WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR CRITICISM

A FINALIST FOR THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD

FOR THE ART OF THE ESSAY

One of Amazon's "Best Books of the Year"

"Carina Chocano's You Play the Girl reads like a war cry. With dazzling clarity, her commentary exposes the subliminal sexism

on our pages and screens."

—O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE 

"If Hollywood's treatment of women leaves you wanting, you'll find good, heady company in Carina Chocano's essay collection, You Play the Girl. Why, Chocano asks, does the ingenue have to choose between marriage and death?"

—ELLE

"In Carina Chocano’s whip-smart new book You Play The Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, & Other Mixed Messages, she analyzes the 'girls' of pop culture across the decades, from Bewitched to contestants on The Bachelor (and its fictional
counterpart, UnREAL) to the princesses of Frozen. Through cultural commentary mixed with personal reflections, Chocano explores the ways on-screen women have influenced her life and the way she sees the world. A-"

—ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, "Best New Books"

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"Brilliant and insightful...You Play the Girl stands apart from others in the genre [...] by dissecting pop culture through the lens of a mother watching her young girl try to make sense of the world. The result is a heartfelt look at the complicated messages women receive, and
argues that gut feelings about these messages should be carefully examined. Chocano persuades the reader that the media we absorb around us does matter, and shapes how we feel about ourselves. And she deftly shows how books, TV, and film that have been labeled
'empowering' for women [...] often have hidden agendas."

—PLAYBOY

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