST... |
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"A
proven master of translating her experiences through writing,
Hillary offers KEY readers advice on taking life's everyday
events and turing them into captivating stories..."
READ
THE REST... |
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REVIEW:
"I simply loved this book... There are moments of
almost unbearable poignancy, especially towards the end
of the book, which made me weep. But more than anything,
this book made me laugh."
READ
THE REST... |
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INTERVIEW:
"Finally!
The chance to sit down and speak to (okay, email with!)
the very funny and talented Hillary Carlip."
READ
THE REST... |
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"Queen
of the Oddballs...
so full of interesting experiences that it's hard to
believe it all happened to the same person."
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HarperCollins
has a program called "First Look" that gives
regular peeps the chance to read and review books before
they come out. (The books, not the peeps!)
Read the STELLER reviews for Q
of the O
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| Tremendously
insightful... undeniably powerful. - Publishers Weekly |
| GIRL
POWER
is a must... poignant, sometimes shocking. - New York Post
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| Hillary
Carlip does a great service... wonderfully textured... raw.
- Los Angeles Times |
| You
give us hope. You really do give us hope. - Oprah Winfrey |
| Overwhelmingly
provocative. - Sassy Magazine |
| Magnificent
and important… I discovered a clearer awareness of myself
with the turn of each page of GIRL POWER. - Jennifer
Aniston |
| Moving
and striking... a beacon in the darkness. - Melissa Etheridge |
| A
beautiful, intoxicating outcry-of opinions, feelings, rants,
raves, poetry, prose, shouts, and cheers-given structure and
flow by Carlip's insight and explanations…. Funky and fabulous.
- Amazon, Teen Editor's Choice |
| Hillary
Carlip... perseveringly loopy. - Bitch Magazine |
| Impressive.
- Wall Street Journal |
| Subversive…
resonates with the work of a whole slew of important mainstream
artists. - Los Angeles Times |
| P.R
play of the week. - P.R. Week |
| A
must. - Bust Magazine |
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Campy
and fun. - Los Angles Reader
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| Highly
enterprising. - Advertising Age |
| Goddess
of girl culture. - Feminist Bookstore News |
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Amazing.
Hillary has to be seen to be believed… she deserved 10
encores. - LA Herald Examiner
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| And
then there's Hillary Carlip, comedienne extraordinaire. Whether
she's singing, dancing, juggling or fire eating, Hillary is
hilarious. - Santa Cruz Sentinel |
| Hillary
is a glowing performer… - San Diego Times |
| She
does everything right. - Jaye P. Morgan, The Gong Show |
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