Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants

A classic collection of hilarious stories from the celebrated writer and director, Jill Soloway.

One of the most interesting feminist voices in popular culture

Every chapter is a funny and poignant treat. She's not trying to preach, not trying to be a feminist of the moment - she's just figuring out her life in the context of our world, and it transcends.

Soloway's wickedly entertaining prose and willingness to bare the most amusing, intimate moments of her life reveal the contradictory challenges of being a smart, sexy woman who wants to have it all.

Hilarious, painful, angry and astute - a dryly funny chronicle of one woman's journey to live a meaningful life in an increasingly meaningless culture.

Makes you think about feminism in a brand new, completely exciting way

Jill Soloway is the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning creator of Transparent. Previously a writer and executive producer for Six Feet Under, How to Make It in America, and United States of Tara, Jill’s first feature film, Afternoon Delight, won the 2013 Directing Award at Sundance. They also co-created and directed the Amazon series I Love Dick. Jill lives in Los Angeles.

The unforgettable collection of autobiographical essays from Jill Soloway, the creator and director of Transparent and Emmy-nominated writer for Six Feet Under. 
 
When Jill was just thirteen, she and her best friend donned the tightest satin pants they could find, poufed up their hair and squeezed into Candies heels, then headed to downtown Chicago in search of their one-and-only true loves forever: the members of whichever rock band was touring through town. Never mind that both girls still had braces, coke-bottle-thick glasses and had only just bought their first bras...they were fabulous, they felt beautiful, they were tiny ladies in shiny pants. 
 
But as an all grown up and a successful writer and producer, Jill came to look back on her tiny self and share her shiny tales with fondness, absurdity, and obsessive-compulsive attention to even the most embarrassing details. From the highly personal (conflating her own loss of virginity and the Kobe Bryant accusations), to the political (what she has in common with Monica Lewinsky and Chandra Levy), to the outrageously Los Angelean (why women wear huge diamonds and what they must do to get them),Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants is a classic genre-defying combination of personal essay and memoir, or a hilarious, unruly and unapologetic evaluation of society, religion, sex and love.

Jill Soloway

Jill Soloway is so utterly magnificent. I devoured these two hundred pages like they were a delicious papusa bought from the Silver Lake farmers' market

This memoir elicits an essential question: Could making radical art with your radical friends ever actually change the power structure? ... If you're anything like Jill Soloway, it could at least give you a way to channel your rage into something positive and even beautiful

A funny and brutally honest book about what it means to be a woman and what it takes to be a creator, She Wants It is deeply personal but always universal in its unapologetic recounting of a life lived and raw talent shared. Good. Detailed. Honest. Needed

She Wants It is an extraordinary examination of feminism, ambition, artistic desire, chance and career by one of the greatest American writer/directors working today. Soloway surveys the trajectory of their life, and the creation of their groundbreaking series Transparent, with courage, self-knowledge, humility, and wit. Their voice got inside me, I was totally hooked

Fearlessly revealing, deeply felt, rigorous and compassionate, She Wants It offers an intimate portrait of Jill Solway's remarkable life and, simultaneously, a portrait of the larger human struggle to create, from a revolutionary TV show to a revolution in the culture itself. It's a rare and, yes, an important book

Told with wit so sharp you can cut yourself

Jill Soloway's writing remains unparalleled by any other when it comes to entertaining us while slyly changing our culture toward acceptance and equality. She Wants It opens our eyes and makes us giggle all along. You will savour every word

Most writers hide in memoirs, sharing little real stories. With generous open-hearted honesty, courage and compassion, Soloway invites us to hear true stories. They share the difficult painful revelations, triumphs and failures. Listening to them, readers laugh, cry, love and, most important, learn

A page-turning insight into the zeitgeist from one of our most essential voices working today

[Jill is one of the most recognizable non-binary people out there, and they want to use their fame to topple the patriarchy and create space for everyone

Jill Soloway is not only a stunningly talented series creator, they’re an archangel, here to rid us of the patriarchy. It’s a grand mission and it’s not easy going, She Wants It is their wild-winged, soft-hearted share-all. I loved their book so much – it is about everything I’m interested in; a personal life amidst daring creative endeavors

Fierce, funny and fabulous – this book is a triumph!

