Keep coming back to check for new articles, interviews, and reviews.

And check out fabulous mentions on fabulous blogs!

"I came into work and found an advance copy of 'Queen of the Oddballs' waiting for me. I started reading and felt an immediate connection. Hillary Carlip was the person I wanted to be – a person I didn't even realize was possible! I still wanted to kill myself, but maybe I'd wait until I finished the book. By the time I was done, I didn't want to die."
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Carlip's fresh, funny memoir of growing up at celebrity's edge in Hollywood, accompanied by photos and highlights of current events from the 1960s through 2004, is at once hilarious and heartbreaking."
"[Ms. Carlip's] curriculum vitae reads like a Cliffs Notes version of American popular culture..."
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"Hillary Carlip has lived a life that would make Leonard Zelig jealous. It's not everyone who can claim to have won The Gong Show and seen John Cusack in acne medication... Bunny-hopping through Hollywood's D-list for 40 years, Hillary Carlip met everyone who was almost anyone. Read her winning account of her years as a pop culture footnote."

"Much of the charm of Carlip's memoir lies in her whimsical surrender to celebrity culture, balanced by her awareness of how silly it all is."
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:: LIT PICK :: "Funny, endearing, and sweet for the soul, this is a lovable memoir."
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PAGE TURNERS! "THIS SUMMER WE'RE READING A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS...

Hilarious memoir about coming of age eccentric and gay in Hollywood, with lots of laugh-so-hard-you-snort-milk-out-your-nose moments."

"With more clarity, flow, and originality than even more experienced memoirists, the Queen writes in an easy narrative style that is peppered with moments of poignancy... Instead of forcing herself to belong to someone else’s world, the Queen simply created her own, and that she chose to share it so honestly is her readers’ good fortune."
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"You can read Queen of the Oddballs for laughs... and you’ll get them, but you can also read it for something more -- a woman searching for herself amidst the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, trying to figure out what (and who) is real... Carlip shows herself to be not just odd, but exceptional."
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Read all about The Memoirists Collective, made up of me and three other KICK-ASS authors. We're starting to get a lot o' buzzzzzz... Keep an eye out for upcoming Reuters article!
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"... quirky... hilarious... this unconventional tale of self-discovery offers an unforgettable ride."
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"Queen of the Oddballs... Truly hilarious...."
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"Hillary Carlip... An eclectic icon of her own generation."
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"If you're a page turner of any degree, chances are you know Nancy Pearl. The author of Book Lust and More Book Lust was making her eighth annual appearance at WICA. Billed as a 'rock star librarian,' Nancy Pearl doesn't act like somebody whose likeness has sold more than 100,000 'library action figure' dolls. She presented her Best Books of 2006 list while the nearly packed house scribbled notes and asked questions. My picks from Nancy's list are Julia Child's My Life in France and Queen of the Oddballs and Other True Stories from a Life Unaccording to Plan by Hillary Carlip. How can you not like a book with a title like that?"

"... one of the funniest books I have read in a long time. Carlip's self-deprecating humor befits this Gong Show winner's account of her life. This is my favorite non-graphic memoir of the year, on a par with Alison Bechdel's excellent Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic."
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"Hillary Carlip is a handful. She's an author, juggler, entertainer, and all around prankster..."
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"Carlip spins a hilarious narrative, full of life-until-now strangeness."

And in response to an article calling me "The female David Sedaris or SHE-Daris," witty writer David Israel, says, "...her writing sparkles like a male David Sedaris." FUNNNY!

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I appeared on WGN morning news in Chicago and the anchorman also writes articles that are featured on the WGN site, as well in Chicago Tribune's REDEYE. In true oddball fashion, he writes a lovely article that ends with: "Cutlip shows 'oddball' doesn't have to mean 'outcast.'" That's me! Hillary Cutlip.
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Article entitled "Reasons to Release Your Inner Oddball."
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TWO PIECES
1. "Oddballs offers insight on how a freaky-deaky iconoclast grows into a multitalented and successful woman." [Includes a chapter excerpt from the book.]
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2. FUN WITH ODDBALLS -- a groovy write-up about my group The Memoirists Collective.
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HOT BOOKS!

"Local author Carlip serves up a hilarious memoir of life off the beaten path. Following her own imagination through the last few decades of popular culture and life in Los Angeles, she charts a very particular path that is thoughtful and moving. Illustrations integrate the events of her life; spirituality, celebrity friendships, Gong Show victories and teen activism roll throughout this entertaining book Her oddball, offbeat enactments provide examples of how to let your freak flag fly!"
"Oddball might be an understatement in this off-beat memoir."
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"If you have any friends in life who are on the brink of 'going for it,' but are incessantly weighing, hemming and hawing, give them Queen of the Oddballs... Hillary’s book is fun, inspiring and empowering to the inner oddball in all of us.
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"Her recollections aren't exactly the miserable Irish childhood of Frank McCourt, but the musings of a kid who grew up a little too close to Hollywood." Interview....
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"It is any reviewer's nightmare, because what can we write to compete with the brilliance of the author's prose? I advise you to stop reading my praise for this memoir and go pick it up already. The opening chapter will suck you in."

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OK, this is an interview I did, and I guess they don't use a copyeditor over there at Windy City Times because I sound completely illiterate! Not only am I misquoted all over the place, I'm misquoted with bad grammar! (i.e. "There is definitely weird people...") Yeah. Why not see how many inaccuracies you can find! And don't get me wrong, I am grateful they did the article to begin with, OK?!
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RECOMMENDED READING from an Amazon Top Ten Reviewer ::: "Reading it again we begin to wonder if Carlip is just a fine writer, or that perhaps she is a philosopher of sorts, a Foucault in funky costume, or perhaps just one of the more gifted communicators to come around in the past few years."
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TWO ARTICLES
1. "Hillary Carlip dazzles with 'odd' memoir... the female David Sedaris (or would that be SHE-Daris?)"

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2. "Unprecedented contest sponsored by four authors offers big break opportunities."
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"IF YOU PAID CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE '70S AND '80S, there's a good chance that Hillary Carlip's face is still lodged in a neuron or two of your brain."
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"... One of the best memoirs I've ever read, even though she's not a drug addict."
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"...Carlip's ... playful recounting of showbiz hi-jinks and brushes with fame are fascinating. But the more personal elements of the book are perhaps the most engaging."
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5/4-5/10
"We're off to see the The Wizard of Odd... [Carlip's] writerly voice has been compared to that of fellow humorist David Sedaris..."
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4/27-5/3
"One-Woman Odd Sqad... Queen of the Oddballs is already getting big buzz..."
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"ALL HAIL THE QUEEN... This jill-of-all-trades from Los Angeles has enjoyed brief stints as a stalker..."
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"Mingling personal experiences, love affairs that went, well south, and interjecting the spirit of the times, Carlip has fashioned a page turning memoir that keeps you guessing just exactly what this multi-talented Jacqueline of all entertainment media is going to do next."
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"Another favorite is Hillary Carlip's 'Queen of the Oddballs and Other True Stories from a Life Unaccording to Plan.'"
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"A proven master of translating her experiences through writing, Hillary offers KEY readers advice on taking life's everyday events and turing them into captivating stories..."
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REVIEW: "I simply loved this book... There are moments of almost unbearable poignancy, especially towards the end of the book, which made me weep. But more than anything, this book made me laugh."
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INTERVIEW: "Finally! The chance to sit down and speak to (okay, email with!) the very funny and talented Hillary Carlip."
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"Queen of the Oddballs... so full of interesting experiences that it's hard to believe it all happened to the same person."

HarperCollins has a program called "First Look" that gives regular peeps the chance to read and review books before they come out. (The books, not the peeps!)
Read the STELLER reviews for Q of the O

CHECK 'EM ALL OUT!

Lots of ** NEW ** ones constantly added!

 

"Hillary Carlip's Queen of The Oddballs is an unpredictable, fresh, distinctive memoir with the power of the deluxe Dyson vacuum cleaner -- it will suck you in before you know it. I absolutely adored this book. Hillary bends all the bones of convention, and you'll cheer and embrace her for it."
-- Laurie Notaro, NY Times bestselling author of The Idiot Girl's Action Adventure Club

"Hillary Carlip's life will floor you. Colorful? She was a kid Auntie Mame! Her book should be mandatory reading for anybody contemplating fabulousness. What she knows and how she learned it is staggering. Queen of The Oddballs is astounding: inspirational, moving and hilarious."
-- Paul Reubens, Pee-wee Herman

"Hillary Carlip is the best kind of eccentric: Genuine, ballsy, funny and soulful. All the underground artists and showbiz freaks should gather 'round her chanting, "One of us! One of us!" She deserves to be our queen."
-- Beth Lisick, Author of Everybody into the Pool

"Queen of The Oddballs is a hilarious and inspiring read for all of us who were too afraid to be ourselves. Or stalk Carole King."
--Jenny Bicks, Executive Producer, Sex and The City

Tremendously insightful... undeniably powerful. - Publishers Weekly
GIRL POWER is a must... poignant, sometimes shocking. - New York Post
Hillary Carlip does a great service... wonderfully textured... raw. - Los Angeles Times
You give us hope. You really do give us hope. - Oprah Winfrey
Overwhelmingly provocative. - Sassy Magazine
Magnificent and important… I discovered a clearer awareness of myself with the turn of each page of GIRL POWER. - Jennifer Aniston
Moving and striking... a beacon in the darkness. - Melissa Etheridge
A beautiful, intoxicating outcry-of opinions, feelings, rants, raves, poetry, prose, shouts, and cheers-given structure and flow by Carlip's insight and explanations…. Funky and fabulous. - Amazon, Teen Editor's Choice
Hillary Carlip... perseveringly loopy. - Bitch Magazine
Impressive. - Wall Street Journal
Subversive… resonates with the work of a whole slew of important mainstream artists. - Los Angeles Times
P.R play of the week. - P.R. Week
A must. - Bust Magazine

Campy and fun. - Los Angles Reader

Highly enterprising. - Advertising Age
Goddess of girl culture. - Feminist Bookstore News

Amazing. Hillary has to be seen to be believed… she deserved 10 encores. - LA Herald Examiner

And then there's Hillary Carlip, comedienne extraordinaire. Whether she's singing, dancing, juggling or fire eating, Hillary is hilarious. - Santa Cruz Sentinel
Hillary is a glowing performer… - San Diego Times
She does everything right. - Jaye P. Morgan, The Gong Show

 

Queen of the Oddballs: And Other True Stories from a Life Unaccording to Plan
by Hillary Carlip