Bald in the Land of Big Hair : A True Story

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.