Joni Rodgers lives in Texas, where big hair is a God-given right. It's essential to any waitressing job, prerequisite for a real estate license, as natural as Naugahyde, and as important as Elvis. But at thirty-two, Joni was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and lost her hair to chemotherapy. It's not fun being a bald girl in the Big Hair Capital of America, but Joni managed to hold on to her sanity -- and her sense of humor. With the same amazing ability to laugh at life, and herself, that helped her survive cancer, Joni now recounts her story -- a deeply affecting tale of industrial-strength drugs, healing herbs, love, sex, prayer, kids, career, and the search for a wig that won't make her look like Betty Rubble.
Bald in the Land of Big Hair is the hilarious -- and often heartbreaking -- tale of Joni's journey through the badlands of cancer. From D-Day ["D" for Diagnosis] ("Biopsy is one of those terms that snags on the back of the mind -- like IRS or subpoena"), through the red tape of treatment ("Apparently it was a Christian Science HMO; any kind of medical treatment was against their relgion"), through remission ("Surviving cancer is the same as emerging from any of lifes refiningfires"), Joni tells her story with humor, occasional anger, and unflinching honesty. Yet this powerful, moving story is much more than one person's memoir. It is the story of all of us; of anyone who has faced what seemed the worst that life has to offer -- and won.
"Cancer is not what I am. It's not a gift or a curse. It's not a blessing in disguise (unless that is one dang good disguise!). It's not the scourge of God, not the Red Badge of Courage, nor is it a Purely clinical phenomenon. We are who we are, regardless of a few funky cells. "
Thoughtful, inspiring, and gripping, Bald in the Land of Big Hair is a tribute to the triumph of the human spirit, the importance of community, and the imperative of living every day with grace and joy. And a few good head scarves.

Bald in the Land of Big Hair : A True Story

Biographies & Memoirs

Rodgers, Joni

Community & Culture

HarperCol

Though she is now remarried, Pia has never really gotten over her first husband's death. Her new husband travels most of the time leaving her alone in their pristine home, surrounded by white walls, white furniture, white carpeting. White, white, white. She keeps in touch, by phone, with her sister Lily, who, through a tragic and innocent mistake, was responsible for the death of her niece in a car accident and is now serving time in jail. Pia also talks to her sister–in–law, Beth, the grieving mother of the dead girl. Surrounded by these tragedies, Pia views the world as a threat to her hard–earned, peaceful––if lonely––way of life. She leaves the house only once a week; to visit her doctor. One day, on her way there, she stumbles across a hidden antique store and ventures inside. Like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole, the store––and its exotic owner––open her up to a whole new existence, one of swirling colors and chaotic feelings, of longing, desire and a new lust for life.

The Secret Sisters

Literature & Fiction

United States

Exploring the timeless themes of family, self, misfortune, and hope that have made the novels of Anna Quindlen and Sue Miller bestsellers, Joni Rodgers's moving and powerful tale tells the story of three women bound together by loss and set free by love. Pia feels the walls of her life closing in around her, until she discovers a strangely sensual world that leads her to a new existence. Lily, Pia's brash, tough-talking sister, makes a tragic mistake that leaves her incarcerated, body and soul. But when she finds the last thing she expects—love—she is at last able to face the past. Beth, married to Pia and Lily's brother, has never been able to admit her own failure as a mother. Finally forced to confront a tragedy of her own making, she discovers that the truth can set her free.

The Secret Sisters: A Novel

Harper-perennial

Bald in the Land of Big Hair is the hilarious-and often heartbreaking-tale of Joni Rodgers's journey through the badlands of cancer told with humor, occasional anger, and unflinching honesty. More than just a cancer book, this is a deeply affecting memoir of one woman's struggle to come to terms with everything that life throws her way.
Ultimately, this is a moving celebration of the true meaning of human triumph and courage, the importance of community and the imperative of living everyday with joy.

