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In Praise of Difficult Women: Life Lessons From 29 Heroines Who Dared to Break the Rules Hardcover – February 27, 2018

by Karen Karbo (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 459 ratings
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From Frida Kahlo and Elizabeth Taylor to Nora Ephron, Carrie Fisher, and Lena Dunham, this witty narrative explores what we can learn from the imperfect and extraordinary legacies of 29 iconic women who forged their own unique paths in the world.

Smart, sassy, and unapologetically feminine, this elegantly illustrated book is an ode to the bold and charismatic women of modern history. Best-selling author Karen Karbo (The Gospel According to Coco Chanel) spotlights the spirited rule breakers who charted their way with little regard for expectations: Amelia Earhart, Helen Gurley Brown, Edie Sedgwick, Hillary Clinton, Amy Poehler, and Shonda Rhimes, among others. Their lives--imperfect, elegant, messy, glorious--provide inspiration and instruction for the new age of feminism we have entered. Karbo distills these lessons with wit and humor, examining the universal themes that connect us to each of these mesmerizing personalities today: success and style, love and authenticity, daring and courage. Being "difficult," Karbo reveals, might not make life easier. But it can make it more fulfilling--whatever that means for you.

In the Reader's Guide included in the back of the book, Karbo asks thought-provoking questions about how we relate to each woman that will make for fascinating book club conversation.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    National Geographic
  4. Publication date
    February 27, 2018
  5. Dimensions
    5.72 x 1.14 x 8.51 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1426217749
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1426217746
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“It’s the unexpected stories that are some of the most beguiling…These are messy, inspiring lives lived in public by necessity or choice. They often offer great humor too.” –San Francisco Chronicle

"I think that this is a book that everyone should read and one that everyone should have on their shelves." - Ms. Nose in a Book

“I love the idea of grabbing a cuppa, this book, and just diving right in. It’s such a great pick-me-up.  Reading about these awesome women, their struggles, their successes, and how inspiring they are - just puts a smile on my face. They are awe-inspiring stories that I gobbled up with joy.
--abookishwayoflife.blogspot.com

“This book is a total inspiration for those that want to shake things up a little bit and push boundaries further for women…All I can say is I now have a very long list of biographies and memoirs on and by the woman that appear in this book.” –abookishaffair.blogspot.com

“An engaging, inspiring collection where I enjoyed learning about amazing modern women and was left wanting to learn more.” –doingdeweydecimal.com
 
“The author chose a great selection of women to represent the "difficult" woman.”
–cerebralgirl.blogspot.com

“Karbo has a knack for the nuances and sidebars that leave the reader not just a carrier of new facts, but of fascination and admiration for her subjects.” –The Register-Guard

"This book is a history lesson that goes down like cotton candy: pink, sweet, and fun as hell. Don’t miss it." —NextTribe

“With occasional anecdotes from her own life, Karbo delves into her personal relationship with each of these women…all of them important touchstones for her.” –LA Review of Books

“In Praise of Difficult Women” is a collection of short biographies of well-known women who are difficult in what Karbo thinks is the best sense — strong, independent, smart, assertive."
—The Seattle Times

“Karbo, of Portland, Oregon, is embracing being a “difficult woman” in her newest book, which celebrates other women who broke the rules.” –Wisconsin State Journal, AP News

“Refreshingly frank, Karbo’s book celebrates women who forged provocative identities and found life fulfillment despite the odds they faced. Inspiring reading about women who have shown “that it’s all right to occupy our humanity.” –Kirkus

"The women chosen are eclectic, while the narrative is researched and informed yet conversationally welcoming...Karbo’s fondness for rule breakers and benders is clear, and she defends them through character quirks and missteps—real women lead real and flawed lives." –Foreword

 In Praise of Difficult Women offers many words of wisdom, including sage advice from fashion titan Diana Vreeland, who noted that the only right life to live is “the one you know you want, and you make it for yourself.” —Women's Voices ForeSight

“Karbo examines the universal themes that connect each of us to these icons of female badassery and argues that being “difficult” can lead to a more fulfilling life.” –BookRiot 

“In 29 takes, Karen Karbo catalogs the ways in which a woman rankles: She can be independent, exacting, impatient, persistent, opinionated, angry, unaccommodating, ambitious, restless, confident, brilliant, articulate, or just plain visible. Nothing is lost on Karbo, from Elizabeth Taylor’s double eyelashes to the contents of Martha Gellhorn’s travel bag to Amelia Earhart’s homemade roller coaster. You’ll need two copies!”—Stacy Schiff, best-selling author of Cleopatra: A Life and The Witches 
 
