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Snake Hips

Here are some great reviews from Amazon.com
This is a new book... well written!
A, October 26, 2002
Reviewer: A reader from Richmond, VA USA
...and there aren't that many of them that are also well written. Snake Hips is not really so much about belly dancing as it is the author's story about making peace with who she is. I enjoyed her story, her wit and her writing ability. What a treat!

Makes a great gift, October 2, 2002
Reviewer: vowele from Atlanta, GA United States
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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After being dumped by her loser boyfriend, Soffee, a "sober, nerdy, rock 'n' rolling, coffee-drinking, school-teaching, erotica-reading, kitsch-loving Lebanese American" moves back home to Richmond, Va., to wallow in self-pity. There, she comes across a flier advertising the usual classes in yoga, vegetarian cooking, ballroom dancing and... belly dancing. Her girlfriends think she's lost her mind, but Soffee knows she's found the perfect distraction. Not only does belly dancing have nothing to do with her ex, it's a fine way to reconnect with her Lebanese roots. Plus, "it is a relief to be part of a subculture where younger and thinner do not automatically equal better." Soffee learns to roll her hips, shimmy and make her stomach poof out; spends wild amounts of money on the tackiest costumes imaginable; and most satisfying discovers the ultimate cool of "belly dancer bonding." Her ethnic high leads to marital fantasies, e.g., being "third-favorite wife" to a young sheik she's cyber-dating, although she admits "being obedient is easy on-line." She also has flings with an insufferable Iraqi yuppie and a born-again Lebanese boy-next-door all hilarious disasters. Soffee's women friends keep her from feeling too lousy ("[t]he good thing about girlfriends is they usually hate your exes before you do") until Mr. Right catches her by surprise. While there is a lot of information on the belly dancing culture, this is not a how-to book, although an appendix lists resources for the interested. What Soffee's really offering is a guide to mending a broken heart: embrace a totally distracting activity, bond with your girlfriends and don't forget to laugh. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

How To Books

Costuming from the Hip By Dawn Devine Brown. Cotuming from the hip describes in detail how to make a middle eastern dance costume. In this book there are a lot of belly dance pointers and ideas. This book goes over the basic details for beginning dancers. This book also introduces many creative alternatives that are sure to appeal to more experienced belly dancers. Belly Dancing: For Health & Relaxation Pictures and introduction for beginning belly dance. This book would be fun for a new dancer. Intermediate Belly Dancing. By Vicki Corona. This book has various assorted how-to do's for our world of belly dance. It is designed to take a dancer from the basic beginner level to intermediate levels.

The Belly Dance Book: Rediscovering the Oldest Dance Edited by Tazz Richards This book is a collection of articles written by dancers and researchers from around the world. Articles in this book cover all aspects of the dance including history, philosophy, current events, costuming, make-up, spirit and music. Also included will be product reviews and a source directory, listing dance and dance-related professionals. 208 pages, full color cover, B/W retail $18.50 (US) publication date: September 2000 Oriental Belly Dance. by Kemal Ozdemir This particular book is from Turkey. It includes the history of belly dancing, Turkish folk dance, modern and classical dances, Oriental dancers, Oriental dance music, costumes for oriental dancing, the masters of Turkish belly dancing and a guide to watch an Oriental dance performance to name a few. The illustrations and photographs are beautiful. published by Milet Publishing, Ltd. 160 pages

Dreams Of Trespass: Tales Of A Harem Girlhood By Fatima Mernissi. The author in this book describes what exactly how painful it was for her growing up in a harem. Unveiled. By Cherry Mosteshar. This is an autobiographical account of a young woman's life in post-revolutionary Iran. Serpent Of The Nile: Women And Dance In The Arab World. By Wendy Buonaventura. This book traces the history of middle eastern dance from the beginning of time up through modern times. The Rom: Walking In The Paths Of The Gypsies By Roger Moreau. The author's account of his efforts to research the history of the Gypsies. In this book he especially discusses aspects that are still not completely understood at all by today's modern-day Gypsiologists.

A trade like any Other: Female singers and dancers in Egypt By Karin Van Nieuwkerk. Dancing and singing is considered a very low-class profession in Egypt for women. This book explores the question of why that is. Bury me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey > A book explaining in detail the lifestyle, history, modern life and future outlook of the Gypsies in Europe Looking for Little Egypt. By Donna Carlton. Closley examining the World's Columbia Exposition in Chicago which first brought Middle Eastern dance to the U.S in 1893. Princess: A True Story Of Life Behind The Veil In Saudi Arabia.By Jean P. Sasson. This book is a true story, very disturbing, of an arabic woman from the royal family of Saudi. She exposes the human rights abuses Saudi women must confront every day of their lives. This book goes in detail what Saudi women confront in their everyday lives. Grandmother's Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing > By Rosina-Fawzia B. Al-Rawi, translated by Monique Arav. An elder arabic lady combines her memories of her past. This book explains how to use middle eastern dance for personal insight and growth and expressing yourself spiritually through the dance. This is not a dance instruction book but I found it very inspirational. Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village. By Elizabeth Warnock Fernea. An book describing a womans stay in Iraq. In the rural village she stayed in, she assumed the dress and sheltered life of a harem woman. Excellent book.