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Queen of the Oddballs: And Other True Stories from a Life Unaccording to Plan | 
| Author: Hillary Carlip
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $0.58
You Save: $13.37 (96%)
New (56) Used (54) Collectible (6) from $0.58
Avg. Customer Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 196495
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0060878835
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.092
EAN: 9780060878832
ASIN: 0060878835
Publication Date: May 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Cover wear and may contain some marks or writing. Keen Northwest ships in 2 business days or less. Refunds for any reason if item returned within 30 days of shipment.
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Product Description
A hilariously offbeat memoir about an adventurous young woman's escapades as she defies conventions and transforms an ordinary Los Angeles life into a star-studded, extraordinary miracle of self-discovery. Queen of the Oddballs forms a chronology of Hillary Carlip's habitual straying from roads more traveled -- from a wisecracking third-grader suspended from school for smoking (while imitating Holly Golightly) to a headline-making teen activist, juggler and fire eater, friend (NOT "fan") of Carly Simon and Carole King, grand prize-winning Gong Show contestant, cult rock star, and seeker of spiritual and romantic truths that definitely defy expectations. Illustrated with ephemera -- from diary entries and photographs to a handwritten letter from Carly Simon -- Queen of the Oddballs presents a virtual time capsule of pop culture's last four decades and celebrates a creative life lived to the hilt.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 37 more reviews...
 Queen of the... Braggarts? May 5, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's rare for a book to inspire so much ire within me that I feel compelled to write a review. However, with the majority of positive reviews already compiled at Amazon, I felt cheated after buying this book.
Hillary Carlip's memoir starts out interestingly enough (and I loved the fact that the essays incorporated real life pictures and diary-like entries). However, the farther I read, the more irritated I became. Initially, I was drawn in by my interest to hear Ms. Carlip's stories about "befriending" musicians such as Carly Simon and Carole King. Yet, as the novel progressed (and even though I love gossip as much as the next girl), I found so many instances of name-dropping that I could barely make myself plod through the rest of the novel. Yes, getting to experience a semi-charmed California life must be exciting -- getting to rub elbows with the occasional celebrity must be a thrill. The problem is that when these encounters happen to *you*, they're exciting. When reading about it, it comes off as though the author is simply trying to impress you with all of the celebrities (!) that they've (barely) interacted with.
Certain celebrity encounters were interesting and integral to Hillary's life story. The meeting and "befriending" of a famous musician or appearing on a game show were important (and interesting) enough to be worth the dedication of a chapter to each. However, learning about the author being partnered with Valerie Harper during one communication exercise or that her girlfriend was once friends with Keanu Reeves could be interesting... if there was a further story beyond that. Instead, we're literally given one sentence to let us know which celebrities the author found herself somehow connected to at that point in time. There are honestly so many instances of these types of one sentence mentions (that add nothing to the story except a sense of some kind of celebrity mania) that I truly lost count. I was tempted to go through and highlight all instances of this in my copy, but: 1) I didn't want to waste the time and 2) I was afraid I would be highlighting the majority of text in the book.
The ultimate case of this that left a bad taste in my mouth was when the author starts off each "chapter" by stating the year and all of the important events going on at the time. Current events of 1991 per the author's order: Being in a sauna with Jodie Foster!, Rodney King being beaten by police offers, having a garage sale with Daryl Hannah!, oh, and Iraq states that it has no biological weapons program. The order of important events seems a little screwy to me and gave me a sense of what this author found important.
Yet, we're also shown a side of the author in which she seems to really care about feminism and even volunteers to teach creative writing to disadvantaged teen girls. However, this isn't what becomes the prevalent theme throughout the book, and I wish it would have been.
Overall, I was disappointed in this book because I expected so much more and saw flashes of potential in between the name-dropping. My favorite story was "The Case of the Inexplicable Birthday Treasure Hunt" in which we hear just about an entertaining and unique experience in the author's life -- no celebrities present!
 Cute and fun September 21, 2007
A fun, funny and entertaining read. I liked all the celebrity anecdotes and thought Hillary's adventures were very fun to read about. It's a quick, easy read and a pretty good one at that.
 Please Hillary -- Write Another One August 23, 2007
Great memoir -- very funny and unique. I love how the author inserts pictures to back up her words. You almost wish the author was older so the book was longer. Unfortunately, I now have the Buffy song stuck in my head.
 Queen of Everything! July 3, 2007
`Queen of the Oddballs...' is an endearing , witty and sometimes downright hilarious book detailing the "regularly scheduled" brushes with fame and antics of Hillary Carlip, an angst ridden young girl/woman growing up in the shadow of Hollywood. Each chapter is written as if Hillary Carlip is making a new entry in her diary, and lucky us!, we get to be front row to her hi-jinks and pratfalls along the way. Hillary Carlip, with her amazing ingenuity, "Forrest Gumped" her way through her childhood, adolescence, teenage years and beyond. Her ability to re-create herself time and again enabled her to have experiences made mostly in dreams. Although it seems the Gods of Luck shone down on her, it wasn't luck at all; it was Hillary creating images of herself that gave her the "gumption" to make these wonderful things happen. Each chapter is a unique story, imbued with sarcasm, ridiculousness and underlying sadness. Hillary also writes about her struggles with her homosexuality, although that's not what the book is mainly about. She juxtaposes pictures with receipts, autographs, concert tickets, and diary notes, giving us a true glimpse of her world growing up in the 70s in Beverly Hills surrounded by fame. There's an air of regret, but mostly happiness, as she shares her incredible experiences and pokes fun at the incongruity of it all. Although today Hillary has a thriving career, thanks to this book, she is more remembered for her zany antics in her youth. Bottom line: `Queen of the Oddballs...' is a terrifically funny and good natured look at one person's sometimes absurd, but always interesting, life.
Life: Go for it, baby! April 19, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This Queen inspires us to cross the line between fantasy and action, to come alive, to unabashedly be who we really are. Her directness is endearing, her daring causes us to step up and stride right along with her. Hillary possesses a self-acceptance and giddiness that charms us into feeling good about ourselves. In an "us-them" culture, she gives us the gumption to strike out and make it happen! I loved what she did for my spirit!
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