In 2003, my first books of essays, Sex, Lies and Stereotypes: An Unconventional Life Uncensored, was published by Kensington Books. Since then, I have contributed to two books: Legacies, an anthology for college literature and composition courses, and Reading The L Word, a book that takes a provocative look at the controversial lesbian hit TV show. Info on all three books is below.

Sex, Lies and Stereotypes: An Unconventional Life Uncensored

Kensington Books, 2003

From the cover: Dusting the Virgin Mary. Crashing a lesbian drumming circle. Offending Mormon missionaries. It's all in a day's work for Kim Ficera. In this corrosive, hilarious, and ultimately humanistic collection of essays and performance pieces, the larger-than-life humorist takes on such disparate topics as why size matters to God, lesbian break-up parties, being called an "older woman," and embracing the C-word. (No, it's not cous-cous.)

It's a wild, strange trip through a uniquely American, pop culture wonderland where cloning is one step away from a November sweeps event and fake breasts threaten to overtake Vegas in Twilight Zone fashion. Like a female David Sedaris - but definitely not like a virgin - Kim Ficera is the woman our mothers warned us about...and more dangerously fun than they could have possibly imagined.

Reviews | Interviews

Booklist

"[Ficera's] memoirs proceed chronologically, their chatty, humorous tone and stand-alone structures reflecting her experience as a columnist and performance artist. They open with a hilarious recollection of a hunting trip to Maine with her father ... When her dad stopped hunting long enough to pay attention to his 10-year-old daughter, his idea of spending special time with her consisted of a trip to a toxic waste dump, followed by a visit to an area slaughterhouse -- "bonding" just doesn't get any better 'n that, eh? Later, Ficera lightheartedly recounts more recent experiences with dyke dating, personal ads, Superbowl parties, and her failing gaydar ... all lived out in a "neo-lesbian mushroom cloud of femininity." ... She blithely manages to get a laugh out of every experience."

Out Magazine

"It's all about defying lesbian stereotypes for Connecticut-based author Kim Ficera, who wrote this year's sleeper hit Sex, Lies and Stereotypes: An Unconventional Life Uncensored. So in what ways does Ficera deviate from the "typical" lesbian? "I have hair that says I know what year it is," quips the essayist and writer of the thought-provoking, wry From Hell to Breakfast column, which has garnered her Best Columnist and Best Writer/Reporter awards in the annual readers' polls of both the Fairfield County Weekly and the Westchester County Weekly."

Chicago Free Press

"Savor [Ficera's essays] one by one, as small bites of humorous mischief from a columnist who helped build the block."

PlanetOut.com

"Like the best of humorists -- and she is that -- Ficera draws ably on her own life, rendering the personal universal with a light touch and a dangerous wit ..." [more]

Gay and Lesbian Times

"Kim Ficera is a smart ass. That's one of the reasons her new book, Sex, Lies and Stereotypes, is so entertaining. An irreverent, non-politically correct, recovering Catholic lesbian columnist (and web designer), Ficera seems to specialize in finding the nugget of absurdity inherent in so many of life's experiences."

Girlfriends Magazine

"... Ficera bit the bullet and put plenty of sex in her new book, Sex, Lies and Stereotypes. And plenty about growing up, dating the wrong women, antagonizing conservatives, and making peace with God and her biological clock. It's a peek into the thoughts of a dyke-next-door with a singular sense of humor ..." [more]

Washington Blade

"[Ficera] shares her sexual, social and romantic personal escapades with ferocious glee." [more]

Southern Voice

"Kim Ficera is the kind of sour companion you'd want with you at the reception hall when your girlfriend dumps you for a man and then invites you to the wedding. She'd sit in a corner, chain-smoke cigarettes, slug vodka as if it were water, and make fun of the way everyone was dancing. In other words, she'd make you laugh. A lot ..."

Lesbian News

"Ficera's style embraces her sexuality instead of playing the defensive like some on the left do or defining her sexuality like those on the right."

Swerve Magazine (Canada)

"Reading Kim Ficera's book Sex, Lies and Stereotypes: An Unconventional Life Uncensored is like watching an episode of Sex in the City. It's somewhat fluffy, a bit political, a bit deep -- but not too deep -- and you wind up going back for more because it's fun and entertaining ... Ficera's writing is sharp and witty and just the right speed to curl up with for a couple of evenings with an Indigo Girls CD on the stereo, a cat on your lap and a softball glove beside your chair ..." [more in pdf form; click on April 2004 back issue]

Outsmart Magazine

"If you believe what you read, unconventional is the right word ... Ficera pushes all the right buttons and is sure to have you laughing out loud and repeating some of her most humorous observations to your lesbian, gay, and straight friends. " [more]

Independent News

"Imagine a lesbian version of David Sedaris who lets 'the cat out of the bag' about her life with a disarming honesty and you come close to describing Kim Ficera ... Each chapter stands alone, although collectively they create a wonderfully self-deprecating, and embarrassingly honest autobiography."

Ventura County Reporter

"Self-deprecating humor is something that all comics -- and all gay people -- have become famous for, and here, Ficera perfects the technique. She has the fine judgment that allows a writer to be ruthless and tender at once, revealing the pulsating heart of pure humanness that beats in the space between. The best humorists have always been the best humanists, too: They are a courageous lot, taking such great care and delight as they do in delineating the sublimely ridiculous foibles and illusions of our ever-evolving condition. Read this book if you feel the holiday blues coming on, and approach next year with a wry, knowing and rebellious smile on your face ..."

