Orlean is a New Yorker herself, and most of her subjects hail from the Big Apple, including such unique personas as a real estate broker who can describe the inside of almost any apartment in the city ("Walking down a Manhattan street with her is a paranormal experience"); Nat, the new tailor at Manhattan Valet; her hairdresser; the city's most popular clown; an Ashanti king who drives a taxi; and the owner of the only buttons-only store in America. The author is keenly observant and always tries to walk in her subject's shoes, even when it's a show dog ("If I were a bitch, I'd be in love with Biff Truesdale"). When she does tackle the rich and famous, she uses these same talents to create portraits so intimate and zesty they're unlike any other. Orlean writes that her only justification for choosing a story is that she cares about it, and it shows. Her fondness for her subjects rubs off as she draws us into the tight and exquisite focus of their mundane and fascinating lives. --Lesley Reed

Product Description
The bestselling author of The Orchid Thief is back with this delightfully entertaining collection of her best and brightest profiles. Acclaimed New Yorker writer Susan Orlean brings her wry sensibility, exuberant voice, and peculiar curiosities to a fascinating range of subjects—from the well known (Bill Blass) to the unknown (a typical ten-year-old boy) to the formerly known (the 1960s girl group the Shaggs).

Passionate people. Famous people. Short people. And one championship show dog named Biff, who from a certain angle looks a lot like Bill Clinton. Orlean transports us into the lives of eccentric and extraordinary characters—like Cristina Sanchez, the eponymous bullfighter, the first female matador of Spain—and writes with such insight and candor that readers will feel as if they’ve met each and every one of them.

The result is a luminous and joyful tour of the human condition as seen through the eyes of the writer heralded by the Chicago Tribune as a “journalist dynamo.”

Download Description
In this vibrant collection, Susan Orlean introduces us to an extraordinary array of people, from the well-known (Bill Blass) to the unknown (a typical ten-year-old boy) to the formerly known (sixties girl group the Shaggs). Passionate people. Short people. Young people. And one champion show dog named Biff, who, from a certain angle, looks like President Clinton. Some of these folks are a bit eccentric, like the shopkeeper who has spent thirty years of his life selling nothing but ceiling fans, or the most-sought-after entertainer on the children's birthday-party circuit, a clown known as Silly Billy. Others are living unusual lives, like the bullfighter of the title, the first woman to become a matador in Spain; or the African king driving a taxi in New York City, who keeps his throne in his living room. Susan Orlean brings her wry sensibility, exuberant voice, and peculiar curiosities to a fascinating range of subcultures -- sports and music and hairdressing and real estate, among others. The result is a joyful tour of the human condition as seen through the eyes of one of America's most entertaining and original literary journalists.

While I liked all of the essays in this volume, my favorites were ones that showed lives of the "average" American, like Heather Heaton, a young journalist covering the events of a small town, and, of course, "The American Male, age 10." Ms. Orlean has a way of following her subjects around & illuminating their lives, without ever getting in the way. Truly professional work, and I only have to say: give us more!


Outstanding   December 31, 2002
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

For anyone who enjoys reading profile pieces in major national magazines, you will love Orlean's superb writing! Her choices of interview subjects are far and varied, from the American Man, Aged 10 to the Female Bullfighter, hence the title of the book.
You will be delighted and most of all, impressed by her deft writing and wonderfully descriptive passages. You will not be disappointed!


Anthologies of interesting prople   April 13, 2002
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

When I had finished "The Bullfighter checks her Make-up", it had occured to me that many of the rich and famous are quite dull when you take away the riches and fame. You don't believe me? Read an issue of Vanity Fair. In every issue, there will always be some hot star featured that month. This person may sizzle on celluloid, sound great on CD, etc. but is boring as heck or so self absorbed that you go running to a preening, navel gazing 14 year old for some company. None of Ms. Orlean's subjects are in this category. Whether it's a buff Boxer(the dog) named Biff or the Ghanian King who drives a cab; these people are unique.
In fact Ms. Orleans seems to find the unique in the ordinary. Her first subject is the "American Man" aged 10. Somehow, when reading about this fellow you are paying attention. His interests seem to be no different than other boys at that time. Yet you read and want to finish this. And to think her bosses wanted her do a profile of the then 10 year old Macauley Culkin! Good thing she got her way.
Many of these vignettes, in fact, would not be what a typical editor would request from a writer. In the sport of Women's Tennis, for instance, she doesn't profile the prominent Williams sisters but the lesser known Maleev sisters. In the dog show world, there isn't a profile of the prize poodle, but a contender in the Working Dog Category. The choices are unexpected and always a treat.
I would recommend this book to most everyone. Even a subject in which I had no initial curiosity such as Best Working Dog caught my eye. As for the Bullfighter...she's there as well. Happy reading!