Julian Pecenco reviewed Wonder girl by Don Van Natta
Review of 'Wonder girl' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I read Susan Cayleff's Babe: The Life and Legend of Babe Didrikson Zaharias years ago, and Van Natta's book is an interesting complement to that biography. Cayleff's book (as I recall; it's been around 15 years since I read it,) focuses more on fleshing out the secondary characters in her life. Both portray a brash, arrogant and self-centered woman told as many lies and truths about herself and her achievements. I see an interesting parallel to Lance Armstrong; both phenomenal athletes who used their cancer diagnoses to promote awareness. She was perhaps the more remarkable for speaking out at a time when most people refused to even publicly acknowledge they had cancer.
The biggest difference between the two books was the authors respective conclusions about Zaharias' sexual orientation. Cayleff conluded that she was likely a deeply closeted lesbian who feminized herself in order to meet society's expectations. Van Natta seems …
I read Susan Cayleff's Babe: The Life and Legend of Babe Didrikson Zaharias years ago, and Van Natta's book is an interesting complement to that biography. Cayleff's book (as I recall; it's been around 15 years since I read it,) focuses more on fleshing out the secondary characters in her life. Both portray a brash, arrogant and self-centered woman told as many lies and truths about herself and her achievements. I see an interesting parallel to Lance Armstrong; both phenomenal athletes who used their cancer diagnoses to promote awareness. She was perhaps the more remarkable for speaking out at a time when most people refused to even publicly acknowledge they had cancer.
The biggest difference between the two books was the authors respective conclusions about Zaharias' sexual orientation. Cayleff conluded that she was likely a deeply closeted lesbian who feminized herself in order to meet society's expectations. Van Natta seems to conclude that she was purely heterosexual, (although there seems some room for debate,) and loved the feminine self she created in later years. As Mariah Burton Nelson pointed out in her review of Cayleff's book, it is very plausible that Babe was bisexual. While Cayleff may have gone too far in one direction, Van Natta's relegation of Dodd's six-year cohabitation with the Didrikson Zaharias to little more than a footnote seems odd.
Comparisons aside, this was a well, written and entertaining book, and enthusiastically read by narrator Hillary Huber.