Gay & Lesbian Review

"Kim Ficera gives lesbians a few lessons in laughing at themselves, often exposing the ridiculousness of the lesbian condition with an acid wit."

Free Times

"Ficera debunks stereotypes by humorously confronting the kernel of truth that gave birth to them, rather than indignantly denying that the kernel exists."

Philadelphia Gay News

"Wickedly funny ... charmingly unrepentant ..."

Echo Magazine

"What a breath of fresh air it is to find a lesbian writer who doesn't hate men and is able to be funny without denigrating others. In fact, the book's very cover image -- of lingerie hanging on a clothesline under a blue sky dotted with fleecy clouds -- suggests fresh air."

Gay and Lesbian Times (San Diego, CA)

"Recently our faith in the judgment of book publishers was replenished by columnist Kim Ficera's new book, Sex, Lies and Stereotypes. A collection of essays covering everything from how Ficera discovered God is a man's name to the unfortunate results of attempting to shave her pubic hair into the shape of a shamrock for St. Patrick's Day ... After being entertained and amused -- and occasionally poked in the eye, so to speak -- by Sex, Lies and Stereotypes, it seemed only natural to interview the author." [more]

Xtra Magazine (Canada)

"Ficera is a fine observer of the subtle and not so subtle aspects of lesbian customs ..."

She Magazine

"A hilarious romp through her life and reality, Kim shares her escapades in essay form with glee, humor and wit ... and takes the taboo out of any subject, offering food for thought at the very least."

Womonspace (Canada)

"Humorist Kim Ficera comes from the tell-it-like-it-is school of writing. No surprise, then, that her collection of essays is titled Sex, Lies and Stereotypes: An Unconventional Life Uncensored or that she's been compared to David Sedaris ..." [more]

Inside OUT

"Kim Ficera is to writing what David Sedaris is to writing; she possesses the self-confidence, the humor and the talent to appeal to not only lesbians but also the entire gay population, as well as the straight people out there who aren't afraid to read a book by an outspoken, out loud, Out and proud lesbian."

Out in the Mountains

"Countering the trend of cool, acerbic, snarky memoirs, Ficera writes with an even-handed and down-to-earth tone ... [Ficera] may be a famous columnist with an "unconventional life," but she's had her ups and downs just like everyone else ... Kim's on your level, and you like her for it. If I ever write my autobiography, I'd like it to be like Ficera's: wry, mature, matter-of-fact, smiling.Going against the grain of indulgent self-analysis, Sex, Lies exhibits a welcome maturity ..." [more]

Prairie Flame

"Ficera tackles the gnarly lesbian problems from fake orgasms to lesbian bed death, from loving straight women to not loving straight men. Her humor is clever and razor sharp. She has a knack of honing in on the strange little things about being lesbian that outsiders don't see (or if they do, don't believe). This book is highly recommended for any lesbian who finds herself taking life a little too seriously ..." [more]

Liberty Press

"Ficera writes about all the stuff that we all deal with: overly religious parents, gender expectations, sex, relationships, friendships, jobs, sex, and sex. In fact, she's at her best when writing about sex, which she handles wth a certain kind of grounded grace."

Stamford Advocate | Greenwich Time

"Ficera, who used to write the "From Hell To Breakfast" column for the Fairfield County Weekly, writes about her own sexuality from a witty, hip angle ... What distinguishes her work from rant is disarming humor as well as the ability to keep an introspective eye on herself as she looks at others ..." [more]

Fairfield County Weekly

"Like David Sedaris, Ficera gratuitously mines her own awkward years, family mishaps and relationship blunders for material. She reveals her own many embarrassments without any pretty trimmings for the reader's endless amusement ... Ficera's slant on life is all her own, and her willingness to disrobe, physically and emotionally, in these pages, offers the best laugh-out-loud moments ..."

Buy Sex, Lies and Stereotypes: An Unconventional Life Uncensored

now at amazon.com.

Edited by Kim Akass and Janet McCabe

I. B. Tauris, 2006

From Publishers Weekly: Over 20 contributors share their thoughts on The L Word, widely seen as Showtime's lesbian answer to HBO's Sex and the City, and, as expected, opinions vary. Some, like Sarah Warn, appreciate the mere presence of the show for its representation of attractive lesbians living interesting lives in LA. "Love it or hate it," she writes, "this series represents the first-and so far, only-attempt to make lesbians the center of attention." Others, like Samuel Chambers, bristle at its apparently "heteronormative" narrative. Rather than stacking it against, say, Desperate Housewives, he argues, the program should be examined through the prism of queer politics. Not all contributions are so academic, and complaints that the show appears to appeal to the male fantasy of lesbians are outweighed by the endorsement of those who see the show as part of a "golden age of gay TV." Kathy Belge explains why The L Word is sexy, and her unabashedly erotic praise illuminates the subtleties that will likely go over the heads of straight men watching the show for a thrill. Adding to the book's pop culture appeal is an insightful interview with Guinevere Turner, one of the show's writers, who helps fans understand the evolution of the characters and hints to their future trajectory. Fans of the series will appreciate this companion.

Legacies

Edited by Jan Zlotnik Schmidt and Carley Rees Bogarad

Thomson/Wadsworth, 2006

From Thomson/Wadsworth: Legacies is an anthology for literature for composition courses that is thematically organized with abundant rhetoric, composition, and argument coverage. Themes outside the usual selections such as "The Heroic Journey" are included as are themes arranged by cluster within the units. Thematic previews at the beginning of each chapter cover al of the genres and show how selections can be studied within the context of the various genres. Each chapter offers a model student essay such as thematic analysis and explication.

© 2009 Kim Ficera