Overview

[A] splendid collection . . . By turns wry, tender, pointed, and laugh-out-loud funny. Publishers Weekly Untangles the many truths about hair, and the lives we lead underneath it. Pamela Druckerman, author of Bringing Up Bebe Ask a woman about her hair, and she just might tell you the story of her life. Ask a whole bunch of women about their hair, and you could get a history of the world. Surprising, insightful, frequently funny, and always forthright, the essays in Me, My Hair, and I are reflections and revelations about every aspect of women s lives from family, race, religion, and motherhood to culture, health, politics, and sexuality. They take place in African American kitchens, at Hindu Bengali weddings, and inside Hasidic Jewish homes. The conversation is intimate and global at once. Layered into these reminiscences are tributes to influences throughout history: Jackie Kennedy, Lena Horne, Farrah Fawcett, the Grateful Dead, and Botticelli s Venus. The long and the short of it is that our hair is our glory and our nemesis, our history, our self-esteem, our joy, our mortality. Every woman knows that many things in life matter more than hair, but few bring as much pleasure as a really great hairdo.

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9781616204112

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Reviews

This collection is not only unique for the subject matter it addresses. It also provides cultural commentary that is by turns insightful, humorous, and moving. . . Surprisingly engaging reading. Kirkus Reviews Elizabeth Benedict has gathered such wonderful writers to examine the allure, magic, curse, thrills, seductions, and sorrows of hair. Written with tender sensitivity and wild wit, these essays may start with the external, but they go deep into the lives of the writers, into what appearance means, and into how they see themselves and their place in the world. Luanne Rice, author of The Lemon Orchard Untangles the many truths about hair, and the lives we lead underneath it. Pamela Druckerman, author of Bringing up Bebe This is the book I wish I d had when I let my hair go gray and when my husband and I made the pact that if he stopped talking about hockey, I d stop talking about my hair. Now with these wonderful, affirming and insightful essays, I understand that there s merely a hair s breadth between my hair and myself. This brilliant collection that takes us from Samson and Delilah to silver foxes is a terrific read for those of us who obsess about our hair. Or those who live with those of us who do. A collection that s, dare I say, a cut above the rest. Mary Morris, author of The Jazz Palace

Benedict has a knack for zeroing in on subjects with far-reaching, often surprising implications and resonance. In her third invitational collection, she has definitely tapped a nerve . . . Women spend enormous amounts of money and time on their hair, agonizing over every decision. Variations on these themes are tackled with candor, wit, insight, and emotion by Benedict s 27 eloquently entertaining contributors . . . [An] irresistible, pithy, and right-on anthology. Booklist [A] splendid collection . . . By turns wry, tender, pointed, and laugh-out-loud funny, the selections take us along on the contributors tangled, complicated, and thoroughly engaging journeys. Publishers Weekly This collection is not only unique for the subject matter it addresses. It also provides cultural commentary that is by turns insightful, humorous, and moving. . . Surprisingly engaging reading. Kirkus Reviews Elizabeth Benedict has gathered such wonderful writers to examine the allure, magic, curse, thrills, seductions, and sorrows of hair. Written with tender sensitivity and wild wit, these essays may start with the external, but they go deep into the lives of the writers, into what appearance means, and into how they see themselves and their place in the world. Luanne Rice, author of The Lemon Orchard Untangles the many truths about hair, and the lives we lead underneath it. Pamela Druckerman, author of Bringing up Bebe This is the book I wish I d had when I let my hair go gray and when my husband and I made the pact that if he stopped talking about hockey, I d stop talking about my hair. Now with these wonderful, affirming and insightful essays, I understand that there s merely a hair s breadth between my hair and myself. This brilliant collection that takes us from Samson and Delilah to silver foxes is a terrific read for those of us who obsess about our hair. Or those who live with those of us who do. A collection that s, dare I say, a cut above the rest. Mary Morris, author of The Jazz Palace

Benedict has gathered such wonderful writers to examine the allure, magic, curse, thrills, seductions, and sorrows of hair. Written with tender sensitivity and wild wit, these essays may start with the external, but they go deep into the lives of the writers, into what appearance means, and into how they see themselves and their place in the world. --Luanne Rice, author of The Lemon Orchard Untangles the many truths about hair, and the lives we lead underneath it. --Pamela Druckerman, author of Bringing up BEbE This is the book I wish I'd had when I let my hair go gray and when my husband and I made the pact that if he stopped talking about hockey, I'd stop talking about my hair. Now with these wonderful, affirming, and insightful essays, I understand that there's merely a hair's breadth between my hair and myself. This brilliant collection that takes us from Samson and Delilah to silver foxes is a terrific read for those of us who obsess about our hair. Or those who live with those of us who do. A collection that's, dare I say, a cut above the rest. --Mary Morris, author of The Jazz Palace

Here, in a series of astonishingly good essays, writers wax eloquent about the emotions wrought by our locks: good hair and bad hair in African-American culture; envy of our follicly gifted siblings; the quest for delusional hairstyles; and much more. People Women show their roots in Me, My Hair, and I. Vanity Fair [T]hese twenty-seven essays are beautifully revelatory and deeply personal accounts of each woman's hair Bustle Benedict has a knack for zeroing in on subjects with far-reaching, often surprising implications and resonance. In her third invitational collection, she has definitely tapped a nerve . . . Women spend enormous amounts of money and time on their hair, agonizing over every decision. Variations on these themes are tackled with candor, wit, insight, and emotion by Benedict s 27 eloquently entertaining contributors . . . [An] irresistible, pithy, and right-on anthology. Booklist [A] splendid collection . . . By turns wry, tender, pointed, and laugh-out-loud funny, the selections take us along on the contributors tangled, complicated, and thoroughly engaging journeys. Publishers Weekly This collection is not only unique for the subject matter it addresses. It also provides cultural commentary that is by turns insightful, humorous, and moving. . . Surprisingly engaging reading. Kirkus Reviews We wear our hair every day, and this collection demonstrates with great clarity and insight the complexities of what that means for women of all backgrounds. An important conversation and worthy of note Library Journal Elizabeth Benedict has gathered such wonderful writers to examine the allure, magic, curse, thrills, seductions, and sorrows of hair. Written with tender sensitivity and wild wit, these essays may start with the external, but they go deep into the lives of the writers, into what appearance means, and into how they see themselves and their place in the world. Luanne Rice, author of The Lemon Orchard Untangles the many truths about hair, and the lives we lead underneath it. Pamela Druckerman, author of Bringing up Bebe Amusing, entertaining and sometimes poignant. Oklahoman This is the book I wish I d had when I let my hair go gray and when my husband and I made the pact that if he stopped talking about hockey, I d stop talking about my hair. Now with these wonderful, affirming and insightful essays, I understand that there s merely a hair s breadth between my hair and myself. This brilliant collection that takes us from Samson and Delilah to silver foxes is a terrific read for those of us who obsess about our hair. Or those who live with those of us who do. A collection that s, dare I say, a cut above the rest. Mary Morris, author of The Jazz Palace

Author Information

Elizabeth Benedict is a graduate of Barnard College and the author of five novels, including the bestseller Almost and the National Book Award finalist Slow Dancing. She is the editor of the anthologies What My Mother Gave Me, a New York Times bestseller, and Mentors, Muses & Monsters, and has written for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Esquire, and the Huffington Post, the Rumpus, and Tin House. Two of her essays have been selected for Best American Essays collections. She has taught widely and works as a writing coach and editor.

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