Bald in the Land of Big Hair: A True Story

Reference

Suzy and Nancy Goodman were more than sisters. They were best friends, confidantes, and partners in the grand adventure of life. For three decades, nothing could separate them. Not college, not marriage, not miles. Then Suzy got sick. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1977; three agonizing years later, at thirty-six, she died. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Goodman girls were raised in postwar Peoria, Illinois, by parents who believed that small acts of charity could change the world. Suzy was the big sister—the homecoming queen with an infectious enthusiasm and a generous heart. Nancy was the little sister—the tomboy with an outsized sense of justice who wanted to right all wrongs. The sisters shared makeup tips, dating secrets, plans for glamorous fantasy careers. They spent one memorable summer in Europe discovering a big world far from Peoria. They imagined a long life together—one in which they’d grow old together surrounded by children and grandchildren. Suzy’s diagnosis shattered that dream. In 1977, breast cancer was still shrouded in stigma and shame. Nobody talked about early detection and mammograms. Nobody could even say the words “breast” and “cancer” together in polite company, let alone on television news broadcasts. With Nancy at her side, Suzy endured the many indignities of cancer treatment, from the grim, soul-killing waiting rooms to the mistakes of well-meaning but misinformed doctors. That’s when Suzy began to ask Nancy to promise. To promise to end the silence. To promise to raise money for scientific research. To promise to one day cure breast cancer for good. Big, shoot-for-the-moon promises that Nancy never dreamed she could fulfill. But she promised because this was her beloved sister. I promise, Suzy. . . . Even if it takes the rest of my life. Suzy’s death—both shocking and senseless—created a deep pain in Nancy that never fully went away. But she soon found a useful outlet for her grief and outrage. Armed only with a shoebox filled with the names of potential donors, Nancy put her formidable fund-raising talents to work and quickly discovered a groundswell of grassroots support. She was aided in her mission by the loving tutelage of her husband, restaurant magnate Norman Brinker, whose dynamic approach to entrepreneurship became Nancy’s model for running her foundation. Her account of how she and Norman met, fell in love, and managed to achieve the elusive “true marriage of equals” is one of the great grown-up love stories among recent memoirs. Nancy’s mission to change the way the world talked about and treated breast cancer took on added urgency when she was herself diagnosed with the disease in 1984, a terrifying chapter in her life that she had long feared. Unlike her sister, Nancy survived and went on to make Susan G. Komen for the Cure into the most influential health charity in the country and arguably the world. A pioneering force in cause-related marketing, SGK turned the pink ribbon into a symbol of hope everywhere. Each year, millions of people worldwide take part in SGK Race for the Cure events. And thanks to the more than $1.5 billion spent by SGK for cutting-edge research and community programs, a breast cancer diagnosis today is no longer a death sentence. In fact, in the time since Suzy’s death, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer has risen from 74 percent to 98 percent. Promise Me is a deeply moving story of family and sisterhood, the dramatic “30,000-foot view” of the democratization of a disease, and a soaring affirmative to the question: Can one person truly make a difference?

Promise Me: How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer

Brinker, Nancy G.

Harmony/Rodale/Convergent

In a wise, warmhearted memoir that celebrates her extraordinary life and stellar career, Swoosie Kurtz shares just the right combination of personal misadventure and showbiz lore, candidly reflecting on the right choices that empowered her, the wrong choices that enlightened her, and the intimate journey of caring for an aging parent. Animating this remarkable memoir is Swoosie’s relationship with her equally remarkable parents. Her father, Frank, was an Olympic athlete and highly decorated World War II airman. He flew a record number of missions in a cobbled-together B-17D called the Swoose. Her mother, Margo, was the quintessential military wife but with the spunk and will to match her husband’s. Her 1945 memoir, My Rival, the Sky, chronicled their lives up to the time of the birth of their daughter. Today, Margo, who is fast approaching her hundredth birthday, lives with Swoosie. And Swoosie’s life has become a precarious and precious balancing act as she struggles to stay ahead of her mother’s increasing needs while navigating a showbiz career that keeps one foot in Hollywood and the other on Broadway. The critics love Swoosie Kurtz…. “Inimitable…one of the best comic actors of our time.” —USA Today “[An] expert comic actress…may just be the most seductive woman on the New York stage right now.” —Charles Isherwood, The New York Times and “full of surprises…expressive…devastating…unforgettable.” —Ben Brantley, The New York Times

