Press for Imposters by Shawna Kenney
“Kenney is teaming up with other East Coast authors she met out west: Cara Bruce, erotica writer and editor of Young Money magazine, and Dito Montiel, author of the New York memoir, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, which Montiel turned into a 2006 film starring Robert Downey Jr. and Shia LeBeouf. Together they’ve spawned the traveling reading series, ‘Roaming Writers,’ which promises to be the perfect literary blend of naughty and nice.” — Style Weekly
From the author of “I Was a Teenage Dominatrix” comes another funny, thoughtful take on subculture. As writer Shawna Kenney notes, real celebrities don’t hang out on Hollywood Boulevard, wiating to pose for pictures with star-struck tourists. Thanks to these “entrepreneurial souls, kids an grandmas still go home with…portraits of themselves with their favorite superhero or movie character.” Campy yet respectful portraits by James Knoblauch make “Imposters,” which began life as an article for Swindle magazine, a great coffeetable book or gift. –Amanda Kingsbury, Indystar.com
Shunning major publishers, embracing ‘the other,’ and living to tell the tale. That’s Shawna Kenney in a nutshell. She chronicles the lives behind the costumed characters who wander unauthorized up and down Hollywood Blvd, charging passerby for pictures. She earns an MFA in creative writing. She teaches the next generation. There’s not a whole lot that she doesn’t do. — Will Tupper, interviewing Shawna Kenney in April 2008 for The Official Chuck Palahniuk Site
Her findings are fascinating. ‘Superman,’ a fair Christopher Reeve look-alike, met his girlfriend at a screening of Reeve’s old movie Somewhere in Time; he once earned $30 by lifting a 300-pound woman at the request of her husband. ‘Batman,’ who doubles as a George Clooney stand-in, actually stopped two purse-snatchers and a shoplifter. — Wilmington Star News columnist Ben Steelman, February 2008
Kenney, with the help of photographer Jim Knoblauch, has made a page-turner of a coffeetable book, showcasing the lives of those who walk in the footsteps of another’s fame. — Shea Carver, interviewing Kenney for an August 2008 feature in Wilmington, NC’s Encore Magazine
Like Orangutan Planet, only smellier and more frightening. — Nicolas Stecher for BPM Magazine, April 2008
Sad, pathetic, beautiful in a tawdry way, and very human. — Amazon.com Top 50 reviewer Dennis Littrell, April 2008
Press for I Was a Teenage Dominatrix by Shawna Kenney
Kenney’s tale is lighthearted but fascinating. . . . Her attitude is, overall, strongly woman-positive, and her spunk and enthusiasm leave a clear, fiery impression on her readers. — Bust Magazine
Kenney’s honesty, humor and sharp writing style make it an entertaining read. — Jennifer Joseph, San Francisco Bay Guardian
What kind of dominatrix doesn’t wear leather? A vegetarian one. Hey, ya gotta have principles. — Courtney Rubin, Washingtonian Magazine, December 1999
More a twisted coming-of-age story than warmed-over slice of Marquis de Sade, Kenney’s potboiler approaches its prurient subject matter with a refreshing post-feminist Gen-X practicality. — New Times LA
More Holden Caulfield in leather than “Venus in Furs.” — Stephen Lemons interviewing Shawna Kenney for Salon.com in April 2000
If you remember liking some of Studs Terkel’s in-your-face Working interviews, you’ll appreciate the tasty authenticity of this hitherto unexposed slice of what satisfies certain sexual appetites. The book, however, is more than Studs T. Meets Gloria the Playboy Bunny — this temp worker was on the job for real. Those who might benefit most from reading I Was A Teenage Dominatrix probably never will, more’s the pity. And that includes the prudes scared off by the ironic and uncompromising title. — Amazon.com reviewer, November 1999
Shawna Kenney, in her memoir I Was a Teenage Dominatrix, makes her descent into badness seem sane and practical. — Neil Drumming in The Washington City Paper, October 29, 1999
A literary ‘child’ of Susie Bright and Hunter S. Thompson, Kenney’s memoir chronicles her life’s journey into womanhood… The book mines humor from the often absurd gender politics people play, which are then reversed by the Mistress, yet can turn bittersweet unexpectedly. Ultimately, ‘I Was A Teenage Dominatrix’ transcends the ‘realer than real life’ subject matter of most memoirs – including its own – which is one of the reasons why I recommend it. — Pete Petrisko in June 2003 for Blog Critics MagazineIt read like Hunter S. Thompson if he’d had ovaries, and a sober moment or two. — Heather Corrina of Scarlet Letters
Kenney has managed to craft a highly compelling read. — Mike White, interviewing Shawna Kenney for a Cashiers du Cinemart cover story
Press for Shawna Kenney
In response to their (now defunct) ‘zine, Puppet Terror!: The Magazine for Anyone Who’s Ever Been Terrorized by or Terrorized Others With Puppets, Shawna Kenney, Pleasant Gehman, and Iris Berry were profiled by Marc Spitz in June 2002′s Spin Magazine. “This is America,” Spitz writes. “There is a publication for everyone.” To read “Mastered by Puppets,” click here.
