BOOKS: Dancing Naked...

Dancing Naked...in Fuzzy Red Slippers
by Carmen Richardson Rutlen
(Cypress House, Feb 2004, 204 pages)

I didn't know what to expect with this book, but I had to read it after meeting the author--Carmen is so sparkly and outgoing, very centered and self-confident, with a terrific sense of humor (the kind of fabulous I hope to be when I "grow up").

I finally opened Dancing Naked... and I was hooked: 204 pages in one sitting, which is normally hard to do, but this book is like fine wine and chocolate, or Haagen-Dazs ice cream--just couldn't put it down!

There are so many times in life, for all of us, when we feel so alone--rejection, death, divorce, motherhood...sometimes it feels as if no one has ever felt this way before, and you wonder where the answers are--where is the instruction book for all of this?! Dancing Naked... isn't the instruction book, Carmen doesn't have all the answers--that's not what this is about. This is the conversation you wish you could have with your mother, an older sister, or good friend--she's been there, done that, and she has survived, with grace, style, and humor.

Dancing Naked... is the perfect blend of essay, anecdote, observations and poetry--from the heart and soul of a beautiful, wise woman. This is a wonderful gift book for the women in your life--