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A review by e_gray_n
Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated by Alison Arngrim
5.0
I moved to the prairie three years ago and am on a perpetual quest to understand these people. Midwestern culture fascinates me, so I picked this up mostly because of the title. I saw a few Little House episodes here and there as a kid, but I wasn't by any means a regular fan of the show. As it turns out, that is absolutely not necessary to enjoying this book.
Arngrim is absolutely hilarious. I found myself retelling the stories in this book to friends and family because they are so funny that I couldn't sit on them alone any longer. Seeing behind the scenes of America's canonical myth about itself was truly awesome, but ultimately it's Arngrim's story of how being Nellie Oleson empowered her to survive personally that makes this a must-read. Nellie Oleson shrieked and schemed and cried and lied and basically did everything girls are socialized not to do. Arngrim tells the story of being actually attacked by a horde of schoolchildren when appearing in public in her Nellie getup, and to this day regularly has people treat her like the little bitch that Nellie was. Instead of complaining about being misunderstood, Arngrim explains how Nellie's chutzpah set her free to survive a tough set of circumstances, including sexual abuse.
As it turns out, being America's anti-sweetheart can be pretty damn awesome. I do a lot of thinking and experience plenty of anxiety about the what-ifs of social interaction-- especially in the Midwest where Minnesota Nice means that you can offend someone accidentally and they will never let on-- but never forget. It's tremendously refreshing to hear that you can be who you really are, even someone as awful as Nellie, and thrive.
Arngrim is absolutely hilarious. I found myself retelling the stories in this book to friends and family because they are so funny that I couldn't sit on them alone any longer. Seeing behind the scenes of America's canonical myth about itself was truly awesome, but ultimately it's Arngrim's story of how being Nellie Oleson empowered her to survive personally that makes this a must-read. Nellie Oleson shrieked and schemed and cried and lied and basically did everything girls are socialized not to do. Arngrim tells the story of being actually attacked by a horde of schoolchildren when appearing in public in her Nellie getup, and to this day regularly has people treat her like the little bitch that Nellie was. Instead of complaining about being misunderstood, Arngrim explains how Nellie's chutzpah set her free to survive a tough set of circumstances, including sexual abuse.
As it turns out, being America's anti-sweetheart can be pretty damn awesome. I do a lot of thinking and experience plenty of anxiety about the what-ifs of social interaction-- especially in the Midwest where Minnesota Nice means that you can offend someone accidentally and they will never let on-- but never forget. It's tremendously refreshing to hear that you can be who you really are, even someone as awful as Nellie, and thrive.