you have no idea: book review + giveaway

* It's been far too long since I've belonged to a book club. My last one was reading the books of B. F. Skinner (Verbal Behavior alone took us two years to complete) and it was nowhere nearly as fun as this. 

• If you've ever had a conversation with your mother about whether she remembers some detail from your childhood and she told you exactly how she recalls it and it's not at all what you expected, then this book is for you.
• If you've ever watched VH1 specials and relished in the behind-the-scenes look into the scandal in the life of a celebrity, then this book is for you.
• If you have a daughter, or you find the mother-daughter bond fascinating, then this book is for you.
• If you like stories of triumphant comebacks, second chances, and resilience in the face of (very public) adversity, then this book is for you.

Vanessa Williams burst onto the scene with a big splash. Almost overnight, it seems, she became the first black Miss America and, shortly afterwards, was stripped of her crown because of the (unauthorized) publication of photos featuring her in nude poses.

I remember that! I was a teenager then. I remember how beautiful she was, how she filled that swimsuit in all the right places, how elegant she looked in that bedazzled and sequinned dress (hey, it was the 80s, we liked our clothes a little shinier then). And I remember not understanding what the big fuss was about her winning the pageant -- she was the prettiest, so what was the big deal about her race, again? And I remember vividly all the media frenzy over the scandal that ensued.

You Have No Idea weaves the story of Williams's life, interjected by her mother Helen's take on the events, comments, own history, and advice. Besides the first-person account of the very public events in her life (marriages, divorces, birth of her kids, the whole Miss America thing, her singing career, her acting career), the book also reveals quirky tidbits about Vanessa, the person behind the fame: that she was a latchkey kid; that her first kiss was at 10 with a 12 year-old boy wearing braces; that her mother once caught her, with her boyfriend, in flagrante delicto, in the middle of the family living room; that she kept a journal (humm, do you think that if she was born a couple of decades later, she would've been a blogger?)... and that's all I'm going to give away, so that you can discover the rest for yourself.

BlogHer Book Club is reading Vanessa and Hellen Williams's You Have No Idea this month. You too can join the conversation about this book and participate in the series of discussions, starting with this one:
Do you listen to your mother?

If you are interested in following Vanessa on social media, her Twitter handle is @vwofficial and her Facebook page is Official Vanessa Williams.

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Haven't read the book yet? 
Here's one way you can remedy that: Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win the hardcover copy of the book I was sent to review. Heck, I'll even throw in a $10 Starbucks giftcard, so you can sip that latte/mocha/cappuccino while reading it. Still not enough? Oh alright, for a second place prize, I'll part with the remainder of the money I'll be paid for this review: a second $10 Starbucks!!!


Giveaway details:

• First prize, the Miss America package: the You Have No Idea book (a $28 value) and a $10 Starbucks giftcard. Open to all US and Canada residents. Will need a valid mailing address from the winner, when selected.
• Second prize, the Miss America runner-up package: a $10 Starbucks giftcard. Open to all who wish to enter. I like how Starbucks lets you email an e-giftcard from anywhere to anywhere, will need a valid email address for the winner, when selected.
• Giveaway is open until 12:01am EST Wednesday May 9, 2012, so I can mail the book to the winner in time for Mother's Day, see how cleverly that works out?
• Only requirement is to answer the question: What about you do people Have No Idea? Never mind the grammar of the sentence, just answer the question :)
• For additional entries: Follow me on Facebook and Twitter, post a link to this review on FB, tweet about it using the hashtags #BHBC and #YHNIgiveaway. If you already follow me (thank you, thank you) you'll get credit for that too, just enter your info when prompted :) 
• May the most dexterous typist win!

Good luck!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

I've been seeing this cool app (rafflecopter) used for giveaways in a lot of blogs, lately, and I'm attempting to use it here for the first time. Just to make sure I've programmed it properly, I'll keep tabs manually as well. You'll be doing me a huge favor by helping me test its veracity. Please let me know if you come across any bugs or anything that doesn't make sense, I'm eager to learn from this experience.


* The legalese: This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own. 
So is the cash used to pay for the giveaway. 
Sadly, no one offered to pay me for the Skinner series.