BREAKING: Wall Street Journal Thinks Chicagoist Writer Rules

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 29, 2005 8:02PM

We’re not one to brag on ourselves…oh who are we kidding? We totally are.

Wall Street Journal Health writer Tara Parker-Pope has named Chicagoist writer Erin J. Shea’s book Tales From The Scale one of her six favorite health books of the year.

The collection of essays on life and weight loss were written by Shea and other bloggers not in an effort to create a how-to book on dieting, but rather to illuminate the struggles that many women go through in their efforts to lose weight.

Pointing out that she receives “dozens of books” each year, Parker-Pope noted that “only a handful of them end up on my shelf at home.” Other books Parker-Pope cited as favorites include “Why Don’t Men Have Nipples” and “101 Diseases You Don’t Want To Get,” which—oddly enough—are two topics that Ms. Shea will also expound upon with very little prompting, usually after a few Sapphire and tonics.

We’re sure this accolade comes as a shock to those who seek to ghettoize books by Shea and other female authors by describing them with what they consider the ultimate literary slur: “chick-lit.” But that’s the funny thing about an open mind: sometimes it gets filled with something other than your own misconceptions.

Congrats, Erin!