Nerd Girl Rocks Paradise City - Anne Thomas Soffee
by
Aimee Amodio
October 2005
I'm a self-proclaimed Nerd Goddess. There are a few of us out there; you
just have to know where to look.
Apparently we come out in droves for Book Expo America, held this year
at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center in NYC. I was wandering, dazzled
by rows and rows and rows of FREE BOOKS (heaven!) when I see yet another
title that catches my eye. Nerd Girl Rocks Paradise City by
Anne Thomas Soffee. I had been prancing around all day wearing my I
Heart Nerds purse; this was a sign from the Nerd Gods!
Nerd Girl gets the two highest pieces of praise that I
personally can offer: it made me laugh out loud and it made a two hour
flight go by like nothing. (And yes, I did my laughing out loud ON said
plane, while the poor miserable kid next to me tried to sleep.)
This book is not quite what I had expected - but in a good way. The
only other "rock memoir" I had ever read was the absolutely dreadful one
by Bebe Buell. (I've blocked out the name of the book, that's how bad it
was! Really it was like a train wreck: I wanted to stop reading, but I
just couldn't look away.) So with that crap as my guide, I was expecting
endless stories of wild backstage parties, casual sex, gratuitous drug
use, self aggrandizement, etc, etc. Okay, Nerd Girl delivers
some of that. You'll get your rock-star fix with appearances from Iggy
Pop, Glenn Danzig, a high-profile editor from Spin magazine... But it's
also about chasing your dreams, and faking your way through. It's
brutally honest about the things we sell our souls for. And it's funny
as hell!
Anne Thomas Soffee has another book out there, Snake Hips: Belly
Dancing and How I Found True Love that I'm going to pick up. But
maybe I'll re-read Nerd Girl first.
http://www.annesoffee.com/
