I wanna be a bad girl.... (The Bad Girls' Guide to Getting What You Want - Cameron Tuttle)

Member Name: Charliewhippet

Product:	The Bad Girls' Guide to Getting What You Want - Cameron Tuttle
Date:	27/05/09 (194 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You will have a quiet smirk as you contemplate putting these ideas into action.

Disadvantages: It aint gonna win any literary awards

If you're tired of sensible self help books and earnest magazine advice about the best way to ask for a raise, get a date, get rid of bad dates, or handle your parents; this book is a breath of fresh air. No more of that weedy job interview advice you get in the careers centre ("If they ask you what your weaknesses are, say you have a tendency to be a workaholic." Yeah, right). This book is full of (firmly tongue in cheek) advice that must be taken with a pinch of salt. That's not to say I haven't seriously considered some of them...

The book is split into sections, the first being "The Bad Girl Swirl" dedicated to "finding your badness; inspired by bad girl icons such as Madonna, Rosa Parks and Oprah." Exercises include practising saying "No" (by saying it to the next random stranger who asks if you are having a good day. See, it's a little USA centric...) This may seem silly but it's actually not far from real self help advice!

The second section is entitled "Getting a date". If you can't manage this, simply "date yourself" - via "surprising yourself with unexpected gifts" and flirting with your reflection in shop windows. There is also a useful manspeak translation tool ("I still really value you as a friend" = "I still want you for booty calls.") If only Cosmo was this honest.

In case you wonder why you're bothering with all this, there is also a list of reasons why dating is fun - topped by "free food" and the hilarious stories you can share with your friends and co workers.

There is an excellent section on scoring free drinks (ok, so deliberately positioning yourself so that someone spills your drink (of water), and then feels bad enough to buy you a new cocktail is kind of mean, but effective. (I must add that I have never actually tried this one!)

The third section is a must for the independent girl about town; getting a job. Naturally, the writer of this book has a different attitude than most - although there are some surprisingly useful gems of advice. For instance, if your natural body clock is to sleep late and stay up all night, have you considered owning a nightclub? Makes sense to me!

There is also some helpful info on how to bump up your CV - if what you did last year was collecting unemployment and watching MTV, you might translate this into "Media expert specialising in the youth market." There are also some previously un-thought of uses for post-it notes (giant ones provide an emergency bikini!) and how to boost your reputation with home made "employee of the month" certificates. Not to mention office dares to brighten even the dullest day

There are some genius ideas here if you are prepared to be unscrupulous (got a parking ticket? Find another illegally parked car and put it on that. Hopefully they will pay it for you....) but this book is mostly useful as something to dip into, snigger at, and remind yourself that sometimes, fun is the way to go.

Summary: Fun book for dipping into when you need some light relief