“Part biography, part inspiration, all parts fascinating, In Praise of Difficult Women is a wise and hilarious reminder of the importance of being a pain in the ass. Keep it by your bedside.”—Meghan Daum, best-selling author of The Unspeakable
 
“Give me difficult women or give me death. Karen Karbo’s In Praise of Difficult Women brings us all back to life by illuminating the paths of women who refused to shut up, sit down, hold still, behave, or smile on anyone’s terms but their own. A perfect manifesto as to why now is the time to get loud, unflinching, and brazen, exactly as we are.”—Lidia Yuknavitch, author of The Misfit’s Manifesto 
 
“Difficult seems absolutely delightful in these absorbing, inspiring, and often surprising portraits that do more than entertain. They raise important questions about femininity and culture, power and bravery—and make us ask these same questions about our mothers, sisters, daughters, and ourselves. Though Karbo masterfully covers a wide range of exceptional women, what unites them is the way they make ‘difficult’ become a quality not to avoid but to aspire to with gusto.”—Lori Gottlieb, New York Times best-selling author of Marry Him

About the Author

KAREN KARBO is the author of multiple award-winning novels, memoirs and works of nonfiction. Her best-selling "Kick-Ass Women" series includes The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Woman, which was an international bestseller. Karbo's short stories, essays, articles and reviews have appeared in Elle, Vogue, Esquire, Outside, the New York Times, Salon, and other publications. She is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and a winner of the General Electric Younger Writer Award. Karbo lives in Portland, Oregon, where she continues to kick ass.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ National Geographic; Illustrated edition (February 27, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1426217749
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1426217746
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.72 x 1.14 x 8.51 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 459 ratings

About the author

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Karen Karbo

Karen Karbo

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Karen Karbo's first novel, Trespassers Welcome Here, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and a Village Voice Top Ten Book of the Year. Her other two adult novels, The Diamond Lane and Motherhood Made a Man Out of Me, were also named New York Times Notable Books.

Karbo's 2004 memoir, The Stuff of Life, about the last year she spent with her father before his death, was an NYT Notable Book, a People Magazine Critics' Choice, a Books for a Better Life Award finalist, and a winner of the Oregon Book Award for Creative Non-fiction.

Her short stories, essays, articles and reviews have appeared in Elle, Vogue, Esquire, Outside, O, More, The New Republic, The New York Times, salon.com and other magazines. She is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and a winner of the General Electric Younger Writer Award.

Karbo is most well known for her best-selling Kick Ass Women series, the most recent of which is How Georgia Became O'Keeffe, published in 2011. How to Hepburn, published in 2007, was hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer as "an exuberant celebration of a great original"; #1 ebook best-seller The Gospel According to Coco Chanel appeared in 2009. Julia Child Rules: Lessons On Savoring Life Julia Child Rules was published in 2013. Next up: In Praise of Difficult Women: Life Lessons From 29 Heroines Who Dared to Break the Rules will be released on February 27, 2018.

In addition, Karbo penned three books in the Minerva Clark mystery series for children: Minerva Clark Gets A Clue, Minerva Clark Goes to the Dogs, and Minerva Clark Gives Up the Ghost.

Karen grew up in Los Angeles, California and lives in Portland, Oregon where she continues to kick ass.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
459 global ratings
Warm, funny, empowering
5 Stars
Warm, funny, empowering
This is the best graduation gift around. Beautiful funny poignant essays about women who have thought to be difficult but are in fact only themselves. Karen Karbo is the best and the warmest and the funniest author around and reading this book made me want to break all of the rules!
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Top reviews from the United States

