Biographies and Memoirs of Wild Women

True Stories of Strippers, Pin-ups, Beauticians, and Romantic Cooks

Aug 26, 2009
Andree Lachapelle

I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti - Photo courtesy Hachette Book Group

Diablo Cody, Anna Nicole Smith, Deborah Rodriguez and Giulia Melucci's stories are sure to titillate and entertain!

Looking to read something juicy? Sink your teeth in these true tales of love, lust, debauchery, and spaghetti.

Candy Girl: a Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper

Diablo Cody's bitingly funny memoir of her experiences as a sex worker may not be for the meek and the mild, but those who enjoy a good pun – and a good story – will not be disappointed.

Not only does Cody give readers a list of the best songs to strip to, prompting us to revive the lost art of the mixed tape, she does so with style, humour, and heart-wrenching enthusiasm.

Whether discussing Internet love affairs and lacklustre phone sex, or describing her rise from dull office drone to pole dancing diva, Academy Award winner Diablo Cody (Juno) never fails to entertain and engage the reader's mind, body, and soul.

I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti

In the tradition of Eat, Pray, Love comes another book about men, women, and food as it relates to the search for love in all the wrong places.

Giulia Melucci brings together stories of romance, passion, and calorie-packed delights as she narrates the adventures of a single woman struggling in today's society, trying to cope with a traditional upbringing, raging hormones, a ticking biological clock, and a love of good food.

Each tale of love found and lost comes with detailed descriptions of the feasts created and consumed on various occasions, and the author offers complete recipes that the reader can recreate in her own kitchen – disaster date optional!

Kabul Beauty School

This funny and engaging tale of a beautician's journey through the Middle East is bound to generate feelings of feminine solidarity in all readers – be they male or female.

Sometimes harsh and unforgiving as the land it describes, others warm and touching as the people who inhabit the arid landscape, Kabul Beauty School is at once sad and uplifting.

Author Deborah Rodriguez does a good job of sharing her love for the people she encountered in the process of trying to bring beauty and independence to the women of Kabul.

In the end, what we have is the story of a woman's search for love, friendship, and a sense of purpose in a place where the rules of the game change frequently, and growth is achieved at a snail's pace.

Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death

When former stripper, reality TV star, and 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year Anna Nicole Smith was found dead at the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida on February 8, 2007, rumours of foul play flooded the media.

In Blonde Ambition, Emmy-award winning journalist Rita Cosby – Fox News Live, The Big Story Week-end – chronicles the ups and downs of the legendary pin-up, and attempts to shed light on the events surrounding her death.

Cosby, who claims to have been "the first to break the official news to the world" (Blonde Ambition vii, Author's Note,) gives us a peek at Anna Nicole Smith's extraordinary life, from her modeling days as fashion mogul Peter Nygard's girlfriend, to her controversial marriage to J. Howard Marshall II, a billionaire 60 years her senior.

Fans of Fox News and those who enjoy having a peek at the dark lives of doomed celebrities will be happy with this book: it is chockfull of juicy details, easy to read, and illustrated with colour photographs of the star and her entourage. Others should abstain.