Snake Hips: Belly Dancing and How I Found True Love

Rating:
Summary: READ THIS BOOK.... you'll thank yourself later
Review: "Snake Hips" should be required reading for all beginning bellydancers, those healing broken hearts, and anyone daring to live life with gusto. Soffee has put so very much of herself into her writing, truly baring her soul in these pages, and the result is magical. Hilarious and endearing, this book may just inspire you to take up middle eastern dance, too.

Rating:
Summary: HILARIOUS!!
Review: A great light-hearted read for anyone who has known heartbreeak, or even if you haven't! Although it is not necessary to know how to belly dance to enjoy this book, it does give the reader an "insiders" view of what it must be like and the joy that it can and does bring. I would give it two thumbs up!!

Rating:
Summary: A Page Turner To Shimmy About !!
Review: As a belly dance student of four months, I have caught the bug and have to buy all things related to Belly Dance . Snake Hips, is a laugh out loud , easy to relate true tale of a fellow belly dance student, Anne Soffee . After breaking up with her tattoo artist boyfriend , decides to try belly dance lessons . Anne hopes to tap into her half Lebanese roots as well . I just brought this book a few days ago (trying to savor it), but it is so funny !! Even if you are not familiar with belly dancing, Snake Hips will have you laughing . Anne includes a helpful explanation of Belly Dance terms, books to read ,links on the web, music, and names of famous dancers .

Snake Hips , is a well written, uplifting tale . If you are not belly dancing already , you may have to sign up after you read this book ! It will pass your 1st page test , and then some !! Anne's tale of a schoolteacher with a broken heart , healing inside and out with the (sometimes zany) help of belly dancing , is a true story thats worth 10 stars . Buy it !!

Rating:
Summary: Been there and done (most of) that
Review: As a bellydancer, I picked up this book out of curiosity, mostly just to see what the author had written about the dance and how accurate it was. I was surprised to find the book both well-written, compelling, and absolutely dead-on about the world of American bellydance. Even though I learned to dance some twenty years and 3,000 miles away from where Anna Soffee first took lessons and even though my personal life is nowhere as turbulent as hers, I found myself repeatedly nodding my head and saying "Sister, I have been there and done that." The first performance at the country fair, the sleazy come-ons from men that assume that because you're a belly dancer you are also stripper/hooker, the terrible audience that is ABSOLUTELY not interested in you, the lack of understanding from family and friends, the in-fighting between dancers and troupes--it was like the author was writing about my own life.
My advice? Even if you aren't interested in belly dance, buy this book and read it any way. The style is edgy, hip, and funny and the moral of the book--that you have to accept yourself the way you are before you can achieve any sort of personal fulfillment--is ultimately very uplifting. I came away with a lot of respect for Ms. Soffee as both a dancer, a writer and a survivor.

Rating:
Summary: To live! To laugh! To shimmy!
Review: Despite the fact that Ms. Soffee and I are probably opposite ends of the conservative range, and that I would no more get a tattoo, then I would bungee jump off of Mt. McKinley, I really could relate to her. I guess when it comes down to getting dumped, learning to love yourself and finding your own identity, we're all the same, regardless. The background of belly dance was an added bonus, since I have always had a fascination with its beauty and mystery. The real appeal of the whole book, though, is Anne's sense of Far Side type humor. To look at life and see what is humorously skewed is a rare gift, and Anne has it in spades. I'll keep this one for my own library.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: I am a beginning Dancer, but have been through a few similar situations (who hasn't been dumped?) and love Ms. Soffee's style of writing. It's like your right there in her head, or reading her diary, experiencing everything. I couldn't put this book down and read it in less than 2 days! I definately recommend this book for all, dancer or not.

Rating:
Summary: A must have for belly dancers
Review: I loved this book. It rings so true with me. I've been dancing for 5 years and it brought back many just-getting-addicted memories for me with the dance. I'm still addicted, I'm just used to it now. That little trip down memory lane reminded me just how much I love this dance and how far I've come since then. And I loved the witty and sarcastic style Anne wrote with. I would love to read another book by her, but I think this is a story only to be told once. Maybe a better version of 'Belly Laughs'? ;) Its a must have book for dancers that just can't get enough of the dance!

Rating:
Summary: A must have for belly dancers
Review: I loved this book. It rings so true with me. I've been dancing for 5 years and it brought back many just-getting-addicted memories for me with the dance. I'm still addicted, I'm just used to it now. That little trip down memory lane reminded me just how much I love this dance and how far I've come since then. And I loved the witty and sarcastic style Anne wrote with. I would love to read another book by her, but I think this is a story only to be told once. Maybe a better version of 'Belly Laughs'? ;) Its a must have book for dancers that just can't get enough of the dance!

Rating:
Summary: Wish the author was in MY dance class!
Review: I LOVED this book; it had me laughing out loud. I've only been belly-dancing for a few months, and already I can identify with some of the things the author went through (i.e. reading all you can about belly-dancing; deciding that you need to do a performance to rationalize buying a new costume from ebay). The belly-dancing aspect made me pick the book up, but I think I would have liked the book had I read it before I started dancing. Everyone can relate to dating-disasters and clique-drama. Very upbeat!

Rating:
Summary: Makes a great gift
Review: I myself haven't had a chance to read Snake Hips, but I gave it as a gift to two people, one of which is a Belly Dance instructor. Both of them raved about the book, how funny it was, and how much they wanted it not to end. So based on their high praise I would recommend it.