Part Swan, Part Goose: An Uncommon Memoir of Womanhood, Work, and Family

Kurtz, Swoosie

Humor & Entertainment

TarcherPerigee

In a wise, warmhearted memoir that celebrates her extraordinary life and stellar career, Swoosie Kurtz welcomes readers into her world, sharing personal misadventures and showbiz lore and candidly reflecting on the intimate journey of caring for an aging parent. Told with intelligence and Swoosie’s hallmark comedic timing, Part Swan, Part Goose makes a powerful statement about womanhood, work and family. Swoosie’s is the kind of memoir that doesn’t come without a fascinating back story: Enter the parents, Frank and Margo Kurtz. Frank, an Olympic diving medalist, later became one of the most decorated aviators in American history. He flew a record number of missions in a cobbled-together B-17D Flying Fortress called “The Swoose,” now housed at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Margo chronicled their early years together in her memoir, My Rival, the Sky, published by Putnam in 1945. The book ends with the young couple happily anticipating the birth of a baby to be named after the indomitable Swoose. Today, Margo, who is approaching her hundredth birthday, lives with Swoosie. As Margo’s reality drifts freely between her morning coffee and a 1943 war bond tour, Swoosie struggles to stay ahead of her mother’s increasing needs while navigating the pitfalls and pratfalls of the entertainment industry. This precarious moment in time is bittersweet and occasionally overwhelming, but every day is oxygenated with laughter and love. The careful weaving of Swoosie’s story with passages from My Rival, the Sky creates a vivid portrait of the invincible mother-daughter bond between the two women. Part Swan, Part Goose is that rare Hollywood memoir that takes us behind the curtain but doesn’t live there; its heart is solidly at home. It doesn’t pretend to tell all, but what it does tell is deeply resonant for millions caring for aging parents, timely and topical for book clubs and entertaining as hell for readers in general.

Arts & Literature

Blad In The Land Of Big Hair - A True Story

Headline Book Publishing

No Mountain High Enough: Raising Lance, Raising Me

From Linda Armstrong Kelly&#8217;s NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH: &#8220;This is what it means to be a mother, I realized. It had nothing to do with being old enough or knowing everything or keeping to a strict schedule. It had to do with loving someone with a love so huge, the rest of the world becomes insignificant by comparison. No fear I felt would ever amount to anything, compared to what I felt for my child. No task would ever be too hard for me. No one would ever be able to make me feel small. I was The Mama. You don&#8217;t get any bigger than that.&#8221; From the mother of champion cyclist Lance Armstrong&#8212;an extraordinary story of the resilience of the human spirit and the remarkable effect of great parenting. Lance Armstrong has dazzled the world with his six straight Tour de France championships, his winning personality, and his poignant victory over life-threatening cancer. Yet the adage that "behind every strong man there is a stronger woman" has never been more true than in Lance&#8217;s case. His mother, Linda Armstrong Kelly, is a force of nature whose determination, optimism, and sheer joie de vivre not only nurtured one of our era&#8217;s greatest athletes but fueled her own transformation from a poverty-stricken teen in the Dallas projects to a powerful role model for mothers everywhere. This luminous memoir, written with humor and compassion, tells Linda&#8217;s story of survival. Pregnant at age seventeen, kicked out of her home, and mired in an abusive relationship, Linda was a perfect candidate for disaster. But armed with a fierce belief in herself as a work in progress, and buoyed by a tidal wave of love for her little boy, Linda flouted statistics and became both a corner-office executive and a no-nonsense, empowering mom whose desire to excel was contagious. Her resolve to find &#8220;the diamond in the Dumpster, the blessing in every bummer&#8221; set an extraordinary example for Lance&#8212;and will inspire everyday moms to dream big and make a difference. Funny, resonant, down-to-earth, and utterly unforgettable, No Mountain High Enough is exhilarating proof that sheer willpower can&#8212;and occasionally does&#8212;triumph over adversity.

Kelly, Linda Armstrong

Broadway Books

First You Write

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

Stella Link Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rodgers, Joni. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Rodgers, Joni

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rodgers, Joni. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Bald in the Land of Big Hair : A True Story

The Secret Sisters

The Secret Sisters: A Novel

Bald in the Land of Big Hair: A True Story

Promise Me: How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer

Part Swan, Part Goose: An Uncommon Memoir of Womanhood, Work, and Family

Part Swan, Part Goose: An Uncommon Memoir of Womanhood, Work, and Family

Blad In The Land Of Big Hair - A True Story

No Mountain High Enough: Raising Lance, Raising Me

First You Write