Book Review: Confident Women

Again, Book TV is the place to be if you want to see the latest nonfiction books.

Author and journalist Tori Telfer specializes in writing about female criminality.  She wrote a Jezebel column called “Lady Killers,” which looked at history’s most famous female serial killers.  The column was eventually turned into a bestselling book with the same name.  Telfer also hosts a podcast called “Criminal Broads.”

Her latest book is called Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion.  This book mostly focuses on non-violent scam artists and fraudsters.  Famous con artists included are Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy, the legendary French thief who was partially responsible for starting the French Revolution and bringing down Marie Antoniette.

The book also focuses on the “Spiritualists,” the many women in history who produced scammy tricks for listening to the dead through conjure and “ectoplasm.”  Jude Devereau, the famous novelist who lost millions of dollars to astrologist Joyce Michael, is also included in the book.  Telfer also delves into the world of “Tragediennes,” women who took advantage of history’s most horrific events like 9/11 and the Pulse Nightclub shooting to gain money and attention.

Telfer concludes that all these women were successful in their respective frauds because they were perceived as likable.  That likability supports their confidence to commit their crimes.

“If you like her – and you will like her – then her work will be so much easier,” Telfer says.  “It’ll all be over quickly.  You’ll hardly feel a thing.”

If you are looking for a fun, accessible read about nonviolent true crime, check out this book!

Book Review: The Eternal Audience of One

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This is also a book I picked up at Winter Institute.

This is the debut novel by Rwandan–Namibian author Rémy Ngamije.  It is a semi-autobiographical, coming-of-age story about a young man name Séraphin, whose family left Rwanda during the 1994 genocide and for Namibia.  The story follows Séraphin from his high school years in “boring” Windhoek to college in cosmopolitan Capetown.  We are introduced to his traditional family trying to make a new life for themselves as immigrants.  We also see Séraphin’s many colorful friends, lovers, and acquaintances struggle through the African continent’s current racial and sexual politics.

This is definitely a great, witty read from a new voice in African literature!

The Eternal Audience of One by Rémy Ngamije.  Published by Scout Press on August 10, 2021.

Hot Vax Summer Playlist 2021

 

I have been jamming out to this playlist I created on all my day trips, one outdoor party I attended, and several walking exercises.

If you’re vaccinated, let’s celebrate a hot vax summer!

Book Review: You Don’t Belong Here

This is another book I found out about on Book TV.  You Don’t Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War by journalist Elizabeth Becker is about three groundbreaking women journalists who covered the Vietnam War.  I was intrigued by this book because I don’t remember learning about any of these women in journalism school.

I even took a foreign correspondence class and the history of women journalists was very limited.  While I never wanted to cover war, I briefly had an interest in becoming a foreign correspondent when I was in college.  At that time, there weren’t many female correspondents who covered war, except Christiane Amanpour.

I ended up taking a slight detour into marketing communications for international NGOs.

So, it was really cool to read this.  If I had known about these women in school, I might have had a different career trajectory!

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