…refreshingly, Sussman makes no pat pronouncements about ‘what it means’ when women, bred for compliance, misbehave. ‘Is bad behavior a fall from grace or a triumph?’ she asks. ‘The answer is yes.’ Then come the tales of glorious, even dangerous, badness, of rebellions both classic and creative. ~ Full Review ~

Whether they’re writing about the parish priest, disappointing parents, or forged permission slips, these writers write so good about being bad. If you’re easily scandalized, you may want to stick to the new Harry Potter. But for those of us who have moved on, Bad Girls will remind us of our past and maybe let us look on it a little more kindly. ~ Full Review ~

These stories are funny, serious, sometimes horrifying: tales of anorexia, compulsive speeding, childhood abuse, promiscuity, lying and plenty more. They’ll make you laugh, and think, and think again. ~ Full Review ~

26 funny, feisty women writers tell all. Ellen Sussman’s anthology “Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave” reminds us that bad girlery is so much more than sloppy behavior and wardrobe malfunctions — it’s a calling. It’s the call to self, mixed in with the call of the wild. Anybody can get a DUI, but a real “bad girl” is a creature of passion and conviction, simmering rage and acute horniness, frailty and fearlessness. Rare is the anthology without a clunker, but there is none here. ~ Full Review ~

TO SUM UP: True tales of girls behaving badly from 26 (naughty) female writers. WHY IT’S WORTH YOUR TIME: These essays take back the “bad girl” label from spring-breakers and celebutantes. DON’T MISS: Joyce Maynard’s “A Good Girl Goes Bad,” on her destructive relationship with J.D. Salinger.

In Bad Girls, Ellen Sussman (author of On a Night Like This), Mary Roach, Pam Houston, Maggie Estep, Ann Hood, Erica Jong, Roxanna Robinson, and Lolly Winston, among others, dish about the thrills of walking on the wild side, even if only occasionally. “Between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one,” confides Winston, “I smoked pot behind the garage, shoplifted costume jewelry, cut class to drink Boones Farm wine, trespass, and skinny-dip in the reservoir, manufactured a fake I.D., smoked codeine out of a bong, slept with boys whose last names I couldn’t remember, wrote other students’ English papers for beer funds, and ate the maple syrup I was supposed to sell to raise money for my high school.” Need we say more about why you’ll be laughing and crying through this addictive collection?

First-rate execution by top-notch talent.

Affairs, one-night stands, forgery, self-destructiveness, risk-taking and lies–these essays about bad girls cut deep into the heart of what it means to grow up, what it means to become a woman living life in all of its radical fullness. Certainly these terrific essays are marked by confusion and pain, but running like a trip wire through every single one of them is a hint of wildness, a glimpse of joy.

BAD GIRLS is a witty, sassy read…in turn, both hilarious and heartbreaking. The perfect summer book for smart readers.

Sharp, wicked, perceptive, funny observations by some of the writing field’s most fertile creative minds. Makes me wish I had been more of a bad girl, if only for the insights into the human condition.

Reading Bad Girls makes you feel so good, like you’ve gained access to a secret confessional. You might think things like: Thank God, I never did THAT or maybe I’m not so bad after all. Or maybe you are BAD and here you’ve found 26 wise and wonderful reasons to leave you feeling good about it.