Danica Roem

the beginning of this book was so great. i really loved the way it started. first of all, danica narrates this herself, and she's passionate and energetic and full of personality. (she also sometimes mumbles but mostly she is funny and obviously cares about what she's writing about, which makes her fun to listen to.) the way danica talks about getting into politics and why, she really makes the case for someone who cares about a place and issues to join the fight and make a difference. she talks about not letting someone else tell or write your story, for being the driver of your own life, and it is inspiring. Her personal story is also inspiring and i'm so impressed by her. i don't want to move to virginia, but i would love to vote for her.

the book doesn't keep the same energy and intensity throughout, so i can't rate it as high as the beginning of the book deserves, but this is really good. anyone thinking of getting into local politics should give this a listen.

"This is a book about both the importance of the stories we tell one another and the power in setting fire to the stories you don't want to be in anymore, whether written by you or written about you by someone else."

"...each of the most important developments in my own life has involved a moment in which I rejected a narrative that no longer worked for me. A moment in which I realized that I could tell other people myself what my story was going to be instead of accepting their interpretation of a life they never lived."

"The facts of your life are what they are. The question is: are you going to tell your own story about them, or are you going to let other people do that for you?"

"A lot of people, especially women, worry that if they run for office not only will they be attacked with negative ads (spoiler alert: they will) but that every screwup in their lives will be laid bare as a carcass of sadness on a roadside buffet, left to the political vultures who are paid to follow the tire treads to their feast. They don't want to be judged for their faults, even though the very scavengers picking on what's left of their emotional flesh have probably done far worse than they ever will. (Those bastards!) There's just one catch, though. What happens if there's nothing left to pick at because you've already mounted it on a wall? What if you could go from flattened roadkill to finally coiffed taxidermy? Behold the modern campaign: Be the taxidermist! Own your narrative! Put your shit out there! Let everyone gaze into the plastic eyes of your severed head affixed to a pike coming out of a board attached to a wall and think 'She's got my vote.'"

"If you've got good ideas bring them to the table because this is your America too, and it's time for you to run it."… (altro)