Jill Soloway writes with passion, fierceness and vulnerability. In She Wants It we read an amazing story of changing worlds – both the one around her, which is forever altered by her ground-breaking series, Transparent, as well as the one dwelling deep within her own unruly heart. She Wants It tells the story of a revolution, both cultural and personal. I often had to pause to laugh, or cry, or to simply catch my breath in wonder. Provocative, generous and inspiring

What an unbelievable pleasure to see the world through Jill's eyes and bear witness to their incredible journey as an artist, activist, parent, child, sibling and uncontainable human being. Part memoir, part manifesto, pure magic. Read this book

A searingly honest and generously tender memoir which seeks, without judgement, to understand the complexities of the human heart and soul

She Wants It brims with juicy gossip, vulnerable revelation and rousing calls-to-arms. After I finished reading it, I went out and made my first movie. What will you do?

Desire, Power, and Toppling the Patriarchy

‘A funny and brutally honest book about what it means to be a woman and what it takes to be a creator, She Wants It is deeply personal but always universal in its unapologetic recounting of a life lived and raw talent shared. Good. Detailed. Honest. Needed’ - Amy Poehler 
 
One morning, half-awake in a shame spiral about what a shitty mother you are because you’re letting your kid watch so much TV, the phone rings. 
 
‘Jilly? Are you sitting down?’ 
 
Are you sitting down? means something fucked up is coming… 
 
When Jill Soloway’s father, whom they had always understood to be male, came out as transgender, everything shifted. For one, the moment became the inspiration to push through the male-dominated landscape of Hollywood and create the award-winning TV series Transparent. Exploring identity, love, sexuality, and the blurring of boundaries, the show gave birth to a new cultural consciousness. But also, by eventually coming out as queer and non-binary, the lines on Jill’s own gender map began to be erased. 
 
This is the story of that journey. 
 
She Wants It charts Jill's intense and revelatory experience, growing from straight, divorced, mother of two – to non-binary genderqueer director, show creator, and activist. Written with wild candour and razor-edged humour, it examines who we are, how we make art – and ultimately, who we can become.

Jill Soloway

Praise for She Wants It

Jill Soloway is so utterly magnificent. I devoured these two hundred pages like they were a delicious papusa bought from the Silver Lake farmers' market

This memoir elicits an essential question: Could making radical art with your radical friends ever actually change the power structure? ... If you're anything like Jill Soloway, it could at least give you a w ...

A funny and brutally honest book about what it means to be a woman and what it takes to be a creator, She Wants It is deeply personal but always universal in its unapologetic recounting of a life lived and ra ...

Jill Soloway is so utterly magnificent. I devoured these two hundred pages like they were a delicious papusa bought from the Silver Lake farmers' market

This memoir elicits an essential question: Could making radical art with your radical friends ever actually change the power structure? ... If you're anything like Jill Soloway, it could at least give you a w ...

A funny and brutally honest book about what it means to be a woman and what it takes to be a creator, She Wants It is deeply personal but always universal in its unapologetic recounting of a life lived and ra ...

Jill Soloway is so utterly magnificent. I devoured these two hundred pages like they were a delicious papusa bought from the Silver Lake farmers' market

This memoir elicits an essential question: Could making radical art with your radical friends ever actually change the power structure? ... If you're anything like Jill Soloway, it could at least give you a w ...

A funny and brutally honest book about what it means to be a woman and what it takes to be a creator, She Wants It is deeply personal but always universal in its unapologetic recounting of a life lived and ra ...

Books by Jill Soloway

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter