Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1343935 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–Having graduated from William and Mary, Soffee, the nerd girl of the title and a longtime fan of hair-metal bands, decided that Virginia was not the place to enjoy her passion for the music. And so, with a vague statement of interest in her writing on music by the editor of a metal magazine in Hollywood, she set off for L.A. What she found there was not what she had expected: certainly not her dream of becoming the next great music critic. But the years she spent in L.A. were not without interest as she hit high points and low before having to accept the reality of the situation, aided by the triumph of grunge over metal and her own alcohol and drug addictions. This is not an unusual story; any number of memoirs by young writers chronicle those first uncertain years out of school. Yet Soffee's stands out for its humor and its lack of self-absorption and self-importance. The author has no illusions about the reality of her life at that time, nor does she now condemn it as wasted years. Neither a cautionary tale nor a paean to living it up, Nerd Girl will resonate with teens.–Ted Westervelt, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Cheeky humor, requisite irony, and passionately offhand exuberance fill Soffee's memories of being a heavy-drinking rock writer during the hair-band heyday in L.A., when long locks flung extravagantly about was way, way cool. A mock-interview frames flashbacks as the William and Mary alumna, who earned rocker credentials running a cable radio show featuring sixties garage bands, self-discloses. She then set out to make her mark in L.A. with gonzo music journalist Lester Bangs as her model, a pursuit that devolved into a picaresque parade of episodes, which she freights with on-target observations (on what "the look" of record store cashiers and college DJs says: "I make minimum wage, collect action figures, and live in my mother's basement, but man, am I COOL") in the recounting. Eventually, and after many adventures and a variety of substances abused, Soffee was brought into recovery from chemical dependence by a former Wolfman Jack sidekick and discovered a new meaning of "cool." Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Customer Reviews

Not your typical memoir
Another memoir of a pivotal time of her life, but certainly not the same old memoir you find on bookstore shelves today. This one addresses the author's attempts to make it in LA as music journalist, and true to her chosen career path, the book is written less as an angsty, emotion laden memoir and more as a review.

This is not to disparage the book or to say that it is emotionless, because it's not. It just doesn't bog itself down with so much extraneous whining like many of the 400 page pity parties that are in print now. She doesn't back away from sharing intimate details, but she also doesn't feel the need to delve endlessly into the why and wherefor of her actions. She is unapologetic in her life recap, and that is something that is hard to find in the modern memoir.

If you remember the age of the hair bands, you will love this book for its insider information as much as for the overall story. This was a lot of fun to read.

Anne is back and better than ever!
I live in Southern California, and people visiting often want to see hollywood. They want to see Beverly Hills. When they get to Hollywood it is not at all what they expect. They expect some Norma Shearer stardust dream of a place---and what they get is right out of NERD GIRL.

Anne evokes this place as if channeling Nathaniel West and Charles Bukowski through the perceptural matrix of Wolfman Jack. She's all about Rock and Roll--and she wants to apply the razor of criticism to it's pimply little throat. Like Elvis C., she wants to bite that hand so badly. Not out of hate for rock and roll, but out of love for rock and roll. Anne Soffee, you see, is a true believer. But so much happens on the way.

THRILL to the loss of innocence! CRY every tear over foundered dreams! GASP at the tales of misspent love! WONDER at the redemption that shows up just in time.

This is the prequel to SNAKE HIPS--that is to say it takes place just before. I like it better because....well...You read it.

persevere,

Keëping it Nërd
... Ms. Søffëe delivers another laugh-your-brains-oüt memoir. Armed with moxie and idealism, the author heads for Los Angeles to make her mark in the music journalism world, determined to keep it rockin' while hair metal is on its last gasp and being supplanted by grunge and alternative. While slightly more discreet than in her previous Snake Hips, Ms. Soffee names names which had me crowing in recognition. Her ability to laugh at herself in hindsight and make others follow her through the bum boyfriends, getting leeched by a Big Name and the benzos chased with beer without feeling like they're watching a trainwreck and gorefest. I highly recommend!