These days, there's a whole lotta rantin' goin' on, via media old (radio) and newish (the Web). Noticing this deluge of disputation, A.S. Newman & P.C. Trauth decided it was time for a different kind of venting venue.
Enter "Things to Bitch About" ($11.95, TNA Publishing, 158 pages), a book that's short on words and long on space for folks to bloviate and fulminate however they (dis)please.
Almost all the book's pages have a single word or phrase -- money, in-laws, baby boomers, the Department of Motor Vehicles -- that can serve as a "prompt" for haranguing on that topic. Or not.
"We emphasize that you can do this however you want, write about whatever you want, put a drawing or collage or photo on there," said Newman, adding that she hopes the book has a self-help aspect. "When you're angry and you release it, that should help, and you might even find a solution. Hopefully you will at least feel better."
Newman said women from 18 to 50 were drawn to the book at a recent Las Vegas festival. "They were the ones to pick it up and say 'Oh, I could use a copy of this,' " she said. "Women are more likely to want to write something down or express themselves."
The erstwhile expletive in the book's title? No problem, Newman said. "I told [co-author Trauth] that it should be something like 'Things to Rant About.' He said, 'Why don't you call it "Things to Bitch About"?' He said that's what it is.
"So then I went online to see if other books had used the word and saw a lot of female titles, like 'Skinny Bitch,' that all came out five years ago or less. People are just more free about that word these days."
And about doing it.
