Confessions of a Recovering Slut : And Other Love Stories by Hollis Gillespie

For non-locals, Hollis is a column writer for the local alternative weekly, Creative Loafing. She is buddies with one of the improvisors at Dad’s Garage, Lucky Yates, who has a couple mentions in this autobiographical work, essentially the second collection of her columns.

I believe I’ve read her column a couple times, I saw her once on the now-defunct The Lucky Yates Show, where she was a guest along with my nephew. My nephew was there because it was his birthday, she was there because her first book was coming out. There was also a psychic.

I also saw her in the Inman Park parade one year, riding in a car with a sign that said “Hollis Gillespie is a BITCH”.

So, that’s the extent of what I knew of her. But she seemed charming on the show, so I picked up her book before vacation on an impulse.

I’m awful glad I did. It’s a very entertaining and wittily written collection of essays. She lives a life hellbent on not being normal, and surrounds herself with people with the same objective.

I enjoyed it for the same reason I enjoy listening to the Keith and the Girl or The Dawn and Drew Show podcasts… glimpses into lives almost entirely unlike my own. I don’t long to live those lives, but I do like to hear about them.