ti
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Cast of Characters
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2024
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I love the diverse combination of women the author chose to write about. Some of the women I knew little or nothing about, propelling me to research more info on Google and YouTube. The book enriched me.
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Bonnie De Clark
4.0 out of 5 stars Each one had a magnificent talent and they put it to the utmost good use to benefit themselves and others
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2018
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There was a time when women were not expected to use their heads for anything more than a hair farm! That was never going to be true of the 29 women covered in this outstanding book. Each one had a magnificent talent and they put it to the utmost good use to benefit themselves and others. Even though these women are (or in Rachel Maddow's case will be) part of history, you may learn things about them that you did not know.
This is a wonderful book to keep on your nightstand and read about one each evening before you go to sleep. You'll sleep better knowing (more) about each of these women.
9 people found this helpful
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Soybert
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and Uplifting Book
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2022
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I really enjoyed this book - Ms. Karbo is a talented writer with a good sense of humor and always includes entertaining footnotes. The book is well researched and easy to read, leaving you feeling humbled by the women she writes about. Highly recommend!
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting look at biographies of famous women!
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2019
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I liked the info on people in the news and in history. At first, I thought it was solely focused on those of liberal, progressive beliefs but later found a few who did not fit that description.
2 people found this helpful
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Dee
5.0 out of 5 stars Who knew these details on famous women!
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2022
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Fun read. Learned things I never knew. Makes you proud of these woman and what they accomplished. Clever writing makes you feel you’re being told the story by a friend.
One person found this helpful
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David
5.0 out of 5 stars would love it. Oh
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2018
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After reading Karen Karbo’s In Praise of Difficult Women, I find myself wishing I could stop by Costco and buy a 12-pack of the book. I’ve already sent a copy to my brother, and a copy for my daughter. My neighbor, Amelia, would love it. Oh, and of course my best friend…This is that kind of book—too good to keep to yourself. Karbo has selected 29 modern, difficult women to present to us. Some surprises, and some just too classic to leave out. Each mini-biography is distilled to the most juicy, inspiring details. All delivered with just a touch of that signature Karen Karbo snark. A great read, but beware, you may want to buy in bulk.
23 people found this helpful
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Beatrice Giuseppina Mabrey
2.0 out of 5 stars Some interesting portraits, but overall disappointing
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2019
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I found several of the chapters in this book fairly interesting, but others were just terribly glib. How hard is it to be a “difficult woman” when you’re rich and white as many of the women in this book are? And should we be worshipping addiction and mental illness as the purveyors of creativity? The author didn’t do this consistently, but the times she did were pretty jarring.
5 people found this helpful
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sal fuoti
4.0 out of 5 stars Purchased as gifts
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2019
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I do not have much of a review yet as I purchased these books as gifts. The books came in as promised and were in good physical shape. I will add to the review after I have read the book.
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Top reviews from other countries

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EM
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, inspiring and beautifully presented
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2020
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I loved reading this so much. Each chapter was informative and took about 20-30 minutes to get through. It celebrated a variety of great women and was honest too. The book itself is gorgeous and the illustrations were brilliant.
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Prosperity
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfecto estado
Reviewed in Spain on April 24, 2019
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Perfecto estado, me gustó su paoel reciclsdo, lo regale no puedo opinar sobre su contenido
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Snapdragon
4.0 out of 5 stars Lively upbeat look at 29 women
Reviewed in Australia on June 9, 2019
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This is an easy, entertaining and informative book. Karen Karbo has a warm, insouciant style and the bibliography shows she really knows her subjects. She gives us small, potted biographies of a wide range of women who were difficult in different ways, from bisexual Vita Sackville-West (who was fond of Virginia Woolf among others) through Amelia Earhart to modern female comedians and Hillary Clinton. Style icons Coco Channel and Diana Vreeland make the cut, as do performers Josephine Baker, Kay Thompson of Eloise books fame and Janis Joplin. The piece on writer Nora Ephron makes you want to read her work and I’ve already downloaded the autobiography of Korean-American comic Margaret Cho. I’ll also be looking for the novels of Karbo herself. There are book club questions at the back. In response to “Which of these women would you most like to be?” my answer is “None of them,” but it’s certainly fascinating to read about them.
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Elif Dibek
4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Read!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2021
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This is a sweet book, easy to read! You will get lots of snippets of history. Really enjoyed it. Only criticism is that it's not very global/diverse of inspiring women from other parts of the world (outside the West).
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Barbara Schori
1.0 out of 5 stars ausgefranste Seiten
Reviewed in Germany on January 22, 2019
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Über den Inhalt kann ich noch keine Aussage machen. Aber ich bin doch sehr erstaunt, dass die Seiten des Buches nicht beschnitten sind. Die sind alle ausgefranst. Meines Erachtens sollten solche Fehler nicht passieren.

Wäre mir der Aufwand des Zurücksendens nicht zu gross inkl. hohen Speditionsgebühren, ginge das Buch zurück.
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